Food and Human Behavior

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There is an interesting episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine called "Hard Time" starring Chief Miles O'Brien who, by the way, seems to get in all sorts of legal trouble in this series but that is beside the point. In this particular episode, O'Brien is convicted and punished in a highly technical fashion by placing in his mind the belief he has been incarcerated for about 20 years even though the procedure lasted only a few hours. During this time in "prison" he became so hungry that he believed that he killed another being for food. In the end, he confesses to Dr. Bashir what he believes he has done and that he thought that humanity had evolved beyond the point of such barbarism. At this point I ask myself: "Are we capable of evolving into human beings that would not kill for food?" I have my doubts on this question because almost all my life I have heard stories of people at Christmas time in the USA trample and kill fellow humans to get into a store first in order to get a doll or computer item or whatever material thing that is not necessary for life. I had wondered what would happen if there were a real food shortage and what lengths would people go to feed themselves and their family. Food and water are very basic needs and mix a shortage of both with fear and you have a very deadly cocktail. At this point in time I do not see much change in human behavior. As an example, I read in the newspaper about a mother that killed her child because food was spilled on the ground. Grant that is an extreme example and the mother had to be crazy, but a mother may kill a stranger for food for her family. I again ask myself: "Can we evolve beyond this kind of behavior?" People tell me that if food and work are both plentiful then yes we could advance as a human race but I counter with the question that with such a large population on Earth and limited resources and let's say food and work become scarce again, would we not revert to a more barbaric nature?
I muse these ideas because as of late I see more homeless,beggars, and thieves on the street due to the current economic situation that exists today. It will be most interesting and I must say a little scary to see what the future holds for us.