at the level of a state, war is not a binary decision. what is binary is only the declaration of war that happens when war is seen as inevitable
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Central only has power over narratives and a declaration of war is a narrative that transmutes chaos and violent into meaningful conflict that adds further coherence to the identity of the state
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that is to say, war is a necessity from an anthropomorphized state’s perspective because it is protecting its identity, the thing that is keeping it alive. it is literally a fight for survival.
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think about how angry you got at a friend, colleague, boss, or stranger when your own identity was threatened. it’s a life or death frantic lashing out response that has to be suppressed
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while the individual may do something like kick a dog or slam the car door, the equivalent for a state is far more destructive. and the equivalent of punching your boss in the face? quite violent...
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this is why cults are dangerous. cult energy is by definition identity energy that NEEDS to grow it's the NEED to grow that pushes identities against each other and forces violent boundaries to be sethttps://twitter.com/a_yawning_cat/status/1388219441263955968 …
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because there is a NEED the growth isn't seen as violent. it is done because it is for the greater good, long term peace, protecting the children, etc... because the violence is illegible, it is unbounded bc it is infinitely rationalizablehttps://twitter.com/a_yawning_cat/status/1380309306000560128 …
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think about a cat. a cat will draw blood far more easily than a dog. however dogs, especially trained police or fighting dogs, are far more dangerous because they are only doing their job. they don't see themselves as violent. they are just neutralizing threats
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have you ever tried to train an attack cat? it's very hard. there's an upper limit to how much damage you can do if your only weapon is cats
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End of conversation
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