a couple of short articles to think about in terms of war and human nature

See this:

http://www.santafe.edu/~bowles/ConflictAltruismMidwife.pdf

Then this:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20327151.500-winning-the-ultimate-battle-how-humans-could-end-war.html?full=true

While only tangentially related, it reminds me of the Whig historians of the American Revolution who try to argue that the America was "born capitalist/liberal", in "we have met the enemy [capitalism, and] the enemy is us" type of fashion. There is a wide range of very good social histories that have provided ample evidence to show that from the beginning, a variety of forms of society existed. I believe it is the same here.

And just like the New Scientist article, I believe there is a brighter future for us.