I would be inclined to agree with you, on the inescapable impact of our genetics on our lives. I would also say that even those who are more inclined to side with nurture, as Pinker suggested, should probably rethink just what kind of nurture that has been proven to be most influential on a life.
Parental life and social integration, via one's peers, are both debated as to which has more affect on one's behavior. I would say that although it varies, more often than not, the social integration of peers proves to be more influential. As Pinker suggested, who we go to school with, are friends with, and discuss contemporary issues with is perhaps more prominently marked upon our lives. I definitely think the human race learns and progresses (over the long haul) incrementally, and generational liberalization plays a key role in just that.
Just looking at the progression of women's suffrage, civil rights, and gay rights over the course of the 20th and 21st century is evidence of such powerful generational, incremental acceptance of what have become uncontroversial (more or less for some issues rather than others of course) and simply egalitarian social norms.
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