"Nature is cruel, but...

...we don't have to be."

That's a quote from a movie I saw last night, "Temple Grandin." Grandin, a professor at Colorado State University, was referring to our treatment of animals, in particular beef cattle, but the same could be said about our treatment of each other.

This reminded me of the famous quote from Leviathan, by Thomas Hobbes', contemplating life without government, the "state of nature" (my emphasis):

Whatsoever therefore is consequent to a time of Warre, where every man is Enemy to every man; the same is consequent to the time, wherein men live without other security, than what their own strength, and their own invention shall furnish them withall. In such condition, there is no place for Industry; because the fruit thereof is uncertain; and consequently no Culture of the Earth; no Navigation, nor use of the commodities that may be imported by Sea; no commodious Building; no Instruments of moving, and removing such things as require much force; no Knowledge of the face of the Earth; no account of Time; no Arts; no Letters; no Society; and which is worst of all, continuall feare, and danger of violent death; And the life of man, solitary, poore, nasty, brutish, and short.

Or how about this, from Ezra Klein's, "Making Social Security less generous isn't the answer" (again, my emphasis):

...Lurking beneath this conversation is an unquestioned assumption: We live longer, so we should work longer. That's pretty intuitive to members of Congress, who seem to like their jobs and don't seem to like the idea of retiring. It's also pretty intuitive to blogger/columnists, who spend their time in air-conditioned rooms opining about pension programs. But most people don't work in Congress or in the media. They work on their feet. They strain their backs. They're bored silly at the end of the day. By the time they're in their 60s, they want to retire.

You see that reflected in Social Security. Age 66 is when you get full benefits. But most people begin taking Social Security at age 62. They get less, but they can retire earlier. To them, the trade-off is worth it. And remember, the country is much richer than it was in 1935. Adjusting for inflation, our gross domestic product in 1935 was $865 billion. In 2009, it was more than $12 trillion. We have more than enough money to buy ourselves some leisure time at the end of our lives. At least if that's one of our priorities.

"...if that's one of our priorities." What I take that to mean is, "It's our country; we can run it any way we want." 

George H. W. Bush, running for president, once said, "I want a kinder, and gentler nation." 

And that's just it: It's our country; we can run it any way we want. We don't have to be cruel to each other, we can order our priorities, we can choose to have a kinder, and gentler nation.