Instincts Toward Rising or Falling?

With his usual hard realism, Raymond Cattell thought that there was an excess of primate sex and pugnacity in human beings which were stronger drives than civilizing morals and ethics, or our altruistic values, and that society must keep from decline as a consequence of selfish primate sex and pugnacity. Cattell thought that countermeasures need to be taken to raise the level of both intelligence and character in society, and reduce the sociopathic and psychotic instabilities in society.

Cattell never argued that there is a predominance of genetics over education and culture but that genetics was the raw material which culture molded. Cattell worried that man may be genetically unadapted to a large altruistic society, yet man did have a natural tendency toward tenderness and protectiveness and altruism toward kith and kin. This is one of the pillars of our political argument for localism and small states over large states: localism and regionalism are the most natural way to hold civilization together with altruistic group behavior, and better keep us from the selfish anti-social behavior which happens in large groups.

It remains politically incorrect to speak of these hard realities, but the sooner we get on with this the better chance we have of rising rather than falling. We need to increase the traits of intelligence, along with the character traits of effort, hard work, and honesty, which need to be rewarded and expanded. Remember, Plato's guardians were selected by their lack of interest in power, among other qualities.  Also remember, we are evolving all the way to Godhood, this requires Ordered Evolution and Revitalized Conservatism, which can keep us from self-destructing.