> Consider the Mongol empire. While the Mongol empire had some things in common with a modern state, squeamishness about killing was not one of them. The mongo

> Consider the Mongol empire. While the Mongol empire had some things in common with a modern state, squeamishness about killing was not one of them. The mongols were just as "squeamish" about killing as any other empire - british, spanish, american, etc. Hell, by any measure, the mongols were a far less "brutal" empire than the british, spanish, american. > There are cases where they decided a city needed to be destroyed and they took great pains to make sure that destruction was total. Yes. It's called "sacking" a city. It has happened throughout history. The mongols weren't special. You are just perpetuating stereotypes and myth. The US, british, soviets annihilated cities far worse than anything mongols ever did. It's absurd that you have to resort to silly myths. If you want to see pure evil, go look at what the british empire did to the natives and aborigines. Go look at what we did in hiroshima or nagasaki. You don't have to push racist myth about the mongols. > Ears were put into sacks and carted off in wagons to be counted If you think that was horrific, go read about what we did to the japanese in ww2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_mutilation_of_Japanese_war_dead https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_mutilation_of_Japanes... > Many states throughout history have committed genocide against enemies and many others have persecuted populations within their own borders. No they didn't. Genocides, as we see define them, are relatively new european concept based on racist ideology. You brought up the mongols. Try and find out anyone the mongols "exterminated". You won't find anything other than perhaps mongols tribes that they "merged" into larger mongol tribes. > Modern human society is gentler now than at any point in our past It really isn't. You misunderstood why concentration camps were created initially. They were created for slave labor. When the germans realized they were losing, they decided to exterminate the people in concentration camps. You say modern society has gotten "gentler" but there hasn't been a more evil and callous action in human history than the dropping of nukes on cities. Humans haven't "evolved". We are just more sated and nukes make it harder for serious war. That's it. But sooner or later, it's inevitable we will get a serious war. And then you'll see how much "gentler" we are.