Yeah…if Joel is evil because of killing people while trying to survive…well that qualifies a vast number of video game characters that kill for less.

I mean, Lara Croft could just choose not to do the thrill seeking tomb raider thing, and live out her wealthy trust fund life, once she realized it involves killing countless mercenaries that get in the way. But no, she chooses that life.

As others have noted, “human nature” applies to an aggregate of all people in this context. It does not mean that each individual carries a will to dominate.

Fact is, though, psychopathy as a neurological condition does exist. Narcissistic Personality Disorder as a psychological condition does exist. Combined with all manner of forms of cognitive dissonance and willful blindness, there are people that very much have the will to dominate, the ability to find followers to help them, and the lack of empathy to care who gets crushed along the way. Not even including extreme mental disorders, though, there is still love, hate, fear, desire, jealousy….as long as emotions exist there will be cause for chaos among human civilizations and those that seek to take advantage for personal gain, to protect their families at the expense of others, or simply to act out of spite (which often comes from ideas of fairness).

Also, “human nature” as a term is not meant to associate a moral good or a moral evil. It is simply the biological “nature” part that makes up the behavior of Homo sapiens. What makes humans unique to other animals is our ability to cognitively recognize that nature, understand it, and choose to act differently. When that choice is made is influenced by lots of things, unique to each person, and is another battle that must always be fought (think of the person that wants to stay loyal to a spouse but has the opportunity for hot sex right now).

Human nature and the pursuit of power means that there will never be an end to the fight for equal rights. “The people have the freedom to choose their life and laws” democracy and “I have all the answers, just give me the power to fix things” fascism is a pendulum society will always be fighting between.

At least until AI takes over and it’s all handled by a super intelligence.