Two phenomenon which are simply part of the natural world and the natural order of humans:
- Unequal distributions of pretty much everything. 80/20 is not a physical law but is incredibly common pattern. Sometimes it’s 70/30, and sometimes 95/5 or 99/1. Take any talent, any physical attributes, any social or economic outcomes — they all naturally settle into unequal distributions.
- Natural selection favors some organisms (including people) over others at points in time. It might surprise you to know the full title of Charles Darwin’s most famous work: “On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life.” It should not surprise anyone that Lenin, Mao, Stalin, and Hitler all quoted from this book as justification for their worldview. Today’s readers will find it contains shockingly racist language.
Here are two important principles which we only have because of transcendance beyond the natural world:
- Every human being is intrinsically valuable.
- All people should be equally treated before the law.
Neither of these are derived from the natural world as we know it. These precious principles are the legacy of Western Civilization (Jerusalem and Athens).
Every human experiment to “perfectly correct” the problem of unequal distributions without a transcendent religious framework has led to tyranny. For example, Communist regimes generate a 98/2 ratio — there are always a small percentage of people who have most of the money and the power.
