From owner-freebsd-chat Sat Jul 26 00:00:56 1997 Return-Path: Received: (from root@localhost) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.5/8.8.5) id AAA18062 for chat-outgoing; Sat, 26 Jul 1997 00:00:56 -0700 (PDT) Received: from time.cdrom.com (root@time.cdrom.com [204.216.27.226]) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.5/8.8.5) with ESMTP id AAA18056; Sat, 26 Jul 1997 00:00:52 -0700 (PDT) Received: from time.cdrom.com (jkh@localhost.cdrom.com [127.0.0.1]) by time.cdrom.com (8.8.6/8.6.9) with ESMTP id AAA21176; Sat, 26 Jul 1997 00:00:21 -0700 (PDT) To: Annelise Anderson cc: ML Duke , "Jonathan M. Bresler" , Michael Smith , chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: FTC regulating use of registrations In-reply-to: Your message of "Fri, 25 Jul 1997 23:12:25 PDT." Date: Sat, 26 Jul 1997 00:00:21 -0700 Message-ID: <21172.869900421@time.cdrom.com> From: "Jordan K. Hubbard" Sender: owner-freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG X-Loop: FreeBSD.org Precedence: bulk > Our judgment about what warrants the use of force may define us as > individual human beings, but what defines the society is the extent to > which the gang's use of its guns can be limited and controlled, and how > one gang can depose another. An interesting viewpoint, but one I can't quite share since I don't see the process of gang warfare moderation as something which is actually done by societies, hence they deserve no credit for it. I believe instead that what limits and controls a gang's use of guns are the gang hierarchies themselves, deciding as military generals do what levels of attrition are acceptable and when it's time to call the guys on the other side and suggest an end to hostilities before both are left overly weak and open to predation by other wolfpacks. In other words, I see this more as a function of natural equilibrium (and subject to the same instabilities thereof) than of laws and truly successful sheparding of one's unruly flock at work. Jordan