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Culture War Roundup for the week of September 11, 2023

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Violence is uncertainty. Both about who will prevail and who expects to prevail.

I most certainly do not overlook this, it's what makes the system as fair as anything else that exists.

The rest of your comment seems to think that I said violence was the best political system, but that is not my argument. How power is produced from violence is a corrupt and despicable business, but we call it politics. None of that impacts my argument that violence is the only inherent human right.

It is the only method by which the truly disadvantaged can inject some uncertainty into their otherwise certain outcomes.

Sorry, I wasn’t clear. I didn’t read you as claiming violence was the best political system. My point was that social games—scheming and alliances—are a more effective method for achieving goals than mere violence. They scale better, and leverage the uncertainty of violence. They also carry much less opportunity cost. I think this makes socialization, or perhaps simply speech, an inherent human right. Political power comes from the barrel of a gun, but it doesn’t have to be your gun.

It is the only method by which the truly disadvantaged can inject some uncertainty into their otherwise certain outcomes.

This is true, but only for what I think is a vanishingly narrow definition. It is a rare outlaw indeed who can’t leverage social ties. Even if he only does so to amplify his violence, he will get more with cooperation and threats than with the acts themselves.

a more effective method for achieving goals

the only truly unalienable right

I think you're arguing something I'm not arguing against.