Civil society has one cardinal stipulation.
Its members must adhere to the Golden Rule.
Nothing modern about this pacification of
emotions and predilections; it has an ancient
antecedent when wise men of yore recognized
the utility in repressing base instincts to enable
inter- and intra-tribal peace, monitored by
assigned cadres of peace-keepers. There is
that about conflict that draws on the beast in
the animal that is humanity. And war is known
to breed savage hearts and minds. Simmering
hatreds and defiance of humanity's care for one
another transforms men into mindless brutes
who turn from the battlefield toward softer
targets, the vulnerable women, children and
elderly who pose no threat and shrink from the
power of enraged males. An impoverishment
of thought and of shame leaves behind contless
coveys of traumatized women, fearful children
and stacks of the innocent dead in the murderous
onslaught of power triumphing civilization.
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