The Inevitable Fall: Why Every Society is Doomed to Repeat the Same Mistakes

Let’s say John and Mary start a new society. They are the only people left on earth and they have the chance to rebuild the world. Let’s also believe that their intentions are “good” - in the general meaning that our current society has established for “good.” They want everyone to be happy and free.

They have children. Lots of children so that they can expand the society. Of course there will be incest since they are the only humans on earth. We don’t like incest?

Ok, let’s change the situation a little and add another couple. John and Mary, and Jack and Nelly are the only people left on earth. Same intentions. They breed. John and Mary have six children and Jack and Nelly also have six. To avoid incest in the near future, they also agree on a swinging deal, so John has another six children with Nelly and Jack another six with Mary. But this can never happen again, as it is only accepted once to further the human species.

Twenty-four children are born to be the basis of the new world. They are raised in kindness and good manners. Their ethics are ideal. They respect each other and value everyone’s opinion. In fact, they are democratic even though they don’t know it, as they all make decisions together and majority rules.

Oh, by the way, I forgot to add: John is white, Mary is black, Jack is oriental, and Nelly is Arab in origin.

The Golden Age

Years go by and the children are now adults. They know that they can mate and marry with the ones that are not direct brothers or sisters, and they do. They make new families and expand the population. John, Mary, Jack, and Nelly are the wise elders now that provide all the necessary knowledge to the younger ones to thrive. The society evolves smoothly. People are happy. The foundations of being kind, being equal, being respectful, and democratic seem rigid.

The First Crack

But as the years go by, John passes away. Mary feels lonely and kind of envies Nelly that still has Jack. She also lusts for one of the young guys because she has no companion. But the young guy is married to another girl.

Mary, however, one day approaches him and shows her interest in him. The young one is lured because lust ignites inside him. He wants to experience this new opportunity to bed the wise Mary. The wife of the young man, however, finds out about this misconduct. It’s something unimaginable to her. How could her guide and mentor in life have done such a thing to take her man? She is filled with wrath against Mary. Nelly is also furious with her. She broke their moral code.

Mary feels remorse. Her ethics have been defiled. She cannot explain her behavior.

The Taste of Power

Jack is very proud of his new world, however, and decides to punish Mary. He exiles her in the woods, nowhere to be seen again. That decision gives Jack a taste of the power he could have. He becomes more aggressive and decides to also punish the young man who slept with Mary. He is also sent into exile in the woods.

The ex-wife of the young man, Lucida, is now without a partner. Joseph, another married young man who is attracted to her, decides to leave his wife for her. Lucida and Joseph are now happy together, but Joseph’s ex-wife, Maria, becomes depressed and is full of anger for the couple. Her wrath controls her and she takes action in the most unprecedented manner. She kills Lucida.

The Point of No Return

Death by man has become a reality. The rest of the society hates Maria for killing Lucida. Unrest is growing. Maria is hence exiled as well. But soon sin after sin pervades the community. The exiles form a new community and not many years later begin to have confrontations with the original society.

Two growing societies. Based on the kindness, the respectfulness, the goodness of John, Mary, Jack, and Nelly. Their wise Gods. Their faulty Gods. Their sinned Gods.

But why?

The Wrong Foundation

A society built from scratch is bound to encounter the same problems our contemporary society is facing. The same as our previous society and probably the same as the future society. Why?

Because the foundations of the society are wrong. Because the question “what society do we want?” has not been asked in a global level, or has not been asked in honesty. The foundations of a harmonious society have to be built on the truthful answer of that one question: What society do we want?

And in fact, there are only two honest answers to that question:

What society do we want?

1. A pacifist society where everyone feels safe and all our basic needs are catered for.

Or

2. A society based on human nature.

The Uncomfortable Truth

But here’s the real problem: even if we honestly answer “what society do we want,” what then?

The only way any chosen society could truly work is if it’s hardcoded into our DNA - something that we’re born with naturally. Since we live in a technologically advanced society now, the other option would be technological injection of these values somehow. But both are impossible with our current reality.

Let’s say we collectively choose Option 1 - the pacifist society. How do we maintain it when human nature inevitably surfaces? The COVID period showed us exactly this hypocrisy in action. When danger knocked on everyone’s door, people suddenly acted “for the common good” - but only because they believed it would protect themselves too. The moment self-interest aligned with collective action, we became model citizens. The moment it didn’t, the cracks appeared.

This isn’t necessarily the problem though. The problem is our lack of acknowledgment of this hypocrisy. We pretend altruism drives us when it’s clearly self-preservation.

If we chose Option 2 - a society based on human nature - we’d be accepting the flaws of human existence and living with them without hypocrisy and without unnecessary frustration. To use an extreme example: a slave would accept his fate as part of circumstances and not waste energy crying about why he is a slave. Of course he wouldn’t like being enslaved and would try his best to change his fate, but his approach to the situation would be fundamentally different.

Ancient world was closer to this reality. But modern technology, globalization, and our imposed ideals make it feel wrong to embrace human nature. It feels unequal, undemocratic, and morally problematic. Information and knowledge make it hard not to seek peace and prosperity, at least on paper.

But what is the end game of ultimate peace and equality? Picture it: the final phase where everyone is truly equal and peaceful. How would that world actually look? And more importantly - would humans even want to live in it?

The question isn’t just “what society do we want?” The question is: “Are we brave enough to stop lying to ourselves about what drives us?”

Self-interest is always in the way. Our lack of comprehensive knowledge about our own existence poses problems. Maybe the real wisdom isn’t in choosing between pacifism and human nature. Maybe it’s in building smaller, manageable societies where we can actually have control, not dictatorial control, but societal control over society itself.

But technological advancement and globalisation have probably made that option obsolete. The alternative would be to create a trans-human species with AI assistance, essentially abandoning humanity to solve humanity’s problems.

Because if history has taught us anything, it’s that humans will always be human. The question is whether we build societies that acknowledge this reality or continue pretending we’ve evolved beyond our nature.

Adam Petritsis is a documentary filmmaker and video producer exploring the intersection of ancient wisdom and modern technology. Follow his work at Ancient Greece Revisited and connect with him for corporate video projects.