[emilamlom]

> We must rise above our animal selfishness and will to competition, and embrace humanity and humanitarianism. In other words, we must resist our common enemy, who works on all our beings, and it has obviously been very successful.

I generally dislike shifting the responsibility for the ills of the world onto some supernatural force. It feels like a cop-out. That said, your end result of pursuing humanitarianism and the common-good is great (and something that I believe everyone should strive towards), so however you arrive at that conclusion doesn't matter too much.

[MrMcCall]

It is very rare (IIUC) that a person is forced to choose the selfishly callous acts that cause harm, however intentional or not. No, the vast majority of us are merely presented the possibilities (often in line with our personal predilections, often aligned with our cultures) after which we choose to act upon their ideas and feelings.

That rare person who is forced is the realm of the mentally ill and can be caused by physical problems such as heavy metal poisoning or trauma, especially to the head.

The key is our all accepting that we are responsible for the choices we make and their effects on others, and that our life's work is to learn how to make better choices in order to minimize unhappiness for others and maximize their (and our as the karmic result) happiness.

Look at the despots and massively selfish; they are never happy tho they may have all manner of money and the pleasures that can be bought. Happiness cannot be bought, it can only be earned in honest choosing and then reaping our sowing.

This cause and effect is a clue the universe gives us that how and what we choose are really important to our long-term peace and happiness, both individually and collectively. It is either the stick or carrot that tries to push us away from vice and toward virtue. This feedback system, like the entire universe, is designed for our happiness, but our free will remains sacrosanct, for good or ill, for Wisdom or ignorance, for love or hate. Like all things human, it is our choice.