3 Basic Truths
In order to understand the foundations of the Non-Agression Principle, we can look at 3 basic truths.
1. We exist
2. Self-Ownership
We are responsible and in control of the movements of our own bodies, therefore we are the owners of our bodies.
3. We must be free in order to survive, fully live, and thrive
- We must have the freedom of movement to obtain sustenance
- We must have the freedom of choice so that we are not slaves
- We must have the freedom for self-actualization in order to thrive
These 3 basic truths are the foundations for individual freedom, personal responsibility, and defense against acts of aggression.
Empathy and War
Something that I find disturbing is the way the general population seems to be accepting and detached when it comes to war, and I find the reason why to be even more disturbing.
With the exception of psychopaths and sociopaths, we all have some amount of empathy within us.
On a deeper level, we know that we are all the same….we are all just human.
It doesn’t matter what country you are from or what religion you are.
We are all human.
This is the common thread that holds us all together.
Most of us absolutely find murder and killing horrible, sickening and absolutely unacceptable, so why is our reaction different when it comes to war?
The answer is a systematic desensitization by the Government who uses fear, propaganda, paranoia, and anger to dehumanize others and aggressively erase our empathy when it comes to how we view others.
They do this starting from childhood by teaching us that our country is the best and we are better than others, instilling a strong sense of nationalism and allegiance within us so that acts of war seem necessary, normal, and just. As I've stated before the modern education system in America is a weapon of mass destruction. I'm not anti-education... that's empowering, but a system that teaches us "the other" is always an existential threat worthy of harm is a dangerous force.
"As I've stated before the modern education system in America is a weapon of mass destruction."
Excellent words aggroed. Upvoted and resteemed.
So true
Ugh. You're calling me on my shit, and you're right. The brevity of this post made it sink in for me, because you said a lot in few words. I would care if it was happening to the people next to me in this coffee shop. So why wouldn't I care when it's people on the other side of the world? I could only not care if I had been so desensitized that it didn't matter to me anymore.
I have some thinking to do.
@aggroed Lovely message :) Self ownership is definitely number one for me. Wishing you the best always.
the more the better
Thank you @aggroed for this insightful post ( as usual) . I do hate War and the whole thought of having 'Rules of War' seems so bizarre to me. I want nothing to do with it like you, but do you think in some cases where we are defending vulnerable and helpless people that it may be necessary ?? i.e. WWII and jewish population, the War on terrorists groups like ISIS and also Khmer Rouge who murdered innocent Cambodia women and children.
Anyway thanks again :)
I think this truth becomes very real for people who are deployed. It seems as though many people have to detach from their overall empathy to cope, and others cannot, so it leaves scars on the psyche. Either way it is very difficult for people to come back to society afterward. I believe if there is a real urgent cause, then taking another person's life can be justified.
We see this in and out of war. If I needed to kill to rescue a loved one from their would-be murderer, I would. Maybe there were times in the past when war consisted of two sides who both held beliefs that they were willing to kill and die for. This is no longer the case. People are paid to fight in wars that they have little say in, and little to do with. It is because of this that I believe many soldiers are unable to cope with what they are ordered to do.
very well post dear bro
Yea its true .
We see that people living in stone age tribal societies also engage in war, what human society has not? It seems less that it is taught than that we have evolved it. In fact we can look to our closest relatives and see that apes also engage in warfare. It's your number one freedom that causes the rub, moving about to acquire sustenance, in doing so people come into conflict about who gets that sustenance or other resource, and resources are limited.
" the modern education system in America is a weapon of mass destruction. I'm not anti-education... that's empowering, but a system that teaches us "the other" is always an existential threat worthy of harm is a dangerous force."
Which class is that in? they hardly teach history and they don't teach any civics, that shit is not on the standardized tests.
I believe the enemies America had in the last century were a huge influence in how the educational system works today. Especially the Soviets since there were big ideological differences between the 2.
Now that socialism/communism is pretty much dead, the education in America should stop its nationalism, but without hating the country of course. Because I have seen online a lot of students who really hate America. Most of them are marxists of course...
That's a good point. I think students today can probably sense that the pro-American stance is being pushed really hard and it might be causing them to rebel against the idea.
Is nationalism bad?
Deep thinking. The world would be a better place if all could have the same perspectives about war and humanity. Nice write up , keep steeming and touching lives
Wonderful piece of art there..
It made me think if being an employee makes me like I am a slave... but maybe it depends if I really want my job and enjoy doing it. hiw sad it could be to those who have no choice.. they can't do what they want to do and made them like slaves.
