Free Capitalist Network - Community Archive
Mises Community Archive
An online community for fans of Austrian economics and libertarianism, featuring forums, user blogs, and more.

Is Civilization Evil?

This post has 444 Replies | 17 Followers

Top 10 Contributor
Male
Posts 6,885
Points 121,845
Clayton replied on Sun, Apr 29 2012 12:30 PM

I'm on the edge of glory!

http://voluntaryistreader.wordpress.com
  • | Post Points: 5
Top 75 Contributor
Posts 1,149
Points 23,875

Can you type back to me and give me a sum up what these paragraphs are saying?

Do you think I'm stupid????

OK fine. It's about the Illiad. What else are you going after?

I already explained why I became anti-civ: libertarianism is all about ethics, namely anti-aggression. I did research and came to the conclusion that 1) civilization is inherently aggressive, 2) civ is inherently unsustainable and will collapse soon enough and 3) that civ survives because of mass aggression commited by the state. Enough for you?

  • | Post Points: 20
Top 500 Contributor
Posts 247
Points 4,055
excel replied on Mon, Apr 30 2012 1:54 AM

But since H/G is by the same standard as civ even more inherently aggressive, unsustainable (no, nature doesn't magically regrow everything you harvest from it) and only survives as long as H/Gs can aggressively expand into new territories (migration) to maintain their supplies, it seems to me like you're back to square one...

  • | Post Points: 20
Top 75 Contributor
Posts 1,149
Points 23,875

But since H/G is by the same standard as civ even more inherently aggressive, unsustainable (no, nature doesn't magically regrow everything you harvest from it) and only survives as long as H/Gs can aggressively expand into new territories (migration) to maintain their supplies, it seems to me like you're back to square one...

H/Gs were way more peaceful then civilized man. That's what all the evidence shows. H/Gs do not have a culture of violence the way we do.

Migration doesn't mean "expanding territory" the way states do. It just means moving from place to place when food in one place becomes scarce.

  • | Post Points: 35
Top 500 Contributor
Posts 247
Points 4,055
excel replied on Mon, Apr 30 2012 2:53 AM

Expanding terriroty doesn't mean the violent slaughter of inhabiting peoples and then consuming the resources in the new territory, the way H/G tribes do. It just means employing superior technology to new areas in order to increase productivity.

 

The evidence shows that violence was very common in H/G societies. (Graves show that a lot of H/G era people died due to violence). Two thirds of modern H/G societies are in an almost constant state of tribal warfare, and the only H/G tribe that is virtually completely isolated from the world remains so because they immediately try kill anyone who moves onto their turf. (North Sentinel Island). So NSI, a H/G society that is virtually untouched by civ, the closest case we have to ancient H/Gs, kill or try to kill anyone who lands or gets close to their island.

Admittedly, a farmer will be pissed off at you if you walk through his fields, but he's not likely to start shooting you the moment he spots you.

  • | Post Points: 5
Top 10 Contributor
Male
Posts 6,885
Points 121,845
Clayton replied on Mon, Apr 30 2012 12:57 PM

H/Gs were way more peaceful then civilized man

Nope.

Clayton -

http://voluntaryistreader.wordpress.com
  • | Post Points: 20
Top 75 Contributor
Posts 1,149
Points 23,875

Nope.

Wrong.

Critical reviews of Pinker

  • | Post Points: 20
Top 10 Contributor
Male
Posts 6,885
Points 121,845
Clayton replied on Wed, May 2 2012 6:19 PM

Freedom4Me73986:

Nope.

Wrong.

Critical reviews of Pinker

 

Don't be ridiculous.

Clayton -

http://voluntaryistreader.wordpress.com
  • | Post Points: 20
Top 200 Contributor
Male
Posts 508
Points 8,570

You know, I just had to burst out laughing when I clicked that link titled "Critical reviews of Pinker", and it was FUCKING AMAZON.COM REVIEWS.

Thread over.

  • | Post Points: 20
Top 75 Contributor
Posts 1,149
Points 23,875

Some of those reviews have info which debunks Pinker. You can also look up the facts on civilization and violence.

