You think government is what makes us behave? Ever heard of the old west? That's the closest thing we've had to anarchy in US history. I've got news for you...Hollywood gets it all wrong. The most dangerous cities, like Tombstone, had lower murder rates than Baltimore does today. Dodge City, I believe, for many years had no sheriff. The city knew no murder until after a sheriff was elected.
I am not sure that the "old west" example helps your argument. While there were certainly lawless communities in the old west that experienced little to no crime (Shasta County is a great example), there were also communities that had crime rates that surpass any other crime rates in the past 500-1,000 years:
The American West, even more than the American South, was a zone of anarchy until well into the 20th century. The cliche of Hollywood westerns that "the nearest sheriff is ninety miles away" was the reality in millions of square miles of territory, and the result was the other cliche of Hollywood westerns, ever-present violence...
In the American Wild West, annual homicide rates were fifty to several hundred times higher than those of eastern cities and midwestern farming regions: 50 per 100,000 in Abilene, 100 in Dodge City, 229 in Fort Griffin, and 1,500 in Wichita...and a whopping 24,000 in Benton, Wyoming.
The Better Angels of Our Nature
Steven Pinker
Government creates a violent black market for drugs that results in more murder that would exist in the absence of government. Then they point to all the violence they created and justify their own existence.
There is certainly something to be said of the correlation between increased legislation and the rise of violent crime. Individuals that are already labeled as "outlaws" are not going to turn to those who have labeled them as such and seek justice in their dealings. A drug dealer must either not seek justice or seek justice in a vigilante manner.
Human beings are generally good. I don't trust them when they are given power of force of others. That is what government is. Individuals may not exactly "play nice" all the time, but I'm willing to bet in the absence of government there is less violent death. Think about it. No WWI. No WWII. etc. How could there possibly be enough murder to surpass the death toll government creates.
Human beings inherently want what is in their own self-interest; self-interest, upon reflection and according to game theory, most often aligns with non-violence. Human beings are also prone to sympathy and empathy, however, the strength of these emotions often correlates with the strength of relation.
Over the course of history, violence (as a percentage of total population) has dropped while for the past 3,000 years, at least, governments, generally, have become less authoritative and totalitarian. Thus, government cannot explain the drop in violence. The three advances that I feel are the leading candidates for the drop in violence are (1) the evolution in farming and storage techniques/technology which has allowed many individuals to move beyond the state of bare subsistence, (2) trade and capitalism, and (3) the republic of letters (the invention of the printing press and spread of ideas).
(1) If one is barely meeting the necessary conditions for existence, then any theft of property is, potentially, a life or death occurrence. Thus, individuals in such a state had to guard their property with violent urgency. Moving beyond that state allows for the possibility of forgiveness and mercy.
(2) It would not be in your best interest to kill those you trade with; likewise, it would not be in your best interest to live in a society that is so dangerous that merchants and traders will not visit your society (Adam Smith has a great historical example regarding just this in Wealth of Nations). Thus, as trade increases, violence decreases (especially, inter-tribal violence, as opposed to intra-tribal violence).
(3) The republic of letters. With the invention of the printing press, books and ideas could be spread far, wide, and cheaply. Moreover, reading literature plays on the sympathy/empathy mechanism; as well, individuals are able to form relationships and sympathize with others that are from different areas and cultures. I think the internet will, ultimately, do much to decrease violence, as now the notion of a 'global community' has some real legs to it.
I'll address TRUT's comments later. Gotta run to a birthday party.
Enjoy.
