In general, are people fundamentally good or are they bad?
Subject: Human Nature - Veneer Theory
Event: Hurricane Katrina, 2005
It’s a wonder I haven’t abandoned all my ideals, they seem so absurd and impractical. Yet I cling to them because I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart. -Anne Frank (1929-45)
What’s your view of the inherent nature of your fellow human? Are they basically selfish, brutish, and cruel? Or are most people decent, moral, and generous?
To test your viewpoint, imagine a natural disaster strikes your community without warning. Unexpectedly, you're without power, without food or water. What would happen? Would people pool their resources, check on their neighbors, and help each other to make the best of a terrible situation? Or, would people panic? Would people hoard resources, loot, or even steal from one another?
On this day in 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans. In what was one of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history, 80% of the homes were flooded and 1,836 people died.
In the aftermath of the hurricane, anarchy and chaos seemed to reign. The media reported shootings and looting. In the Louisiana Superdome, where 25,000 people fled for shelter, there were reports of rape and murder.
Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco expressed her disappointment with what was happening in New Orleans:
What angers me the most is that usually disasters like this bring out the best in everybody, and that's what we expected to see. And now we've got people that it's bringing out the worst in.
What actually happened in New Orleans was very different from what the media reported. As the flood waters receded and the city began to rebuild, the truth came out. A total of six people died at the Superdome, but none were murdered. There was one suicide, one overdose, and the rest died of natural causes. There was not a single documented case of rape or murder and the vast majority of people worked charitably and cooperatively. The truth is, Katrina really did bring out the best in people.
In his book Humankind, historian Rutger Bregman works to debunk what is known as the veneer theory of civilization, “that civilization is nothing more than a thin veneer that will crack at the merest provocation.” (6). Besides the true story of Katrina there is also evidence from the Disaster Research Center at the University of Delaware:
. . . in nearly seven hundred field studies since 1963, there’s never total mayhem. It’s never every man for himself. Crime -- murder, burglary, rape -- usually drops People don’t go into shock, they stay calm and spring into action.
While it is true that there are sometimes cases of looting, the vast majority of behavior is altruistic and prosocial.
It’s clear, as Bregman argues, that both history and science disprove the veneer theory. When times get rough, things do not play out in a Lord of the Flies scenario. Instead, the vast majority of people truly are good at heart.
Recall, Retrieve, Recite, Ruminate, Reflect, Reason: What is the veneer theory, and how did people’s response after Hurricane Katrina disprove it?
Challenge - Pulling Off the Veneer: Put the veneer theory to the test by researching another natural disaster from history. Describe what happened in the disaster but also what happened in its aftermath. Did chaos reign, or did people generally help each other? For example, on April 15, 1912, the RMS Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg. Hollywood portrayed the scene of the ship’s sinking as one of hysteria and panic. History tells a different story: It is true that the shortage of lifeboats led to 1,517 deaths; nevertheless, despite the calamitous situation, passengers remained calm and orderly (1).
Sources:
1-Bregman, Rutger. Humankind - A Hopeful History. Bloomsbury Books, 2020.
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