"The chief cause of human error is to be found in prejudices picked up in childhood," said Rene Descartes, the French philosopher. Children are born without prejudice; society imposes it. It seems that mankind needs "feindbilder" (enemy images) for motivation and survival. The "us" and "them" syndrome forms the basis of most belief systems, politics and ideologies and is centred on religion, race, resources, territory and the fear of losing exclusivity. Demagogues and warmongers thrive on these fears. Wars are related to deeply imprinted prejudices. Wars have led to mass migration, exporting prejudices to other regions. The exclusivity that people could not pursue in their own countries was often imposed on the native inhabitants of their new "fatherlands". After the Second World War, a more open world order was introduced. Physical and ideological borders and walls crumbled in most western countries, while ideological wars sadly have been waged in other parts of the world. Ironical...
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