4 ms·
I suspect we have different feelings about the individuals involved, but I have the same takeaway from studying the period. One of the fundamental concerns of c
by thom 4y ago
I suspect we have different feelings about the individuals involved, but I have the same takeaway from studying the period. One of the fundamental concerns of civilisation is the management of warlords. You can wish that highly ambitious, capable people don’t arise and choose to accumulate power, but that isn’t going to stop them. You need a system that puts them to productive, non-violent uses and this to me is a strong argument for capitalism. It gives would-be warlords a way to service their ambitions that can generally be a benefit to society.
- sassy_quat 4y agoAlternatively in a scarcity system with anxiety over one's own future, absolute authority becomes more desirable, not less. The only law that could be removed to prevent this would be the law of nature, since the only greater driving force than one's legacy is to promote the future of one's own children (the least mentioned failing of socialist societies). The existence of a warlord tendency isn't totally abolished with capitalism, it is only mitigated by pressures to conform which is problematic for modern society versus Victorian or 50s society because various brands or artists wish precisely to stand out. There is no way for anything to ultimately be a benefit to society without any understanding that one is part of a greater whole, which will be an interesting argument to present to anyone involved in designing curriculums.