I don’t know. To me it seems that they kind of do, but maybe only partially.

Unless you can reliably prove that people have complete free will, that social engineering and propaganda aren’t very effective, and that it’s at all possible to get out of trauma/addiction/terrible habits without outside triggers and/or support.

Each of these is by no means certain, and very difficult to prove. Our societies kind of assume everyone has a free will that cannot be meaningfully impacted by default, but there isn’t a whole lot of empirical evidence for it.

Whereas the impact of the first 3-4 years of life on the kinds of people we become is already very well documented in psychological literature. So is the effectiveness of manipulation, including social engineering and propaganda. Each of these usually has its own chapter in most psychology textbooks.

If you’ve ever spoken with a psychiatrist, psychologist, or a therapist, you’ll most likely have heard some statements contradictory to this post as well.

I don’t know if this idea does anything good for anyone. It looks to me like it creates unnecessary animosity between people, and further pits them against each other.

Instead, you can be understanding, and offer assistance where possible. I can guarantee you it always provides better results than just expecting other people to ‘be better’ and shaming them if they’re not.

And don’t forget to look at yourself, too. Are you good enough to demand better from other people? Or to judge them if they don’t meet your expectations?