I posit that it comes down to what people value. Up-thread there is a discussion about how a Zulu man lamented the fall of Apartheid because, to paraphrase, “at

I posit that it comes down to what people value. Up-thread there is a discussion about how a Zulu man lamented the fall of Apartheid because, to paraphrase, “at least the streets were clean.” Of course the issue is that we could have clean streets without genocides, and that is true of human society everywhere, but while one might value clean streets enough to be OK with (what I believe to be) unreasonable and unnecessary costs, others care more for being right and grandstanding to score political points, gain power, or simply make themselves feel better by attacking others. As long as society continues to pay deference to people who value those things more, the cleanliness of our metaphorical and literal streets will always be secondary.