govern\ment

govern

government

1. the governing body of a nation, state or community

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seems odd (which is fitting) to be getting the quote to spur this page from a book (Pinker) i’m reading that to me.. seems heavy on a push for civilization via governance. (my current interpretation, so could be wrong on two counts at least, ie: my and current)

At the same time that governments were gradually becoming less tyrannical, thinkers were seeking a principled way to reel in government violence to the minimum necessary. It began with a conceptual revolution. ..

Instead of taking government for granted as an organic part of the society, or as the local franchise of God’s rule over his kingdom, people began to think of a government as a gadget— a piece of technology invented by humans for the purpose of enhancing their collective welfare.

Of course, governments had never been deliberately invented, and they had been in place long before history was recorded, so this way of thinking required a considerable leap of the imagination. Thinkers such as Hobbes, Spinoza, Locke, and Rousseau, and later Jefferson, Hamilton, James Madison, and John Adams, fantasized about what life was like in a state of nature, and played out thought experiments about what a group of rational actors would come up with to better their lives. The resulting institutions would clearly bear no resemblance to the theocracies and hereditary monarchies of the day.

Pinker, Steven (2011-10-04). The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (Kindle Locations 3709-3716). Penguin Group US. Kindle Edition.

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perhaps as Steven seemed to suggest.. that was crazy. (assuming people would be angels)

but perhaps now.. it’s not so crazy.

perhaps now we can try a new game. another way.

perhaps now we have the means to ground the chaos of everyone doing something else.

as least.. just enough to let ie: eudaimonia\tive surplus take over rather than violence.

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town run on twitter – via Deb Roy

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/william-powers/jun-twitter-social-media_b_7102780.html

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inventing relations outside of representation..

neighbor\hood (govt)