Don’t Shoot the Messenger, Israel
By Ban Ki-Moon Jan. 31, 2016 (LINK to article)
I would like to suggest a novel approach to the Arab-Israeli conflict, which entails questioning long-held assumptions about the very nature of the state itself. In this instance the state of Israel and the proposed Palestinian state, but principally all states.
The principal assumption we make about the state is that, as the modern counterpart of our original tribe or nation (thus the notion of the "nation state" and appeals to citizens' tribal loyalty), its purpose is to serve society at large.
This assumption, however, is wrong, but suits the state's ruling elites and favoured (especially wealthy and academic) clients. The primary purpose of the state, even the democratic state, is what it has always been, ever since the very first states emerged form a tribal society long ago, which is to facilitate that society's SELF-exploitation, to the personal advantage of these ruling elites and favoured clients, at the expense and ultimate self-destruction of society at large. This is why all past states and civilisations have declined and disappeared, as will ours, unless we quickly recognise the cause and correct it.
This insight is the social and political science equivalent of the Copernican world view, which replaced the Ptolemaic view. It may not seem that important at first, but in fact changes everything. It is certainly not a quick fix, but will set a revolution in motion, putting us on the road to long-term solutions not just to existential political problems in the Middle East, but around the world.
Recognising the true nature of the state demands a human-evolutionary perspective: see BLOG.
Showing posts with label Palestine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Palestine. Show all posts
Monday, 1 February 2016
Friday, 29 January 2016
Tribalism Behind Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.
Israel's Image Issue
By Roger Cohen, Jan. 28 2016 (LINK to article)
The root cause of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is human tribalism, as it is of conflicts and tensions all over the world.
This may SOUND like an unhelpful platitude and statement of the obvious, but it's not.
The reality is that we are dismissive of our inherent and intense tribal nature, trivialising, ridiculing or demonising it, rather than giving it the serious attention and study that it deserves.
Instead of grappling with the problems our tribalism creates, we insult each other with accusations of tribalism, so it is no wonder the problems are so intractable. We are not facing up to and dealing with their underlying cause.
And it is not politicians who are primarily responsible for this state of affairs, but ACADEMICS, because they are the ones we all - including politicians - look to as authorities on just about everything. And it is they who have cultivated this attitude of trivialising, ridiculing and demonising our tribal nature, not least, because of their own professional claim to be above it, when, of course, they are not. They pretend to be, and our politicians have to follow their example, and are thus unable to deal with the problems our inherent tribalism causes.
It is the subjectivity of our tribalism that makes it so difficult to deal with, but we must learn to do so, and the only way is by approaching it from a human-evolutionary perspective: http://unapprovedcomments.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/the-wests-overreaction-to-nazism.html
By Roger Cohen, Jan. 28 2016 (LINK to article)
The root cause of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is human tribalism, as it is of conflicts and tensions all over the world.
This may SOUND like an unhelpful platitude and statement of the obvious, but it's not.
The reality is that we are dismissive of our inherent and intense tribal nature, trivialising, ridiculing or demonising it, rather than giving it the serious attention and study that it deserves.
Instead of grappling with the problems our tribalism creates, we insult each other with accusations of tribalism, so it is no wonder the problems are so intractable. We are not facing up to and dealing with their underlying cause.
And it is not politicians who are primarily responsible for this state of affairs, but ACADEMICS, because they are the ones we all - including politicians - look to as authorities on just about everything. And it is they who have cultivated this attitude of trivialising, ridiculing and demonising our tribal nature, not least, because of their own professional claim to be above it, when, of course, they are not. They pretend to be, and our politicians have to follow their example, and are thus unable to deal with the problems our inherent tribalism causes.
It is the subjectivity of our tribalism that makes it so difficult to deal with, but we must learn to do so, and the only way is by approaching it from a human-evolutionary perspective: http://unapprovedcomments.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/the-wests-overreaction-to-nazism.html
Thursday, 17 December 2015
Resolving Middle East Conflict via Better Understanding of the State
The Assassination in Israel That Worked
By Roger Cohen, Dec. 17 2015 (LINK to article)
It makes a nice change to find myself agreeing with Mr Cohen on an issue, as I do on this one.
What would help resolve the conflict between Jews and Arabs is a better understanding of the nature of the state itself, which academics, for reasons of self-interest, have not been entirely honest with us, or themselves, about.
I've developed a far more realistic understanding of the state, based on a human-evolutionary, i.e. Darwinian, perspective, which a previous generation of academics made a taboo of doing.
What such a perspective reveals is that contrary to what is widely believed, there is no such thing as a "nation state", just mercenary "patron states" deceitfully posing as nations, in order to legitimise themselves, their ruling elites and the immense power they wield and abuse.
At first I thought that Israel was perhaps an exception, but have since come to realise that it is not, which gives me added confidence in my theory, which I elaborate on in this and appended BLOGS.
By Roger Cohen, Dec. 17 2015 (LINK to article)
It makes a nice change to find myself agreeing with Mr Cohen on an issue, as I do on this one.
What would help resolve the conflict between Jews and Arabs is a better understanding of the nature of the state itself, which academics, for reasons of self-interest, have not been entirely honest with us, or themselves, about.
I've developed a far more realistic understanding of the state, based on a human-evolutionary, i.e. Darwinian, perspective, which a previous generation of academics made a taboo of doing.
What such a perspective reveals is that contrary to what is widely believed, there is no such thing as a "nation state", just mercenary "patron states" deceitfully posing as nations, in order to legitimise themselves, their ruling elites and the immense power they wield and abuse.
At first I thought that Israel was perhaps an exception, but have since come to realise that it is not, which gives me added confidence in my theory, which I elaborate on in this and appended BLOGS.
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