Yeah, I think in a way if someone is working a job they hate just so they can afford to eat and have a place to sleep, there isn't much of a difference.
true!...and even if you do your job by heart because you love doing it.. you need to go with the flow because the system itself...sucks!
Employers have to do a lot, too.
so are you aggro ed or non-aggro ed? your right they start the brainwashing young its our job as parents to make sure our kids know both sides to the story with regard to what there told at school! @originalworks
The @OriginalWorks bot has determined this post by @aggroed to be original material and upvoted it!
To call @OriginalWorks, simply reply to any post with @originalworks or !originalworks in your message!
agreed
The continuation is very good, I really like your writing, and I also really like the study of social science, I wait for your next writing
I agree. With all that is changing in the world though, I think that we are eventually going to have to learn how to get along in order to survive. The world seems to be at an extreme right now and like an elastic band it's going to snap back in the opposite direction.
Cant believe war is still a thing in 2018...if you havent checked out The Venus Project i highly suggest you do @aggroed
I think we’ve evolved to dehumanize people’s outside of our “tribe”. Before agriculture , centralization of power and large city state societies, any outsiders met could potentially cause serious harm if trusted. Those tribes and peoples who tended to have empathy made themselves extremely volnerable to other tribes with lower ethics and geared toward an extraction based “economy.” So we have been culled to fear the outsider. The state has played on this fear for thousands of years and have used it like you say to devensitize us and train us to hate and dehumanize everyone outside of our “tribe.”
I think it’s time we evolve and expand our definition of tribe. We all belong to one global tribe, and we shouldn’t allow ourselves to be manipulated to wage war against eachother. The fear needs to stop. Thank you for your good work in promoting peace ✊🏼
I'm in favor of local tribes as opposed to becoming a person of no tribe of no identity and no personality and so on and so forth. I'm for global tribes to some extent, online, and maybe in some forms offline. But I'm interested in local focus first. Your country first. Your community first. Your family first. Your culture and traditions first, maybe, to some extent.
I'm actually working on a few posts exploring the concept of decentralized, self governing micro communities ,"tribes", that trade and collaborate peacefully with other "tribes." What I meant by we are part of a global tribe is that we need to see everyone as human as we see the people of our own local tribe. Not that our individual egos and culture become homogenized and dissolved in a new global nation. Think globally act locally.
Agreed. Good points. Steemit is a good example of this.
I have always thought that it should be so simple. All we have to do is treat others like we'd like to be treated ourselves. I don't know how that can be such a difficult concept, but it seems near impossible to carry out.
I am not so sure that the concept of national pride is the culprit. In my opinion being proud of who you are and where you come from is a good thing. I think the problem is when the idea that others are beneath you seeps in.
Being proud of ourselves and our country should not exclude the ability to be accepting that others can have the same honor and pride. We should all be able to accept that about others and get rid of all the polarization that divides and destroys peace.
Love the golden rule.
That is some heavy stuff. I love it. I agree that it is systematic. Why do we need to be so ok with war? Why do we need to turn a blind eye to it? Violence in general is unneccesary, and once you engage you have aslready lost. All chance of growth through a situation is pretty gone.
agreed and I hate war
Ownership comes from freedoms which can come from existence. Too often, people can become too aggressive. Upvoted. Resteemed.
Nice one, every country always projects it's as the best.
I believe that you gave in the point, the solution of this situation happens mainly by the governments of each country; the rulers in their aggressive speeches pretend, and most of the time they succeed, to awaken a feeling of hatred towards other nations, manipulate our minds. And that same thing can happen in our schools, universities, different communities, etc. It is on our side to be able to identify those speeches full of hate and manipulation, reject them, and try to drive them towards the pact of non-aggression. I liked it your exposition. Greetings.
Only the government can commit mass killings against civilians and call it A campaign of bombing in densely populated civilian areas resulting in civilian deaths is a defensive war killings. When the government acts to stop one person from aggression against another, it does so using the resources it has gained through theft. If you violate the principle of non-aggression, your actions may damage and cause damage, but you are limited by the amount of damage that could cause one person with his own resources. However, when the government violates the principle of non-aggression, it does so by using other people's money, how much damage can be inflicted before many people are angry to withdraw support or threaten the revolution. This is also done under the guise of legality. But the intelligent people know that the law is not fair at all. Everyone is the owner of their own body and has the right to do with their bodies. Incorrect ideological planting of the child (like our great country). It can actually create feelings " great ".
The same applies to religion as well. I don't see the need to divide people based on religion and start communal wars. It's a waste of time, energy and life. Rather we can work on improving our world.
