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Thursday, June 18, 2020

On our way to a 'post-civilizational' Wild West

Exclusive: Sean Harshey notes when cops can't enforce law, the people are forced to do so

Most people can only relate to events or experiences that happen during their lifetime and only understand those things in the context in which they experienced them. An example of this is people sharing recollections of what they were doing when they heard President Kennedy was assassinated. Events that happened before we were born seem like "history" to us. This difference in perspective is most apparent when a group of people of similar ages are together, but where some historical event occurred between the births of the older and younger members of the group. Asking a classroom of college students to share where they were at when the September 11 terror attacks occurred, for instance, will elicit vivid recollections from older students and blank stares from younger students not yet born at that time. To one group it was a life event. To the other group it was a historical event studied in class, along with the Civil War and the Great Depression.

Americans living today have never experienced a pre-civilization society. Civilization, in simplest terms, is an organized society of people with a government, culture and common social norms. The last time Americans lived in such conditions was in the days of the Wild West, or homesteading families on the prairies, mountains and deserts of American territories before those areas were organized and admitted to statehood. People at those times and places had little security besides what they could provide for themselves. Their lives, homes and possessions were at the mercy of the strongest and most aggressive. Traveling was dangerous. Organizing into a civilization and setting up a government with the authority to impose order through compliance with laws allowed citizens to live with greater peace, collective protection of private property and increased commerce and prosperity that comes from greater predictability and less chaos.

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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I look forward to the first case of self defence in md from someone who dared to carry..he has a clean record, law abiding citizen. What say you larry! Concealed carry...will and shall issue. Oh i forgot thats what cops are for.

Anonymous said...

We are moving closer to a default "shall issue", given that government will be unable to provide protection.

Anonymous said...

Just carry concealed and know how to use what you carry if needed, and don't flaunt it. Permits are for hoop jumpers. Second amendment states we have the right to bear arms and protect ourselves and families from tyranny.