thx1138inator

thx1138inator t1_jdxtmu4 wrote

Reply to comment by mbfunke in Vivek Venkataraman argues that political equality and proto-democracy were the most common form of political organisation in the "state of nature". These ideals preceded modern liberalism & statehood, and are arguably how humans have lived the majority of our evolution. by Ma3Ke4Li3

Depends on the state. I am quite happy with the government of the state of MN. I want others to be happy with the states they live in as well. I don't understand what southerners want but, I hope they get it for their sake (unless it causes damage to shared resources like the atmosphere).
But ultimately I think Americans should spend more time imagining the political structure they want to live under. Inequality will always exist. But what is a fair level? These are questions that have been pondered by humans for most of their history. I am a bit uncomfortable with the current, ossified nature of our political organization.

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thx1138inator t1_jdx4ysu wrote

Reply to comment by mbfunke in Vivek Venkataraman argues that political equality and proto-democracy were the most common form of political organisation in the "state of nature". These ideals preceded modern liberalism & statehood, and are arguably how humans have lived the majority of our evolution. by Ma3Ke4Li3

My thoughts are that we should be shifting political power into smaller groups. So, currently in the USA, there is significant power concentrated at the federal level. But, why should health care administration, for example, happen at the federal level rather than the state level? Human health concerns are really quite local (pandemics being an exception). Why not administer most health delivery/payment purely at the state level? The USA would get more diversity and innovation that way. We should really reconsider allowing concentration of so many decisions in the hands of so few people.

Counter point- we benefit from efficiency of scale. But man, when things go wrong at scale, they really go wrong!

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thx1138inator t1_jdws0os wrote

Reply to comment by mbfunke in Vivek Venkataraman argues that political equality and proto-democracy were the most common form of political organisation in the "state of nature". These ideals preceded modern liberalism & statehood, and are arguably how humans have lived the majority of our evolution. by Ma3Ke4Li3

Exactly - What if the scale of our organizations is the root of the problem with modern humanity? The smaller the scale, the smaller the problems.

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thx1138inator t1_jdwomub wrote

Reply to comment by mbfunke in Vivek Venkataraman argues that political equality and proto-democracy were the most common form of political organisation in the "state of nature". These ideals preceded modern liberalism & statehood, and are arguably how humans have lived the majority of our evolution. by Ma3Ke4Li3

Maybe you've read "The Dawn of Everything" by the two David's? At least one of them is an anarchist (I assume as result of his archaeology studies).

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thx1138inator t1_iuz4658 wrote

Reply to comment by hexenkesse1 in "The Lull | Our Age of Catastrophic Uneventfulness" - An exploration on how 'the end of history' has affected our cultural consciousness and imagination by catch878

I think it is more than just distorted perception. Violence just is not a part of the average man's life anymore. Maybe Israelis, and even then, it is only the threat of violence. Ukraine is an aberration. I think the modern instruments of war preclude humans from engaging in violence in a culturally meaningful way. You could think of a handgun as a nuclear weapon at a personal scale. It's incompatible with the style of warfare that humans engaged in for the majority of their history. To say nothing of nuclear weapons! And it's very, very hard to imagine going back to less fatal forms of warfare. Your opponent would just bring a gun to the knife fight.
Then we have the monopoly on the use of force by the state. Non military citizens have to content themselves with violent ideation, of which we have many forms.

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