Human?

I wonder if any of us has wondered why the human being, throughout the world, is perhaps the only animal that is so corrupt - I am using the word 'corrupt' in its basic sense of being broken up - so contradictory, so self-deceptive, and so extraordinarily dishonest. I wonder if we have ever asked ourselves why human beings live that way, saying one thing and doing another, thinking one thing and acting in a totally different manner. All the indications throughout the world are that there is a great degeneration taking place. We are becoming more and more mechanical by following a routine, by following a certain tradition, and by following some leader, some guru - generally self-appointed. Why do we, human beings, follow anybody at all? - except that perhaps when we are physically ill we need a doctor, a surgeon or a dentist. But, psychologically, inwardly, do we need anybody at all to help us to step out of this corruption, this confusion, and this extraordinary sense of insecurity that exists throughout the world? I wonder if we are aware of all this? Or, are we all self-enclosed, with our own little families, our own little jobs, our own little gurus and, therefore, we just forget the rest of the world? So, I ask why a human being, man or woman, has become so utterly degenerate. I am using that word very carefully. To 'degenerate' is to not create oneself; it is not flower in goodness and in beauty, but all the time to destroy oneself.
- JK