Why is GOVERNMENT the Answer? (The Eristocracy, Pt. 2)

[tyrannosaurus vex]

Humans may be degenerates by and large, but that is really no reason to think we have no potential. Arguably, our faults are mitigated to a greater extent with each passing iteration of social structure. Some people believe this is because people are slowly becoming "more aware" or that we are on a path to "Enlightenment." I think this is bunk - people from an "advanced" society will quickly revert to less sophisticated behavior when the situation allows it. The "road to Enlightenment" kind of thinking would also mean that people in advanced civilizations are an evolutionary step ahead of those in more "primitive" societies, apparently since people throughout the developing world don't carry iPads and talk about stock prices all day. Should we think that a lack of modern sophistication, and the spare time to devote brain cycles to frivolous crap like macroeconomics, means a person is automatically lagging, in evolutionary terms? No, they are just at a developmental disadvantage (from our perspective) and they don't share most of our frames of reference about what is important in life.

So it is not the human animal that is evolving to any noticeable degree, but our adeptness at organizing ourselves, communicating, forming governments, and making toys. Every bit of what we think of as sophistication and advancement in technological, social, and other fields is entirely dependent upon the type of State we form for ourselves, and every type of State will produce different results. A fascist State will induce a certain set of qualities in its people; a Capitalist state another set; a Banana republic yet another, and so on. The government of your country may not directly program you to believe certain things or behave in certain ways but it will arrange your society in ways that make you adapt your behaviors to best fit that society. The theory of what constitutes a "good" government therefore must go beyond mathematical considerations like how big it should be or what the representation rate should be (if it is a democracy); it must also consider what its effects will be on society just by virtue of its existence. And it must be concerned with more than just procedures and methods for how its edicts will be implemented; it also needs to consider what the nation's personality is (or what it should be), and articulate that in broad but meaningful ways.

So what kind of country is the best? That is for the People to decide. And you will find that this is one area where Humans are not terrible. When dreaming about the future or about the way things should be, Humanity has an incredible ability to put aside differences, forget transgressions, give others the benefit of the doubt, and cooperate. This, of course, is where many governments begin to make the mistake of assuming the best about people, even when there is no good reason to do so. But it is also the source of a lot of hope and potential for the Human Condition to improve. When a nation defines itself with a constitution, that definition stands as a marker for future generations to look back at and remember just what it is they are supposed to be working for - what their collective, daily grunting about in the trenches of everyday life is supposed to amount to. A nation's identity should be not just a set of operating instructions for the national machine, but a map of where and why it exists in the first place. Otherwise, it is only a game at best, and the People will only play it so long as they are rewarded for playing or punished for not playing - but they will not become emotionally invested in the game's outcome.

The formation of a government is the time to map out just how far you're willing to take the evolution of the Human society. In 1776, people in the USA were mapping out what was wrong with their current situation; in 1787 they defined what was right about what they were doing, and they put their ideals into a workable framework for government. That framework has served the USA for 223 years; ant it has shown that when people are called to a higher purpose, they will (slowly, with a lot of kicking and screaming) eventually rise to that purpose, and become at least an approximate version of what they set out to become in the beginning. Conversely, when we are called to a lower purpose (like lynching somebody or stopping a mosque from being built) we will sink to that purpose - usually quite a bit faster, because it is easier to go back than forward.

[Prince Glittersnatch III]

The formation of a government is the time to map out just how far you're willing to take the evolution of the Human society. In 1776, people in the USA were mapping out what was wrong with their current situation; in 1787 they defined what was right about what they were doing, and they put their ideals into a workable framework for government. That framework has served the USA for 223 years; ant it has shown that when people are called to a higher purpose, they will (slowly, with a lot of kicking and screaming) eventually rise to that purpose, and become at least an approximate version of what they set out to become in the beginning.

Damn straight, Merkka was founded by (Evangelical Protestant)Christian Capitalists to be the worlds first (Christian)Democracy, and Ill be damned if some Godless Black Muslim Commie is gonna change that. GLENN BECK FOR PRESIDENT.

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[Doktor Howl]

Huh?

Government doesn't even exist.

[tyrannosaurus vex]

Huh?

Government doesn't even exist.

Tell it to the jackboots, peasant.

[Doktor Howl]

Huh?

Government doesn't even exist.

Tell it to the jackboots, peasant.

Jackboots exist.  Truncheons exist.  Goons are a social fiction.