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WHAT KIND OF BEAST IS THIS?
In a profound sense, all human politics rests on a single fact: We are social animals. If humans were descended from bears -- a mostly solitary animal -- we would have no or almost no politics simply because, living alone, we would need none. But humans are descended from social primates, and so we are social animals in need of politics.
We are in need of politics to create and facilitate 'cooperation', which is of immense value to us in terms of our survival. By "cooperation" I do not mean only voluntary cooperation. Much cooperative behavior among humans is forced or involuntary, and I mean to include that kind of behavior in with voluntary cooperation when I use the word.
According to some scientists, cooperation was THE driving force behind human evolution. It was so important to our survival, that our survival depended on it more than on anything else. This new view of what most drove our evolution is steadily replacing all of the older views. e.g. Other animals had bigger muscles or sharper teeth and claws. But we were able to gang up on them due to our superior skills at cooperating with each other.
SO WE'RE SOCIAL ANIMALS...
So we're social animals. But what kind of social animal? Folks sometimes label us as a "herd animal" or a "Hive animal", but I think those comparisons are too superficial by miles. If one must compare our social nature to that of other animals, one should compare it that of the pack or club predators. The wolves, wild dogs, hyenas, and lions of the world.
In a metaphoric sense, pack and club animals are half-way between solitary animals and herd animals. Try thinking of them as animals that "Can't live with other animals, can't live without other animals".
Our politics is shaped by our nature as 'pack and club' animals. That is, one of the great dynamics in human politics is the tension or conflict between the needs of the individual on the one hand, and the needs of the larger group of individuals that he or she belongs to.
That tension or conflict fuels a dynamic -- a dynamic that runs throughout all of known human history. It is 'as old as the hills'. It was here before us, it will be here after us. And much -- so much -- of politics is about the struggle between the needs of the individual, and the needs of the individual's group.
Political extremists tend to emphasize one side over the other. They either put the needs of the individual on a pedestal, or they put the needs of the individual's group on a pedestal. Moderates or centrists tend to try balancing the two sides in one way or another.
There's more to politics than that. But that is one of the Grand, Enduring Themes of politics. If you want to truly understand what politics is all about, you absolutely must be aware of how politics is used to both create and solve conflicts between the needs of the individual and the needs of the individual's group.
SOME ETERNAL POLITICAL THEMES BASED ON THE DYNAMIC BETWEEN THE NEEDS OF THE INDIVIDUAL AND THE NEEDS OF THE INDIVIDUAL'S GROUP
- How much control should other people have over me and how much control should I have over other people?
- What right does anyone have to tell me whether I can do something or not?
- Do I have a right to own property or must all property be owned in common by every member of my group?
- Do I have rights?
- Do I have responsibilities to others?
- Where do my rights end and another person's rights begin?
- Does my group owe me anything? If so, what?
- Do I have an obligation to pay taxes?
- Can I be forced into slavery to others?
- Am I obligated to defend my group from its enemies?
- Can I be punished for doing something I deem right, but that my group deems wrong?