this post was submitted on 30 Sep 2023
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Leftism

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago (2 children)

^ This is the winner, right here. The crux, as it were.

Modern society always ultimately boils down, eventually, to might makes right... just with some extra steps.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

I agree with you. That said, as humans, we're not yet evolved past defending territory we've chosen to live on. I think we still need "might" as an option for response, until we as a creator evolve further.

I don't know if it's possible to get rid of the final might destination on the continuum of responses to issues, but I think we can agree that the "extra steps" part between "an annoyance" and "possible danger to individuals and society" is extremely lacking and narrow.

I strongly, strongly dislike what the police have become, and evolved from, in the united States. Someone does need to investigate crime and murder though, and not just a few amateur podcasters. With some careful thought, and likely messy experimentation, we can handle laws being just, fair and useful. How? That seems to be the tricky part.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

"Warfare is of vital importance to the state, it is a matter of life and death." -Sun Tzu.

A hundreds of years old warlord recognized this, it's a thought independent of economics. As long as there's more than one nation-state on this planet, might is always the end result, including defense from an aggressor.

The idea of inherent violence solely being a capitalist trait doesn't tell the whole truth because the need for might exists as long as there's power dynamic, which exists as long as there is govt.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Has anyone claimed that violence has never occurred outside a context of capitalism?

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

You think it's the govt that creates the power imbalances that results in violence? This is laughable... government is a result of violence that creates the power imbalance. Your point was reasonable until you conflated the two at the end.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I strongly, strongly dislike what the police have become, and evolved from, in the united States. Someone does need to investigate crime and murder though, and not just a few amateur podcasters. With some careful thought, and likely messy experimentation, we can handle laws being just, fair and useful. How? That seems to be the tricky part.

That’s not exclusive to capitalism .

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

True, but as an organization, protection of property seems to be their primary focus in more capital-centric societies.

I'm speaking from an admittedly limited experience, having lived in the US most of my life, so I welcome any other perspective or ideas.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I’m also from the US, and haven’t lived abroad. It did rise to my awareness in this exchange, having recently begun trying to process Bob Altemeyer’s The Authoritarians

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Private property is the cause of the greatest social disparities, and protecting it is essential for our current systems to preserve themselves.

It should be no surprise that it is implicated in much of the greatest violence in our society.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I've seen a few solutions to the private property idea posited. I'll admit my biases, they made me uncomfortable, mainly because they cannot be the only piece of the machine altered.

For ex, there's a very large company near me that allows one to purchase land to build a house on, but that land is your family's for 99 years before ownership reverts to the corporation.

I can't really see the upside for any family, investing a lot of money into property that simply... Vanishes after a time. But that was one of the solutions I previously reviewed, no true ownership. Most of the other ideas were tweaks on that central idea.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I don't know if it's possible to get rid of the final might destination on the continuum of responses to issues

Perhaps the issues themselves are not inevitable.

[–] Gorilladrums 1 points 1 year ago

This will ALWAYS be the case. That's just our reality. The question then becomes, who should have the might and how should it be applied? Looking at history, giving power to the state ultimately leads to the most stability because there is no competition for power. If the state is democratic then the people get to decide when and how force should be used.