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, Mon, 22 Nov 2010 13:43:10
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I decided to use a different signature/pseudonym for non-car and potentially contentious discussions, so that any difference in opinion does not spill over to the commraderie that we share for the cars and the upkeeps that we enjoy and come here for. After much thought I decided on the "Reality" name because it is obviously not a real name, and I came to realize that _reality_ and how we perceive it, and how we choose to act according to such perception is indeed the crux of the issue.
I had been writing for some time that instead of modeling "government" as some kind of devine figure being able to carry out justice, right all wrongs and protect us all, in reality it's just a monopolistic syndicate that gives a tiny minority the exclusive right to use violence/coercion against the rest of the population with impunity. Due to the non-competitive nature, such a monopoly is bound to become expensive and ineffective over time; plus, power corrupts, on top of that.
"No Snaab" made a very good observation in the discussion over the weekend that, _in reality_, there has never been a society without a government.
That's actually very true, just like there has never been a society without rape and robbery. Both sets of observations are actually valid. All of us have to decide for ourselves where each of us want to fit in such realities. I can see three types of responses, perhaps even three phases during the life time of a single person:
1. Blissful Ignorance; pretend not to know the abusive nature of power, and find solace in the belief that those with the power have the "divine right" / "mandate" to wield them. That's what the vast majority of people in most of human history tried to do.
2. Strive for a more liberal society, where special privileges are reduced/removed, and everyone is more or less treated equally in front of the law, natural laws based on individual self-determination and non-aggression principles.
3. A Machiavellian approach: since most people in most historical time periods are rather passive, may as well try putting on the costume/uniform of the privileged class and raping/pillaging vast majority of the population.
I have so far chosen option 2 because IMHO although most of human history is consisted of dark ages of human misery, it was the brief periods of human liberty in the relatively free societies that accounted for most of the progresses and happy times in human history . . . and we are living in the tail end of such a period. Any prolongation of the relatively enlightened period will be worth the effort.
posted by 96.233.42...
, Thu, 25 Nov 2010 15:25:26
, Tue, 23 Nov 2010 05:56:11
, Wed, 24 Nov 2010 08:08:05, Tue, 23 Nov 2010 09:54:18
, Tue, 23 Nov 2010 15:10:44, Wed, 24 Nov 2010 06:43:46, Mon, 22 Nov 2010 21:02:58
, Mon, 22 Nov 2010 03:33:49, Mon, 22 Nov 2010 08:29:31, Tue, 23 Nov 2010 15:25:45, Wed, 24 Nov 2010 08:05:01, Mon, 22 Nov 2010 13:43:10, Sun, 21 Nov 2010 16:22:28
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