jwb

What you're describing is universal. Very few people are principled enough to sacrifice themselves for the greater good

But we are better at least than our former selves in that we aren't carpet bombing cities. We actually consider collateral damage a bad thing.

This is actually not the norm for humans. We've been waging total war since Cain and Abel. And most societies today are quite behind on the times. The ones that aren't are usually being protected by the united States.