You are right that we've been taught to think this way about war since our childhood. TV shows and movies have been used to desensitize us as well.
We are all human to commit mistakes but that is not the justificable. We are all human that can live with peace, love and happiness to one another. We can live without hurting and fighting. Life is what we make it. Life is not a chance its a choice.
Wow loved your post...loved reading it....it's amazing....thank you for sharing have a good day.
Hello @aggroed, superbly presented basic truths! : )
I would like to add that, in addition to the systematic desensitization by the Government, we are less sensitive to war due to a crowd effect.
The explanation of the crowd effect in war is similar to, for example, a situation when someone gets hurt in an accident people just pass by and do not help. This happens because each individual consciously or unconsciously thinks: "If everyone is passing by, it is OK for me to pass by too". It has been observed that when someone surrounded by a crowd needs help, it can take a long time for someone to approach him, but once one person approaches, usually many more will follow, because they will be "awaken" by the action of the first individual that came to help.
Also, wars give us an opportunity to express our dark side. A couple of hours ago, I have published an article about the fact that we are all both good and evil to a certain point, feel free to check it out if it sounds like an interesting expansion to your thoughts.
Cheers! : )
Nice post keep it up
This is a wonderful Piece,,,very helpful to me ,,and its meaningful ,,,thumbs up
All you have said Is the truth..but wat strikes me is these "They do this starting from childhood by teaching us that our country is the best and we are better than others, instilling a strong sense of nationalism and allegiance within us so that acts of war seem necessary, normal, and just. As I've stated before the modern education system in America is a weapon of mass destruction. I'm not anti-education... that's empowering, but a system that teaches us "the other" is always an existential threat worthy of harm is a dangerous force."that's the problem we face..when someone starts to feel supperior to another,that means the other set of people are inferior to them..a perfect example is adolf Itla and the Jews. ..we all know how many jewsh adolf killed# God help us..upvoted
there is an adage in my local dialect which when translated says that when another persons dead body(not related to you) is being carried away, it seems like its just a log of wood. in other words, we sympathies when the grieve affects us personally, but when it does not, we quickly brush it off and change the t.v from CNN to E!.
nice piece @aggroed,
@arinzechukwu from Nigeria.
Nicely stated.
I believe this is the number one reason that things are getting worse everywhere.
Letting those that want to rule teach our children is like letting a fox guard the hen house.
It is against their own self interest to make people aware of their basic unalienable rights... so instead they mis-educate, skew the facts, and otherwise do whatever they can to turn government into a religion.
damn right - i always say :
we don´t need to leave a better world for our children -
we need to leave better children for the world!!!
I hate being a party pooper but there are a few points I feel need to be brought up with your utopian views.
I will agree that most wars and aggression are the result of government propaganda and the ruling tyrants spreading fear and anger. The only way to avoid this is to remove human nature from humans (doesn't sound healthy). Humans feel the need to follow a strong leader (usually a charismatic tyrant or generally self-serving evil person) to protect their rights (principle #3).
I agree all people deserve their rights to be respected and protected (principle #3). But should everyone just standby and watch while the bully beats up the little guy, the religious leader orders the killing of those that won't follow his beliefs or the popular persecute the unpopular? If your not trying to stop someone's rights from being violated, aren't you helping the people causing the harm?
All governments are not created equal. Therefor some countries are better than others. So why wouldn't you be proud of your country if you were lucky enough to be part of the best one you know. I realize that leaves you subject to the indoctrination and propaganda of the government where you were raised, but why wouldn't you be proud of your country if you believe their right? I was raised in America so it's the only country I know of who's government was based on your NAP principle #3 (US declaration of independence). I have a great deal of National pride being part of a country based on the principles of equality, freedom and the right to my own property. Before I am attacked on this point, I am all too aware America's freedoms have been largely destroyed by socialism and mob rule (I mean democracy).
Which brings me to the last point, Americas educational system. It is teaching a system of mass destruction. It indoctrinates our kids to believe in socialism. Socialism is only good for the ruling class and fails every time it is tried. Venezuela is a good current example. Beautiful country with huge natural resource wealth, a socialist government and it's people are starving to death. To put the cherry on top, the American school system teaches our kids fascist tactics (they call it social activism, sounds good doesn't it?) to silence or kill any voice protesting the violent removal of any personal freedom (violation of principle #3 don't you think). A weapon of mass destruction for sure. But "the other" that is an existential threat is you and your desire to "survive, fully live and thrive".
I pray (personal issue, no offense intended) you and your family are able to follow and achieve a life within the NAP principles.