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This sort of onesidedness is exactly the cause of the issue. Virtually all of the great crimes of the last century were conducted by governments. While I wouldn

This sort of onesidedness is exactly the cause of the issue. Virtually all of the great crimes of the last century were conducted by governments. While I wouldn’t consider myself an anarchist/libertarian/anti-government, it seems eminently reasonable to me to be deeply skeptical of centralized governmental authority. Whether that’s actually desirable or practical is a different matter.

kergonath 6y ago
Virtually all the great crimes were conducted by people. Let's just kill them all... Seriously though, large-scale crimes are committed by people with power, so it's not surprising to see governments in there. But that would be ignoring all gangs, guerrillas, sects, etc. You cannot really put in the same bag dictatorships and democracies. Not to say the latter are perfect. There are many examples of atrocities committed under democratic regimes, which are indeed cautionary tales of government gone wrong. But under a dictatorship, the state serves one person or clan, it's a completely different beast. The lesson from these is more like "don't ever put a strongman in power". Also, limiting yourself to the last century is very reductive, because it was a period with strong governments and powerful nations, which limited excesses from private entities. But if you take government control away, those will back filling up the power vacuum. I am not certain we would be enthusiastic bout a 21st century version of the East India Company, and several corporations would have the resources to do something like that.
- ceilingcorner 6y ago
  It seems to me that great crimes are only possible with centralized power sources. Typically that is a government, but it is often an unaccountable corporation, too. If power is distributed, you may have more gang and guerrilla activity, but that seems far less damaging than the Holocaust or the Soviet purges. As I said, while I don’t follow the position myself, I think it’s pretty reasonable to be skeptical of powerful centralized governments.
  - n4r9 6y ago
    Great crimes are possible with centralised power sources led by a single strong person who cannot be removed. If you spread the power amongst a committee and enforce a regular turnover of it as part of your political process, then you greatly mitigate the risk of "great crimes". In fact I regard this as a cornerstone of democracy.

kergonath 6y ago

Virtually all the great crimes were conducted by people. Let's just kill them all... Seriously though, large-scale crimes are committed by people with power, so it's not surprising to see governments in there. But that would be ignoring all gangs, guerrillas, sects, etc. You cannot really put in the same bag dictatorships and democracies. Not to say the latter are perfect. There are many examples of atrocities committed under democratic regimes, which are indeed cautionary tales of government gone wrong. But under a dictatorship, the state serves one person or clan, it's a completely different beast. The lesson from these is more like "don't ever put a strongman in power". Also, limiting yourself to the last century is very reductive, because it was a period with strong governments and powerful nations, which limited excesses from private entities. But if you take government control away, those will back filling up the power vacuum. I am not certain we would be enthusiastic bout a 21st century version of the East India Company, and several corporations would have the resources to do something like that.

ceilingcorner 6y ago
It seems to me that great crimes are only possible with centralized power sources. Typically that is a government, but it is often an unaccountable corporation, too. If power is distributed, you may have more gang and guerrilla activity, but that seems far less damaging than the Holocaust or the Soviet purges. As I said, while I don’t follow the position myself, I think it’s pretty reasonable to be skeptical of powerful centralized governments.
- n4r9 6y ago
  Great crimes are possible with centralised power sources led by a single strong person who cannot be removed. If you spread the power amongst a committee and enforce a regular turnover of it as part of your political process, then you greatly mitigate the risk of "great crimes". In fact I regard this as a cornerstone of democracy.