What kind of creature is a human being, really?
I have studied this question for many years, yet in the end, I still have no precise answer.
No other animal is like humans, who divide the world into countless spheres of influence, and within those spheres form factions and major alliances. No other creature does this. Can you find an example where a species bands together to attack another, only to switch sides the next day, fighting endlessly, killing without end? You can’t. This is humanity’s exclusive trait. The entire history of humankind is a bloody chronicle of slaughter.
From this springs another question: everyone talks about human nature. About human rights. But what exactly is human nature? And where are human rights reflected?
I have always believed that human nature is greed. It is cruelty. It is an endless lust for control.
Humans obsess over controlling others, which inevitably leads to relentless bloodshed. Hitler may be dead, but Hitler’s sons and grandsons keep reappearing.
Humankind constantly worries about its own destruction, often imagining that this threat will come from outer space. But in truth, if humans are ever destroyed, the force behind it will not be aliens — it will be humans themselves.
When human greed and cruelty are pushed to their limits, how can there be any talk of human rights? To put it bluntly, so-called human rights are nothing more than a cheap trick concocted by a small few to dominate the many. Among the vast majority, if an individual refuses to be ruled or controlled, there is absolutely no possibility of truly enjoying human rights. There is always a precondition to “having rights.”
Since human rights are such a hollow thing, discussing them is really a luxury humanity cannot afford.
Unless human nature undergoes a fundamental transformation, real human rights will never exist.
This is a grim subject, and frankly, I don’t want to dwell on something so heavy. But while writing The Great Conspiracy, many emotions surfaced, and I couldn’t help but say a few words.
As for the novel itself, I have little more to add. It’s right there — you can read it for yourself.
I’ll only mention one more thing: another novel, The Mystery of the Madman, should really be considered part of The Great Conspiracy. It was separated only due to length considerations. But even if read as two separate works, it seems to make no real difference.