I thought of you and our previous discussions when I read that a warlord is in control of CHAZ and it is already running short of food.
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/it-only-took-2-days-seattles-autonomous-zone-descend-chaos
Zero Hedge is definitely not MSM and publishes alternate views from the right and left.
You are quite correct that all governments' practical powers come from the barrel of a gun. However violence abhors a vacuum. As soon as one violent governing power exits, one or more new violent powers will pop up to replace them.
The best we can do is what the US Founding Fathers sought to do - ensure that those holding the guns are responsible to the people and that there are lots of checks and balances.
It worked well for almost 200 years but now the US system is completely broken.
Some interesting reporting going on here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CapHillAutonomousZone/
I like Zero Hedge, but they certainly have their biases and love to post things which get shared and get clicks, which is understandable as that is the business model.
I think we can live without violence. I may be wrong, but I think we can.
Violence is as natural an occurrence as sunlight, throughout the natural , living world.
And we are part of the natural world , not separate from it.
Wishing for it to be so, doesn't make it so.
There is zero evidence of a violence free ecosystem, ever existing.
Based on evidence, I would say that you are wrong, not 'maybe' wrong.
Violence is normal.
To me, this sounds like a naturalistic fallacy. "It's nature, so it's morally correct."
Point to many other system in nature which is advanced as human social interactions which include language, law, contracts, etc, etc.
Sorry, I don't buy it. Chimps are violent, no doubt about it. We evolved to dominate the world because of our cooperation. There's a whole back story to this relating to the whites of our eyes, the size of our brains and the limitation of hips requiring a more nurturing, cooperative community to protect and nurture new borns, etc.
The human brain is special and cooking (pre-digesting our food) to create a high neuron count per calorie had a lot to do with that: https://www.ted.com/talks/suzana_herculano_houzel_what_is_so_special_about_the_human_brain
To me, this sounds like a naturalistic fallacy. "It's nature, so it's morally correct."
Morals have nothing to do with it. It's just nature.
We evolved to dominate the world because of our cooperation
Agreed - but that is the negotiations part of interaction. When negotiation falls apart - you're still left with violent action.
The evolutionary biology doesn't take away - or alter from this innate behavior.
Fights on Saturday night, to tribal confrontations, to war.
The same patterns _forever repeat themselves, irrelevant of historical times.
I have the hunch that what we need is just bonobotize us a lil bit more. :)
I find this conversation very fascinating.
You both make good points @lukestokes @lucylin.
I agree with @lucylin that violence is part of nature and there is an unhealthy risk of trying to deny we all have that. However, I also believe in choice thus @lukestokes we can create the reality we want by example.
Don't know whether this has any relation... but just the other day I finished playing Red Dead Redemption 2 - really awesome AAA gaming experience where you take the hero character and navigate different parts of the wild west.
However, without realising it... I probably massacred over 1,000 people over the course the game. Headshots, groin shots, shotgun to the face. And I must say I enjoyed it massively.
Of course this does not make me a murderous psychopath in real life... but why do I get so much joy from these virtual actions. So, I've come to accept that there is a part of me that enjoys violence particularly when exacted upon things which are morally aligned to my worldview... haha.
Point is... maybe that's how we as a human society can manage our violent tendencies and create a non-violent world... through video games, cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin and HIVE. 😄