We think we're special because we pretend we're special, but the "pretending" is still the source of it all. The "thinking" is just the result of the pretending. Sorry, I wasn't trying to gaslight you, I just forgot I even used the word "think", since it wasn't central to my meaning.
As for money, greed, and power, yes, those are important motivators. Even more so than pride. Because they derive more directly from our most important motivator of all: survival.
But that doesn't mean we can't address the problems of pride, does it? We can walk and chew gum at the same time right?
I'll take a step back, and say that I actually don't think any of these problems - including pride - are "evils" per se. They are just survival instincts gone awry. But they have gone awry to the extent that they are causing lots of real suffering in the world. And the suffering itself is what's really evil.
People are greedy because the world is often scarce, and people don't have a natural "off" switch for amassing more power or wealth (which is itself just a proxy for power).
Group pride is also a survival instinct, because, of course, people are stronger in numbers.
Both pride and greed need to be addressed. But they are different problems, and require different solutions.
I think the only real solution for greed is to have systems in place that prevent people from exercising their greed to excess. For example, finding ways to break up monopolies, and make the wealthy pay their taxes, etc. That is: build systems that distribute wealth and power widely, rather than allowing it to amass for a select few.
But when it comes to pride, I think the solution is simpler, since it can be done at the individual level. That is, we can each learn, at an individual level, to simply stop glorifying pride, and stop inventing mythologies to make ourselves feel proud.
Because in the end, I don't think people actually need pride in order to be happy. What we really need is hope. And unlike pride, hope doesn't require myths and lies in order to flourish. All hope requires is some tangible evidence that we'll have some happiness in the future. And the way to have this hope isn't to bicker about who has the better ancestral culture. It's to find real solutions to the larger problem of greed. But recognizing that pride is a problem is a good step to get people on the same page in that regard.
I suspect you're probably sick of hearing from me now, but I wrote a long article a few months ago that perhaps explains my general perspective in a more coherent way than I think I have done here, since it's not split across so many disparate comments. Here's the link, just in case you feel inclined: https://medium.com/@nebulasaurus/will-humans-ever-settle-on-one-religion-4e50c81b1d96
