Steppenwolf, part 2

I am continuing to read the novel Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse. What strikes me today is the section on page 132 that discusses war:
"...every nation, and even every person, would do better, instead of rocking himself to sleep with political catchwords about war guilt, to ask himself how far his own faults and negligences and evil tendencies are guilty of the war and all of the other wrongs of the world, and that therein lies the only possible means of avoiding the next war."

Hesse wrote these words in 1929. Have we as a nation and as a global society learned anything since then? Are our views toward war any different? Have we as humans evolved since the second decade of the last century? I would like to dialogue with anyone on that topic. I do believe we have evolved, but I also believe we are in the midst of some further evolution. Our choice may be how we handle this new evolution. How can we improve our future? Stopping future wars is only one aspect. Perhaps it is more significant to understand Hesse's words of understanding our own faults that allow the evils of the world. I am beginning to challenge my faults to see how they lead to problems on a small scale. Do you feel the need to do the same?