  • | Post Points: 20
Top 10 Contributor
Male
Posts 6,885
Points 121,845
Clayton replied on Thu, May 3 2012 12:15 AM

AP Photo: Guy who debunked Steven Pinker in an Amazon review

http://voluntaryistreader.wordpress.com
  • | Post Points: 20
Top 75 Contributor
Posts 1,149
Points 23,875
Top 50 Contributor
Posts 2,956
Points 56,800

"Pinker's hypothesis doesn't include the mass killing of other life forms--not just environmental destruction, but countless species wiped out and a daily holocaust of animals for human consumption. That massive violence against other species UTTERLY discredits this book."

Ah Ishmael, I've found you.

  • | Post Points: 20
Top 50 Contributor
Male
Posts 2,051
Points 36,080
Bert replied on Thu, May 3 2012 9:44 AM

Migration doesn't mean "expanding territory" the way states do. It just means moving from place to place when food in one place becomes scarce.

You don't think food can become scarce in more than one place at the same time?  What if two (or more) rival tribes end up in the same territory after food?

I had always been impressed by the fact that there are a surprising number of individuals who never use their minds if they can avoid it, and an equal number who do use their minds, but in an amazingly stupid way. - Carl Jung, Man and His Symbols
  • | Post Points: 20
Top 75 Contributor
Posts 1,149
Points 23,875

 

"Pinker's hypothesis doesn't include the mass killing of other life forms--not just environmental destruction, but countless species wiped out and a daily holocaust of animals for human consumption. That massive violence against other species UTTERLY discredits this book."

Ah Ishmael, I've found you.

 

I follow the NAP. That means I don't exercise force against anything living. I don't eat animals or animal products, not just for health reasons (almost all dairy is cancer-haven) but for libertarian reasons aswell. It's statist to keep living an unnecessarily violent lifestyle.

  • | Post Points: 35
Top 50 Contributor
Posts 2,956
Points 56,800

I applaud you for your attempt to make your actions consistent with your values but I think your values are more than a little silly.

If God didn't intend for us to eat steak then why did he make it so delicious?  

Tide goes in tide goes out you can't explain that.

  • | Post Points: 35
Top 50 Contributor
Posts 2,679
Points 45,110

bloomj31:

 

If God didn't intend for us to eat steak then why did he make it so delicious?  

Tide goes in tide goes out you can't explain that.

/thread

  • | Post Points: 5
Top 75 Contributor
Posts 1,149
Points 23,875

 

I applaud you for your attempt to make your actions consistent with your values but I think your values are more than a little silly.

If God didn't intend for us to eat steak then why did he make it so delicious?  

Tide goes in tide goes out you can't explain that.

Human beings are not designed to eat meat. Early man was not a "hunter gatherer" but just a gatherer.

  • | Post Points: 65
Top 50 Contributor
Posts 2,956
Points 56,800

I digest meat just fine.

  • | Post Points: 20
Top 50 Contributor
Posts 2,679
Points 45,110

Obviously you are wrong, bloomj31, because someone, somewhere has used the evil internet to say otherwise.

  • | Post Points: 5
Top 10 Contributor
Male
Posts 5,118
Points 87,310
ForumsAdministrator
Moderator
SystemAdministrator

Freedom4Me73986:
[...] just a gatherer.

Some people gather wild animals.

To paraphrase Marc Faber: We're all doomed, but that doesn't mean that we can't make money in the process.
Rabbi Lapin: "Let's make bricks!"
Stephan Kinsella: "Say you and I both want to make a German chocolate cake."

  • | Post Points: 5
Top 75 Contributor
Posts 1,389
Points 21,840
Moderator

Human beings are not designed to eat meat.

 

What a scientific ultilitarian you are !  Do you wish to show me an optimal graph of human diet as well?

Maybe you can even use awesome mathematics while doing it too..

"As in a kaleidoscope, the constellation of forces operating in the system as a whole is ever changing." - Ludwig Lachmann

"When A Man Dies A World Goes Out of Existence"  - GLS Shackle

  • | Post Points: 5
Top 50 Contributor
Male
Posts 1,899
Points 37,230

Freedom4Me73986:

 

I applaud you for your attempt to make your actions consistent with your values but I think your values are more than a little silly.

If God didn't intend for us to eat steak then why did he make it so delicious?  

Tide goes in tide goes out you can't explain that.

Human beings are not designed to eat meat. Early man was not a "hunter gatherer" but just a gatherer.

