&gt; It&#x27;s not amped up actually. The degree of butchery that goes on in historical outbreaks of violence is astonishing to the post-19th century mind. Mass executions of enemies and conquered cities (and accompanying rape and pillage) happened with regularity in some parts of history.<p>&quot;... in some parts of history&quot;? Atrocities like that have never ended - human nature doesn&#x27;t change. In the civil wars in western and southern Africa, rape is regularly used as a weapon of war. We all know the kind of massacres IS has been committing. I don&#x27;t know an awful lot about Genghis Khan, but I&#x27;m pretty sure the machete-wielding executioners of the Rwandan genocide must have been just as effective. That kind of violence has nothing to do with the time period in which you live, there&#x27;s nothing magic about the post-19th century world&#x2F;mind. It&#x27;s about humans being, well, inhuman. And that, unfortunately, can include pretty much everybody.