Ideas That Have Harmed Mankind by Bertrand Russell - Article Example

The author firmly believes that we have developed a fetish for evil passions and we enjoy inflicting pain on others, he gives numerous examples of the same in the essay. A classic example of the same is when the author mentions the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings that took place during the Second World War; the Americans bombed Japan in order to prove their supremacy and in order to dominate Japan in every way possible. "A dog, a wife, and a walnut tree, The more you beat them the better they be.

" (Ideas that have harmed Mankind). This is arguably the most popular line of the essay and it goes to show the mentality of the modern-day people, it shows we take fellow human beings for granted and we enjoy inflicting as much pain as possible on them. The concluding part of the essay also throws light upon how pride has affected our society and how Americans ill-treat everyone because of pride of race, the author goes on to say that pride of race, the caste system has severely affected our society and the same has disarrayed our society.

These evils have broken us down and we don't even realize this fact. There are several examples of the same in the essay that prove that we have changed and to our dismay, we have changed for worse. To conclude it is very fair to say that the essay aims at transformation, transforming the society is the sole aim of the author. He wants us to reflect on the changes that have taken place in society and he wants us to respond positively to all those changes that have taken place in society.