Sure.Is it true that for the majority of homo sapiens existence, we got along without having police officers or laws governing our behavior? — Shawn
Even if this were true how would it help today? — Tom Storm
We have always experienced 'authority,' even in tiny groups. — universeness
I can't imagine any authority imposed on prehistoric homo sapiens other than satisfying basic needs such as food, clothing, and shelter. — Shawn
Is it true that for the majority of homo sapiens existence, we got along without having police officers or laws governing our behavior? I raise this because libertarians sometimes quip this fact as justification for limited government in regulating our behavior. — Shawn
We have always experienced 'authority,' even in tiny groups. — universeness
The libertarian concept ignores two facts: any (not just human, but all other) social structure in living beings is built hierarchically. If you get away from hierarchy(**), you destroy social structure. 2. social structure in human societies is more protective and accommodating for an individual than living outside a social structure. — god must be atheist
Uh, no. I'm referring when in various countries a so-called "Police Departments" emerged I think in the 17th Century. Of course a similar role as now we have for police could be found in ancient Babylon etc, but in your question of limited government / libertarianism / role of police, I think looking at countries pre-17th Century starts to be a bit difficult. The whole question that libertarians apply is for modern societies, not so useful for medieval or tribal societies.A self policing government sounds pretty cool, but, isn't that called fascism? — Shawn
The Dawn of Everything , a book by anarchist anthropologist David Graeber and archeologist David Wengrow,claims that the above received wisdom is wrong. Their arguments have created quite a stir in anthropological circles.
“Human society, in this view, is founded on the collective repression of our baser instincts, which becomes all the more necessary when humans are living in large numbers in the same place. The modern-day Hobbesian, then, would argue that, yes, we did live most of our evolutionary history in tiny bands, who could get along mainly because they shared a common interest in the survival of their offspring (‘parental investment’, as evolutionary biologists call it).But even these were in no sense founded on equality. There was always, in this version, some ‘alpha-male’ leader. — Joshs
I think it's interesting to advocate libertarianism from an evolutionary standpoint. If homo sapiens needs governments and enforcers of the law to promote its own welfare, then it's a moot point. In other words, are governments and police forces inevitable from an evolutionary perspective? Is the question incoherent or is there any sense to it?
The morally-challenged were evolutionarily successful (might was right) and the good were simply killed off. Now, I somehow don't feel as proud about my ancestry anymore, not that there was anything there to begin with, its bad vs. bad or worse vs. bad — Agent Smith
I've often thought that for me to be here, some of my ancestors must have, at some time, done a few really horrendous things. Take a direct line back and there were obviously some really bad dudes on that family tree — Bradskii
The Dawn of Everything , a book by anarchist anthropologist David Graeber and archeologist David Wengrow, claims that the above received wisdom is wrong. Their arguments have created quite a stir in anthropological circles. — Joshs
More testosterone? — Bradskii
If the text-quote is from "The Dawn of Everything," then the their own text contradicts their proposition, inasmuch as the proposition calls me wrong, when I said there have always been hierarchies in social arrangements, so much among humans as much among other social animals. — god must be atheist
Joshs, what are your own thoughts about rational egotism and how facilitating it is dependent on governments? — Shawn
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