Have The Capacity To Be The Arbiters Of A Universal Morality?

This unassailable fact confronts me: I am finite. Before introducing the shoulds and should nots of morality and politics I have to begin with the facts that dictate the possibilities of my action. It wouldn't make sense to say that a sloth should fly (as amazing as that sounds) because they don't have that capacity. Likewise, it wouldn't make any sense to argue that I should do more, be more, or effect more then my finitude allows. So why do I, why do so many of us, insist on denying our finitude? Why do we think we have the capacity to be the arbiters of a universal morality?

The war to end all wars
This issue runs deeper than the immortality of the soul, and it goes further than the impulse we feel to leave our mark on the world. It masquerades
It requires an utterly naive, unconscionable lack of perspective to not be humbled by the fact that the other side thinks the same of us.

This is the rule of all conflict: quite naturally, every side thinks that they're right; quite perversely, every side is certain that the people who are wrong need to be 'fixed'. In the 17th century the Catholics and Protestants tried to 'fix' each other, the Bolsheviks tried to 'fix' the aristocracy and proletariat, the Nazis tried to 'fix' Europe, and the Allies tried to 'fix' Germany. Even today we see the West and Islam, capitalists and socialists, authoritarians and libertarians, Christians and atheists trying to fix each other.

I guarantee that every belligerent act in history, whether outright war or the insidious activities of ideology and politics, are predicated on the belief that acts of violence or coercion are a force for good in the world. War and politics are the two grotesque manifestations of this same need to fix others and improve the world, always for the best, of
It reminds me of the famous proverb often attributed to Edmund Burke, "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." Since Burke was a statesmen, among other things, it's often used to justify and motivate political action. But I want to agree while turning this quote upside down. I would say in contrast, "the only way for evil to triumph is for men to think they're good enough to change others." You can be sure that in any conflict between good and evil, both sides are thoroughly convinced that they're good. My question is, to whom does the proverb apply when all of us think we're on the side of good? I hope I can drive the point home with another old aphorism, "the road to hell is paved with good intentions." Trying to change the world for good is surely the most well intentioned of all efforts, but the destination remains the