>> By the same token, why would a nation-state agree to unilaterally abandon a nuclear project at the behest of its adversary that already has nukes and implicitly threatens it with them?
The forces that you enumerate here- guns, misinformation, and nukes are part of a long list of "bells that can't be unrung," ESPECIALLY INCLUDING COVID, that states are only capable (apparently) of responding to with what eugyppius calls "containment policy"- a mobilization of disproportionate resources and force to blockade with the goal of ultimately eliminating completely, even if this is not at all feasible, realistic, or a good return on investment.
I would say another item at least as worthy on your list is drugs. Every civilization has had them since the dawn of such, every culture seeks them out, and every society finds a way to make and obtain them, but nearly every state's response in modern history has been to treat them as something that can feasibly be eradicated completely, if JUST enough resources and state power can be thrown at it.
Forces like these have a resolution curve that, at the right end, climbs steeply upwards to infinity, as progressively more massive resources are expended to make progressively smaller- but ultimately Zeno's arrow-like infinitesimal- gains.
The longer a state seems to commit to containment policy, the more pathological it seems to become- I fully believe the US could potentially attempt to jail each and every single private citizen in the country until "no one ever tells a (n unauthorized) lie ever again anywhere."
So is there a way to reverse the pathology without just scrapping the whole regime and starting over? Theoretically democratic will via elections is the mechanism to check state overreach but that assumes election outcomes are actually a function of democratic selection
Seriously though? I don't fucking know. My instinct tells me this kind of thing is a ratchet that tightens until it breaks.
I can't think of a single example from history of a state reversing course on a policy of containment until that state failed and a successor brought in different values.
No state has ever voluntarily gotten smaller. Ever.
08/07/2022 What Is Open Carry and Which States Allow it?
All but four states (and Washington D.C.) allow the open carrying of a firearm either with or without a permit. Open carry means to carry a firearm in public in circumstances where the firearm is fully or partially (e.g., holstered) visible to others.
>> By the same token, why would a nation-state agree to unilaterally abandon a nuclear project at the behest of its adversary that already has nukes and implicitly threatens it with them?
The forces that you enumerate here- guns, misinformation, and nukes are part of a long list of "bells that can't be unrung," ESPECIALLY INCLUDING COVID, that states are only capable (apparently) of responding to with what eugyppius calls "containment policy"- a mobilization of disproportionate resources and force to blockade with the goal of ultimately eliminating completely, even if this is not at all feasible, realistic, or a good return on investment.
I would say another item at least as worthy on your list is drugs. Every civilization has had them since the dawn of such, every culture seeks them out, and every society finds a way to make and obtain them, but nearly every state's response in modern history has been to treat them as something that can feasibly be eradicated completely, if JUST enough resources and state power can be thrown at it.
Forces like these have a resolution curve that, at the right end, climbs steeply upwards to infinity, as progressively more massive resources are expended to make progressively smaller- but ultimately Zeno's arrow-like infinitesimal- gains.
The longer a state seems to commit to containment policy, the more pathological it seems to become- I fully believe the US could potentially attempt to jail each and every single private citizen in the country until "no one ever tells a (n unauthorized) lie ever again anywhere."
So is there a way to reverse the pathology without just scrapping the whole regime and starting over? Theoretically democratic will via elections is the mechanism to check state overreach but that assumes election outcomes are actually a function of democratic selection
LOL, elections.
Seriously though? I don't fucking know. My instinct tells me this kind of thing is a ratchet that tightens until it breaks.
I can't think of a single example from history of a state reversing course on a policy of containment until that state failed and a successor brought in different values.
No state has ever voluntarily gotten smaller. Ever.
That's my instinct as well. Best to break it now then no before the cost gets higher? Rip the ole band aid off.
That's always my feeling.
08/07/2022 What Is Open Carry and Which States Allow it?
All but four states (and Washington D.C.) allow the open carrying of a firearm either with or without a permit. Open carry means to carry a firearm in public in circumstances where the firearm is fully or partially (e.g., holstered) visible to others.
https://www.usconcealedcarry.com/blog/what-is-open-carry-and-which-states-allow-it/