(no subject)
Dec. 21st, 2004 08:51 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
theweaselkingWhy I like Hitherby Dragons.
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In 2006, Dr. John Lancor wrote, "The minimum criterion necessary to enforce any behavioral system is that it should require less strength to enforce upon others than the strength of those it is enforced upon. By induction, this allows a single person advantaged by that system to maintain its grip upon the entirety of the population.
"Only those who participate in them derive value from crime, atrocity, and waste. For this reason, it is evident that every extravagance, every waste, every sin, and every horror---every crime not justified by enlightened self-interest---is and must be balanced and sustained by someone, in some place, choosing without coercion to sacrifice themselves for the common good. Otherwise the equation would not balance, and social enforcement of the prevailing system would not be possible. To say that people are evil or drawn to sin is missing a fundamental truth: the atrocities we hear of every day are made possible only by humanity's elemental quality of good. A society of monsters would also be a rational society; even the richest and most powerful would scarcely be able to waste, and only insofar as society recognized that the abstract value of their contribution required reward to sustain it."
In 2008, Dr. John Lancor took certain actions in accordance with his philosophy.
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In 2006, Dr. John Lancor wrote, "The minimum criterion necessary to enforce any behavioral system is that it should require less strength to enforce upon others than the strength of those it is enforced upon. By induction, this allows a single person advantaged by that system to maintain its grip upon the entirety of the population.
"Only those who participate in them derive value from crime, atrocity, and waste. For this reason, it is evident that every extravagance, every waste, every sin, and every horror---every crime not justified by enlightened self-interest---is and must be balanced and sustained by someone, in some place, choosing without coercion to sacrifice themselves for the common good. Otherwise the equation would not balance, and social enforcement of the prevailing system would not be possible. To say that people are evil or drawn to sin is missing a fundamental truth: the atrocities we hear of every day are made possible only by humanity's elemental quality of good. A society of monsters would also be a rational society; even the richest and most powerful would scarcely be able to waste, and only insofar as society recognized that the abstract value of their contribution required reward to sustain it."
In 2008, Dr. John Lancor took certain actions in accordance with his philosophy.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-12-21 11:03 am (UTC)The loss, however, is not to the person who takes, nor, even, completely to the person who suffers the direct loss. There is a significant depreciation in the value to each individual of being in society when the society fosters evil and injustice. And as the societal value to each individual drops, more individuals choose to put themselves above society, leading to further degradation, and finally, riots and anarchy.
The only way to counter a downward spiral that I have seen from my study of history is to have good, decent people strongly oppose with all their will and might the excercise of evil.