Violent warfare is on the wane, right?

[Rorschach]

maybe?
ignorant people.

[AiA in Atlanta]

maybe?
ignorant people.

"primitive" and "ignorant" are not synonyms.

[Rorschach]

maybe?
ignorant people.

"primitive" and "ignorant" are not synonyms.

I didn't say they were...

[Outlaw Yogi]

Like I predicted in another thread when SN posed the question "What's the world coming to?" .. Increased extremism.
Not just from Mozzie jihadists and the like, but from us too. Simply because it'll be what's required to counter their insane objectives.

Pacifist dreamers need to be marginalised lest we become enslaved by socially retarded zealots and/or socially regress ourselves as we are bankrupted trying to be humane.

We need to continue developement of advanced weaponry and defenses. This means phasing out nukes because electromagnetic pulse weapons will make nukes a liability rather than assets because the pulse weapons will be able to detonate nukes on home soil in their silos or harbours.

I can understand Syria's Assad retaining chemical weapons because they're cheap and effective. As nasty as bio-weaponry is, I suspect we'll need it to deal with the likes of China and/or a unified (Sunni & Shia) Islam on the march for world domination.

The Australian just recently printed a very poigniant article about an English peacenik who offered herslf as a human shield for Iraq against U$A's first invasion of Iraq to counter Saddam's invasion and occupation of Kuwait, who then went to Iraq during U$A's oil grabbing second invasion, discovered the duplicitous reality of the so called victims and became a cultural advisor to the Yank's commanding General, and is now an avowed advocate of Pax Americana.

For an insight into what to expect on the domestic home front, I highly recommend you buy, borrow or steal a copy of 'Future War: Non Lethal Weapons of the 21st Century' by Colonel John B Alexander - US Army retired.

NB: I was quite surprised to discover that Infrasound weapons have been made directional.
Previously their pitfall was they're omnidirectional, but now they're reality on modern day cruise liners to counter pirate attempts to attack/board civilian vessels prohibited from carrying firearms.

EDIT ADDITION - I expect fixed infrasound devices to replace land mines and protect sensitive/essential instilations.

[freediver]

Maybe humans have simply gotten better at suppressing violence? If that is the case, when violence erupts, it will be like a volcano that has been held back by a new technology somehow and the explosion will be far worse than if it had just been let to erupt naturally.

I don't think we've become more passive over the last century or so. We're just better at disguising it by distracting the masses with trivia or justifying it as a defense or protection of our country. Slavery, torture, civil wars, perversions inflicted on the vulnerable etc. seem to be as prolific as they've always been.

Modern arms technology is increasingly wiping more people out in one hit so less effort is used to inflict more damage - that's the only difference.

People are far more critical of their government going to war than ever. They are only getting "better" to the extent that they are being forced to by a better informed public.

[mantra]

People are far more critical of their government going to war than ever. They are only getting "better" to the extent that they are being forced to by a better informed public.

Yes - if the plebs didn't speak out occasionally - whole nations would be wiped out. All we can try and do is modify the behaviour of our leaders. Pre-technology there were less people on this planet, so destroying communities was about the most any leader could hope to achieve, but it was effective. Now we have atomic weapons pointed at our enemies, which will wipe out whole cities and more.

We do things bigger and better these days.

[freediver]

Yes, whatever your view on the direction we are heading - the stakes are getting higher. In his book collapse, Jared Diamond made an interesting "two horse race" analogy. You cannot predict with any certainty which horse will win, only that it is becoming more important which one does.

[AiA in Atlanta]

could we say that things are getting better and worse at the same time? question is, who are they getting better for?

[Outlaw Yogi]

could we say that things are getting better and worse at the same time? question is, who are they getting better for?

The phrase "The more things change, the more they stay the same" is quite applicable here.

If you study/research history, both ancient and modern, which is mostly about war/conflict, you'll see that despite whatever technological advancements and scientific understanding, human behaviour hasn't changed in over 6000 years.

But then if you consider life on this planet, just about everything that lives is in competition, and thus at war with just about everything else on the planet.