Quote:
Originally posted by sebastian_dangerfield
These people confuse the living piss out of me. I don't get them at all. Why? Where does this desire to control other people you don't even know come from? Am I missing that gene? I think I got the gene that blocks understanding why people want to meddle in other people's business. I just don't get it. Its hard enough to keep control of your own life in this world... why the fuck would you want to go fucking around with other people's lives? Am I nuts? I've tried looking for studies about what sort of personality defects make people want to control others, but I find little good literature (lots of stuff about the Nazis and such). Other than fear, the anthropoligists offer no explanation for the phenomenon. Why is "live and let live" such a hard concept for so many? This is an earnest question - I think it goes to the heart of the present political debate.
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Well, my good and kind man, I'd suggest it has something to do with the understanding of the social compact. All of society, all of law, all of civilization, is a social compact. What was that book I read, oh yeah, Guns Germs and Steel, explains the development of humankind through different parts of the world, starting in Africa. Evolution, including societal evolution, is often based on no more than an accident of nature. Oops, did the early Africans kill off all the domesticatable mammals in the Beginning? Well, their descendants will do better in Asia. Just a gigantic series of accidents.
So, one day in the gathering stage (and in multiple societies), humans figured out how to leverage the battle for food through crop-cultivation etc. etc. etc. Next thing ya know, in every society someone steps up and says "hey, that Mountain just spoke to me, he says I'm the messenger". Literally, a cynic might think the original Priests were just trying to get out of their share of work (they were the first people excused from tending crops).
But the question is begged, why did people believe them when they stepped forward? In different places all over the world, some dude steps forward and says the Creator just spoke to him, and people buy into it. Its like, like, we want to believe in something.
Anyhoo, social contract. I scratch your back, you scratch mine. I agree to avenge your murder, you agree to avenge mine. Heck, we'll call the vengeance thing The Justice System. Otherwise, why the fuck do I care is your wife puts a hatchet through your skull? Its like a gigantic deal for society.
Welp, over time, people begin to think about whether the deal is fair. Some people begin to wonder, do we sell out some people? Next thing you know, slaves are being freed, women are getting the vote, gays are getting civil unions. People are all being allowed to buy into the system. That same instinct that tells someone, hey why should black people be bought and sold? Why shouldn't women be allowed to vote? Why shouldn't gays get civil unions? Well, that's the same instinct that tells others to help out society's defenseless others. I'm not sure there's a name for it, but I don't think I understand why anyone is opposed to it either. Why is someone opposed to helping out the defenseless in society?
