Historically it has probably been a mistake to assume that a great concerted push is required in order to raise human behaviour to a moral level; that for men to reach an ideal of compassion and reverence as demanded by the Christian faith for example, great sacrifice and monumental exerting of the will is required. In a certain respect it might be the opposite from that. Instead of working up a righteous fervour for betterment perhaps a dousing of the passions is the thing; perhaps an alleviating of the mind from the strain and stress of lofty goal-orientation would work; perhaps then there would be fertile soil better able to assist that much sought after moral condition.

In this sense what is wanted is not a creating or an advancing or an arriving at, necessarily, but more of an undoing. The notion is not so different to what Buddhists say in their advocacy of "extinguishing the flame". The idea is also in Nietzsche's critique of Western culture, its being too high-flown etc.

Yet it is hard to see how the flame can be put out, how the passions can be doused when humans are subject to the ways of the world, cast into nature with its tireless ability to frustrate. It is only evolved society having tamed the ravages of nature and its elemental horrors that could even consider dispensing with these high states of agitation. Only when food, shelter and security have been provided, when relative freedom from base struggle has been achieved, when tried and tested systems of politics, economics and good social intercourse generally have been working well for generations, only then might such societies be able to aspire to a more measured kind of existence.

Only these societies which have learned how to sustain comfort, how to overcome the perpetual damage from the sheer onslaught of the natural elements, might attain a sufficiently relaxed mindset so as not to feel constantly threatened. Otherwise trauma, injury, incapacity, death, psychological damage and the likes always dominate the emotions. Until then the passions are raised in defence. That would include all the competitive practices of the modern age, the need for individualism, capitalism so called, while at the same time a cleaving to kinship more for reasons of protection and security rather than for genuine connection to brotherhood.

Science and intellectual development have been achieved by a sustained effort of will. Not so the moral quest which will fall in naturally with the disappearance of deficiency. It won’t be coming any time soon. It is evolutionary rather than revolutionary.