If you could alter human nature so that everybody trusted everybody else, and everybody cooperated with everyone else, then people could work significantly less.
In that scenario you wouldn’t need police, courts, food inspectors, restaurant inspectors, auditors, or a military because everyone would just be cooperating and honest. Offices would need far fewer managers because managers would just be coordinating work, and never have to worry about employees slacking off. HR would never have to fire anybody or discipline them because everyone would be trustworthy. You’d need far fewer executives, and the executives would be honest about how little they worked, and wouldn’t ask for absurd compensation.
But, that isn’t humanity. Throughout history people solving disputes non-violently has been extremely rare. It’s possible among small isolated groups who all know each-other, but as soon as you get towns, people are no longer able to completely trust the people they encounter day to day.
People are also underestimating how good we in the developed world have it today. Working only 40 hours a week was something only the privileged few used to be able to do. Being able to choose what you want to eat is something that only the nobility used to do. Could it be better? Sure. Has it gotten worse on the small time scale of decades? Maybe for some groups. But, for most of the world the last few decades have been ones where the standard of living has gone up by leaps and bounds.
Yes, we should guillotine all the rich, but look at the immediate aftermath of the French Revolution to see how a fully justified plan can still cause death, starvation and chaos in the short term. Humans are still animals, and although we can sometimes recognize there’s a problem, cleanly transitioning to a better system without chaos and death is not something we’ve figured out how to do.
We do not need to change human nature. We need to figure out more effective ways of countering the relentless skullduggery of rich shitheads.
You are repeating a lazy old trope that encourages inaction and creates the current situation. Human nature is just fine. We all have good parts and bad parts in our nature. Society is defined by how it encourages the better parts and how it manages the worst parts.
We need to figure out how to counter the age old practice of entrenched rich interests using shitty underhanded tactics to undermine effective efforts for marginalized and poverty stricken people to organize and help themselves.
If you look at the history of movements that attempt to build mutual aid networks and actually provide for themselves, you will also find wealthy individuals sowing seeds of destruction. Media and whisper campaigns, using entrenched political advantages, intimidation, and outright assassination are all commonly used methods.
The reason the Black Panthers were so frightening to the powers that be was not because of the armed members that were the only ones shown on TV. The media was careful to avoid mentioning that BP were also working with community groups to provide breakfast programs for school age kids and other community support programs.
The Black Panthers were frightening to the powers that be because they were forming an actual ad hoc government that was intended to meet the needs of the local people the official government would not. This same pattern has been repeated in every situation in recorded history where a marginalized group organized themselves and became a threat through their unity and coordination.
We do not need to change human nature. We need to figure out more effective ways of countering the relentless skullduggery of rich shitheads.
Who are… not human? Or is that just their human nature coming out?
You are repeating a lazy old trope that encourages inaction and creates the current situation.
No, I’m stating the truth. You’re wasting time trying to pretend that human nature isn’t what it is.
We need to figure out how to counter the age old practice of entrenched rich interests
Keep trying to figure it out. I wish you luck. But, the truth is, it’s not going to get much better than this. For 10,000 years of humanity as soon as there have been enough people in one place, there have been hierarchies, and typically the ones at the top have been much richer and much more brutal than what we have now. Often there are well-intentioned people who try to overthrow an old system that they think is unfair, and end up in one that’s even worse. You might depose one authoritarian government and end up with one that’s actually even worse.
Look at the results of the Arab Spring. Things got much worse in Syria, Yemen, Egypt, Lybia, Bahrain. It’s only really Tunisia where things got better.
As for the Black Panthers, what lasting progress can you credit them with?
If you could alter human nature so that everybody trusted everybody else, and everybody cooperated with everyone else, then people could work significantly less.
In that scenario you wouldn’t need police, courts, food inspectors, restaurant inspectors, auditors, or a military because everyone would just be cooperating and honest. Offices would need far fewer managers because managers would just be coordinating work, and never have to worry about employees slacking off. HR would never have to fire anybody or discipline them because everyone would be trustworthy. You’d need far fewer executives, and the executives would be honest about how little they worked, and wouldn’t ask for absurd compensation.
But, that isn’t humanity. Throughout history people solving disputes non-violently has been extremely rare. It’s possible among small isolated groups who all know each-other, but as soon as you get towns, people are no longer able to completely trust the people they encounter day to day.
People are also underestimating how good we in the developed world have it today. Working only 40 hours a week was something only the privileged few used to be able to do. Being able to choose what you want to eat is something that only the nobility used to do. Could it be better? Sure. Has it gotten worse on the small time scale of decades? Maybe for some groups. But, for most of the world the last few decades have been ones where the standard of living has gone up by leaps and bounds.
Yes, we should guillotine all the rich, but look at the immediate aftermath of the French Revolution to see how a fully justified plan can still cause death, starvation and chaos in the short term. Humans are still animals, and although we can sometimes recognize there’s a problem, cleanly transitioning to a better system without chaos and death is not something we’ve figured out how to do.
We do not need to change human nature. We need to figure out more effective ways of countering the relentless skullduggery of rich shitheads.
You are repeating a lazy old trope that encourages inaction and creates the current situation. Human nature is just fine. We all have good parts and bad parts in our nature. Society is defined by how it encourages the better parts and how it manages the worst parts.
We need to figure out how to counter the age old practice of entrenched rich interests using shitty underhanded tactics to undermine effective efforts for marginalized and poverty stricken people to organize and help themselves.
If you look at the history of movements that attempt to build mutual aid networks and actually provide for themselves, you will also find wealthy individuals sowing seeds of destruction. Media and whisper campaigns, using entrenched political advantages, intimidation, and outright assassination are all commonly used methods.
The reason the Black Panthers were so frightening to the powers that be was not because of the armed members that were the only ones shown on TV. The media was careful to avoid mentioning that BP were also working with community groups to provide breakfast programs for school age kids and other community support programs.
The Black Panthers were frightening to the powers that be because they were forming an actual ad hoc government that was intended to meet the needs of the local people the official government would not. This same pattern has been repeated in every situation in recorded history where a marginalized group organized themselves and became a threat through their unity and coordination.
Who are… not human? Or is that just their human nature coming out?
No, I’m stating the truth. You’re wasting time trying to pretend that human nature isn’t what it is.
Keep trying to figure it out. I wish you luck. But, the truth is, it’s not going to get much better than this. For 10,000 years of humanity as soon as there have been enough people in one place, there have been hierarchies, and typically the ones at the top have been much richer and much more brutal than what we have now. Often there are well-intentioned people who try to overthrow an old system that they think is unfair, and end up in one that’s even worse. You might depose one authoritarian government and end up with one that’s actually even worse.
Look at the results of the Arab Spring. Things got much worse in Syria, Yemen, Egypt, Lybia, Bahrain. It’s only really Tunisia where things got better.
As for the Black Panthers, what lasting progress can you credit them with?
I credit them with the fact we are talking about them.
You have given up before even trying.
We also talk about the Confederacy.
I’m not giving up, I’m just acknowledging that it’s not a simple matter.