 

Except that, you know, we started eating meat long before the "homo" genus ever arrived on the world scene 

In States a fresh law is looked upon as a remedy for evil. Instead of themselves altering what is bad, people begin by demanding a law to alter it. ... In short, a law everywhere and for everything!

~Peter Kropotkin

  • | Post Points: 20
Top 75 Contributor
Posts 1,389
Points 21,840
Moderator

 

Except that, you know, we started eating meat long before the "homo" genus ever arrived on the world scene 

Did you?

 

"As in a kaleidoscope, the constellation of forces operating in the system as a whole is ever changing." - Ludwig Lachmann

"When A Man Dies A World Goes Out of Existence"  - GLS Shackle

  • | Post Points: 35
Top 75 Contributor
Posts 1,149
Points 23,875

 

 

  • | Post Points: 20
Top 50 Contributor
Male
Posts 1,899
Points 37,230

vive la insurrection:

 

Except that, you know, we started eating meat long before the "homo" genus ever arrived on the world scene 

Did you?

 

 

 

Touche cheeky

In States a fresh law is looked upon as a remedy for evil. Instead of themselves altering what is bad, people begin by demanding a law to alter it. ... In short, a law everywhere and for everything!

~Peter Kropotkin

  • | Post Points: 5
Top 500 Contributor
Posts 247
Points 4,055
excel replied on Fri, May 4 2012 2:34 AM

Freedom4Me73986:

I follow the NAP. That means I don't exercise force against anything living. I don't eat animals or animal products.

Plants -> Not alive.

You heard it here first, folks.

 

Seriously though, I'm guessing you meant you don't exercise force against anything that's alive and has a certain level of cognitive ability?

  • | Post Points: 20
Not Ranked
Posts 8
Points 145

This is the most entertaining thread I've ever read. I've also never encountered such a willfully ignorant person.

  • | Post Points: 20
Top 50 Contributor
Male
Posts 2,051
Points 36,080
Bert replied on Fri, May 4 2012 3:23 AM

Since he avoided the question I'll post again. You don't think food can become scarce in more than one place at the same time?  What if two (or more) rival tribes end up in the same territory after food?  What if for the sake of argument groups of herbivore tribes find themselves in a food shortage in a given territory, how would they sustain themselves without agriculture?

I had always been impressed by the fact that there are a surprising number of individuals who never use their minds if they can avoid it, and an equal number who do use their minds, but in an amazingly stupid way. - Carl Jung, Man and His Symbols
  • | Post Points: 20
Top 150 Contributor
Posts 768
Points 12,035
Moderator

If some hipster 'hates' civilization I say should be dropped in the backwoods for a month without a cell phone or other fancy devices to complicate their lives. :)

"The power of liberty going forward is in decentralization.  Not in leaders, but in decentralized activism.  In a market process." -- liberty student

  • | Post Points: 20
Top 75 Contributor
Posts 1,149
Points 23,875

14 Signs that the collapse of civilization has already begun

Keep laughing at me for being an anti-civ survivalist anarcho-capitalist. If you had any brains you'd be one too.

  • | Post Points: 20
Top 75 Contributor
Posts 1,389
Points 21,840
Moderator

If the world is going to hell and a handbasket, why the hell do I want to be around.

Moreover why would I want to be around if all life was was sitting in the forest fighting bears and eating berries, hating any form of sendetary association with other humans?

I dont get you people.

"As in a kaleidoscope, the constellation of forces operating in the system as a whole is ever changing." - Ludwig Lachmann

"When A Man Dies A World Goes Out of Existence"  - GLS Shackle

  • | Post Points: 20
Top 200 Contributor
Posts 462
Points 9,480

Freedom4Me73986 wrote the following post at 05-04-2012 1:02 AM:

 

That's really innaccurate, or at least overly general.

The hunter gatherer societies we know today have tons of free time.

 

  • | Post Points: 20
Top 75 Contributor
Posts 1,149
Points 23,875

 

If the world is going to hell and a handbasket, why the hell do I want to be around.

Moreover why would I want to be around if all life was was sitting in the forest fighting bears and eating berries, hating any form of sendetary association with other humans?

I dont get you people.

That's why you get a head start: learn survival skills and homestead a large amount of land to hunt/gather/permaculture on.

  • | Post Points: 35
Top 150 Contributor
Posts 743
Points 11,795

That's why you get a head start: learn survival skills and homestead a large amount of land to hunt/gather/permaculture on.

