How many times have you seen the claim that America has more guns (and fewer anti-gun "laws") than other civilized societies in "The West"?
It's a nonsense claim.
Countries with anti-gun "laws" are not civilized. They may be domesticated, or not. But "civilized"? No way!
One non-negotiable mark of a civilized society is that it doesn't interfere with the liberty or rights of those inside it. Anti-gun "laws" do interfere. They treat the residents as bad, stupid, helpless children.
All else being equal, the more anti-gun "laws", the less civilized a society. No matter the claims made about it by its fans.
I don't think I want to be "civilized." Wikipedia:
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A civilization or civilisation (see English spelling differences) is any complex society characterized by urban development, social stratification imposed by a cultural elite, symbolic systems of communication (for example, writing systems), and a perceived separation from and domination over the natural environment.
Civilizations are intimately associated with and often further defined by other socio-politico-economic characteristics, including centralization, the domestication of both humans and other organisms, specialization of labour, culturally ingrained ideologies of progress and supremacism, monumental architecture, taxation, societal dependence upon farming and expansionism.
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Which is pretty much a way of saying "having the opposite of freedom and applauding that absence of freedom as the source of all good things."
If that were what I thought of when I heard or used the word "civilization" I wouldn't want it either!
DeleteThat makes me think civilizations are not civilized.
DeleteWell, the definitions of "civilized" seem to be closer than you think.
ReplyDeleteYour definition of "civilized" seems to be "humans who are polite and non-violently disposed toward others."
The historical definition of "civilized" seems to be "human livestock who are polite and non-violently disposed toward each others because their owners have trained them well and applied the lash as necessary."
The basis for any civilization is mutual needs/wants/benefit. People must learn/practice peaceful coexistence and develop systems of organization to manage said mutual needs/resources.
ReplyDeleteStatism is not civilized. It is not civilization. It is not people practicing peaceful coexistence. It is a system of organization based on violence.
So what to do about it? Since no one wants to do anything but try to convince those who do not care and will never change, who will always demand the state and teach their children to be serfs, I recommend putting on your lipstick and start acquiring a taste for boot leather. And you might want to teach your children how to rationalize accepting being a serf/slave too.
...or you can start thinking about how to kill billions of people in a very short time span. Because they don't want peaceful coexistence, freedom, liberty, ..they care not about rights or much of anything, as long as they get their piece of the pie at your expense, and in return for their obedience and support.