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>, as we don't live in such small communities, Right, that's today's situation. My "government not required" is talking about how ancient money can arise spo
by jasode 9y ago
>, as we don't live in such small communities,
Right, that's today's situation. My "government not required" is talking about how ancient money can arise spontaneously without a separate entity that we think of today as "government". If we think of "money" at its basic level of keeping track of "promises", "favors", and "trust" ... all those human instincts of coordination can precede old governments like the Roman Empire and Egyptian pharaohs. It just can't do so on a large scale among strangers.
>2 people [...] they're basically acting as a government in themselves
If we go back & forth by then redefining "government" to mean "any humans coordinating" then I suppose we could stretch "governance" all the way back to human invention of fire. If we use this all-encompassing idea of "government", then I suppose it means nothing preceded government.
- coldtea 9y ago>If we go back & forth by then redefining "government" to mean "any humans coordinating" then I suppose we could stretch "governance" all the way back to human invention of fire. And what would be strange about that? I see no reason to constrain government to only mean the modern(-ish) state. Ancient Rome was also a government, Babylonians had kings, jungle tribes had rulers and elders, etc etc. I'd say any human community had a governance structure way into prehistory. >If we use this all-encompassing idea of "government", then I suppose it means nothing preceded government. Yes -- but I don't find that strange. What would precede government? If there was anything, it would more like primate animals living in packs akin to animals, but with no other structure in their "communities". As soon as some structure emerges, they also need ways to decide what they do, assign responsibilities, punish bad behavior, etc.