Why not just move to a tribal area in various parts of the world where they already do all that instead of waiting for this at home? You'd certainly get the best training for it that way instead of relying on just naturalnews.com.  I have trouble picturing exactly how you envision a "civlization collapse" anyway. Is it some sort of mass human exctinction event and its sort of like Mad Max? Is it a US government collapse where I'd imagine its powerful military remnants wouldn't really let you do whatever you want as you imagine. Or is it simply a place where truck shipments from farms to cities has been halted? Any details of this future is fun to imagine so I'd love to hear your take.

 

 

  • | Post Points: 20
Top 10 Contributor
Male
Posts 6,885
Points 121,845
Clayton replied on Sat, May 5 2012 7:48 PM

+1 auctionguy

 

http://voluntaryistreader.wordpress.com
  • | Post Points: 20
Top 50 Contributor
Posts 2,956
Points 56,800

I'm pretty sure it will be a nuclear holocaust where all the survivors have stayed alive by living in vaults and where F4M's father leaves the vault one day and F4M gets his very own Pip-Boy 3000 and then leaves the vault to find his father.  

  • | Post Points: 20
Top 75 Contributor
Posts 1,389
Points 21,840
Moderator

 

That's why you get a head start: learn survival skills and homestead a large amount of land to hunt/gather/permaculture on.

 

1) Once again, your not reading anything I type.

I am saying for most of us, it's simply not worth it.  The lifestyle you talk about is too crappy to care all that much.  We would rather die.

If your lifestyle is so miserable all you want to do is live the longest to get one rather odd after the fact "I told you so", knock yourself out - but I think that's a little stupid and petty.  There are other things worth caring about than some shit future that I want no part of.

2) And "about the Iliad" isn't really a summary of anything - it's a one sentece guess at the subject.  Which once again doesn't help me in thinking you are bothering to comprehend anything any one is trying to say to you.  Right now all you seem to do is have a little soap box you wish to stand on and repeat variations off the same handful of sloagns

You have no interest in what anyone has to say, yet you are in a discussion forum - which means it is impossible for you to function with any usefulness in the context of this forum

 

 

 

"As in a kaleidoscope, the constellation of forces operating in the system as a whole is ever changing." - Ludwig Lachmann

"When A Man Dies A World Goes Out of Existence"  - GLS Shackle

  • | Post Points: 5
Top 75 Contributor
Posts 1,149
Points 23,875

 

That's why you get a head start: learn survival skills and homestead a large amount of land to hunt/gather/permaculture on.

 

Why not just move to a tribal area in various parts of the world where they already do all that instead of waiting for this at home? You'd certainly get the best training for it that way instead of relying on just naturalnews.com.  I have trouble picturing exactly how you envision a "civlization collapse" anyway. Is it some sort of mass human exctinction event and its sort of like Mad Max? Is it a US government collapse where I'd imagine its powerful military remnants wouldn't really let you do whatever you want as you imagine. Or is it simply a place where truck shipments from farms to cities has been halted? Any details of this future is fun to imagine so I'd love to hear your take.

Who wants a tribe? A tribe is essentially a state just under a different form.
 
Civilization will collapse whether we like it or not, and thanks to the state (tragedy of the commons, propping up monopolies, outlawing sustainable living/food) it's going to come a lot quicker then we imagined. Resources are drying up. Industrial ag is killing soil so soon enough all domesticated food will dry up. Poisonous chems in food and water like fluoride and vaccines are causing massive amounts of mental disorders like autism and other health problems. How can you DENY that civ is collapsing?
 
I'm pretty sure it will be a nuclear holocaust where all the survivors have stayed alive by living in vaults and where F4M's father leaves the vault one day and F4M gets his very own Pip-Boy 3000 and then leaves the vault to find his father.  
 
lol very funny. Too bad ur still in denial.
  • | Post Points: 35
Top 50 Contributor
Posts 2,956
Points 56,800
bloomj31 replied on Sun, May 6 2012 12:17 AM

What am I in denial of?

Let's just say for argument's sake that I thought that civilization was going to collapse.

Why would I want to go live in the woods?  I hate the outdoors.

  • | Post Points: 5
Page 7 of 12 (445 items) « First ... < Previous 5 6 7 8 9 Next > ... Last » | RSS