Manipulation of Nature

The debate over whether mankind is naturally good or evil has been present in society since the beginning of human history, and I’m sure, will continue until the end of time. I believe in the inherent goodness of people, but no matter which side you believe, one critical thing must be taken into account: humans, no matter what their natural moral instincts may be, no longer exist in their natural environment. Think about it. People went from living in the wilderness, unprotected and isolated from everything except the few people, animals, and landscapes that existed in their immediate surroundings to being constantly looked after and in touch with the rest of the world. We no longer exist in our natural environment and this has obviously had an effect on our innate instincts. The farther we drift from the way our species began, the farther we will drift from the way our species naturally acted.


As David Brooks put it, in the New York Times, “Human beings are virtuous and free in their natural state. It is only corrupt institutions that make them venal.” Because we are surrounded by millions of different people and beliefs each and every day, we must work harder to avoid the “corruptness” of society and let our innate goodness dominate, but many people are able to accomplish this. In Laramie, Wyoming when Matthew Shepard was murdered for being gay in October of 1998, the majority of people who were involved in the case exemplified a great deal of kindness; only a select few could be considered evil. The actions and opinions of most citizens in the town demonstrate that the majority of people respect human life and have instincts that drive them to help others. So what about society, and Laramie in particular, caused the perpetrators to commit such a heinous crime?


On the night that they brutally beat and abandoned Matthew, Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson showed absolutely no respect for human life. Instead of seeing another person in their victim, all they saw was a gay man, a type of being they had learned to hate. McKinney and Russell had been brought up in a society that appears to live by the “live and let live” philosophy. However, it seems that this philosophy is really just another version of the “don’t ask don’t tell” policy, and it fosters hatred by not openly discussing important issues. When someone is not taught that a certain thing is okay to speak about, the assumption is usually that it is wrong. It is this philosophy that I believe played a major role in the hatred towards, and subsequently, murder of Matthew. It is likely that the people who McKinney and Henderson were surrounded by did not explicitly condone hatred of homosexuals, but it is obvious that they also did not explain that this hatred was wrong. When this is coupled with the fact that our society as a whole is ruled by biased laws and has the major religion constantly debating whether or not homosexuality is wrong, it is not surprising that the perpetrators inherent goodness was sacrificed and pushed aside by evil.


However, other people grew up just as these boys did, but unlike the boys, the majority of the townspeople shared appalled and disgusted opinions towards the incident. They were able to overcome the corruption around them, and demonstrate inherent goodness in the most dire of times. The first example of someone who demonstrated naturally good instincts was Aaron Kreifels, the first person to discover Matthew in the field. Kreifels reacted immediately, without any information, because his instinct was to help the person who needed him simply because “it was a human being.” Reggie Fluty, the Laramie police officer who cut Matthew down from the fence also demonstrates the victory of natural goodness in a person. When Fluty arrived on the scene, she knew nothing other than the fact that he was a human being in need of her help. It did not matter who he was, what had happened to him, or why. In the Laramie Project, she describes the scene and explains that the only thing running through her mind was, “Don’t hesitate,” because you cannot just let a human being suffer like that. Reggie Fluty’s actions were the epitome of naturally good instincts in a human being, so much so that she even risked her life by exposing herself to his blood. As I said earlier, the farther we move away from our natural environment, the more our behavior will change. This could explain why Reggie Fluty acted the way she did, because small towns are closer to nature than big cities. When humans first began, one of their first priorities was to look after their kin, and similar values are still held in small towns, like Laramie, today. People look out for others, because they believe that everyone will look out for them. In “Sociobiology,” Paul Magnarella explains that “I would be expected to save a drowning man . . . only if I could expect him to reciprocate in the future by saving or protecting my life.” So what was different between McKinney and Henderson and someone like Fluty? I believe it is the fact that Fluty had spent her whole life isolated in Laramie, a small seemingly innocent town, but the two boys had been more exposed to the outside because of generational characteristics like the internet and television. Therefore, society’s immorality was able to affect the perpetrators on a deeper level than Fluty.


Laramie, Wyoming is probably as close to nature as a person can come without forfeiting all of society’s comforts. This is why the majority of people living in the town are able to easily demonstrate innate goodness towards others. But the fact that acts of evil are still committed here shows that the human institutions that have come to control our lives has caused many people, especially those who are younger and have been more exposed, to lose a great deal of that natural decency. Nearly all of the townspeople recognized the fact that no matter what lifestyle Matthew Shepard had been living, a human life had been taken, and that was wrong. The anomalies of the people who did not see taking another’s life as unjust had been manipulated by their upbringing in a corrupt world. After viewing The Laramie Project, I am more sure than ever in my belief that people are inherently good, and more skeptical than ever of the way society has developed.