Hacker News Reader

Comment by ryanx435 | Hacker News Reader

Fucking dickwads in this thread who can't understand that violence has solved more problems in human history than any other solution.

Its like, "oh, I live in a peaceful society, therefore all other societies in the history of humanity should have known better" when they don't realize that america is very violent, has always been violent, and has more capacity for violence than any other society in the history of the planet. Don't you realize that your "peace" is literally maintained by the us' overwhelming threat of force?

Goddamn it's threads like this that really makes the ignorance of the hacker news community stand out to me in all aspects outside of tech.

Source: been commenting here since 2008 and also deployed twice and got out as a sergeant in the US Marine Corps and have literally made the decision on who lived/died on the battle space.

View on HN

I think a lot of young folks (many in HN) know history from what they watch/read/hear in daily news, which is a terrible source. So that may be why.

Major nations of modern era (since end of WW2) have not gone to total wars simply because of the availability of nukes. Not because people suddenly became enlightened and refused to fight a war.

> in daily news

More like what they are told in "political satire comedy shows."

Do you think telecommunications networks have had a smaller effect than the nuclear threat? Those networks have grown exponentially since the wars.

US did not use all of its arsenals (including nukes) against Chinese troops in the Korean War, despite serious setbacks.

I think this was due to Russia also having the nukes. Or maybe US govt thought it should never use nukes ever again after seeing the horrible effect after using them in Japan.

Either way, before telecomm network connected populace of different nations as closely as it has, US faced certain instances where some generals requested using nukes but ultimately didn't happen. Most likely because the other side (Soviets) also had them...

Many people don't realize that violence is literally the foundation of our "peaceful" society. The policeman with his taser and handgun directly enforces peace in your neighborhood. The soldier with his rifle and cannons guards your nation's borders, and his violence is the reason you can work in peace in your air-conditioned office and blabber about which js framework to abuse this week.

You are 100% right. Violence (or threat of violence) is the answer to almost all problems.

> "Violence (or threat of violence) is the answer to almost all problems."

Not including which js framework to abuse, I hope!

> violence has solved more problems in human history than any other solution

That is the most ridiculous fucking thing I've ever read.

Yeah, in all of human history violence has been the go to solution:

Problem: I'm hungry

Solution: let's kill this mammoth and eat it (violence)

Problem: there's not enough food

Soloution: the neighboring country has food let's invade and take theirs (violence)

Problem: I want to be king but I'm 2nd in line for succession

Solution: assisinate the king and take his place (violence)

Problem: over population in a region

Solution: invade the neighboring region, kill them, and settle their land (violence)

Problem: can't get laid in the normal way

Solution: rape (violence)

Problem: I'm being raped

Solution: kick him in the nuts and bite his dick off (violence)

Problem: too many of (minority ethnic group) in our country

Solution: genocide (violence)

Problem: want to free the slaves, but the southern states don't want to:

Solution: civil war (violence)

I can go on.

Problem: there is a genocidal tyrant taking over Europe (Hitler)

Solution: world war 2 ( violence)

Problem: there is a man talking about peace and making the peasants uppity:

Solution: crucify him and make an example (violence)

Problem: the Muslims have conquered the holy lands

Solution: the crusades (violence)

Problem: the king is taking too much of our money through taxes

Solution: revolution and #1776, baby (violence)

Seriously if you think violence is not the defacto solution throughout history you are wrong.

I don't know what you're trying to say. That violence has been used as a solution to problems? Sure. It has. That violence has, rarely, in some cases, been a sufficient answer for a problem? Sure. You cited a few. But that's not what you started out saying. You said that violence has "solved more problems in human history than any other solution" which is ridiculous.

Oh, and I don't think hunting animals for food is the kind of "violence" we're discussing.

>Oh, and I don't think hunting animals for food is the kind of "violence" we're discussing.

You didn't understand what he was trying to get at.

He was talking about hunting as an outlet for anger, so in that context I suppose he is framing violence through hunting as an outlet and hence a solution to anger.

What solution solved more problems in history than violence?

Some good candidates:

Talking.

Giving up.

Waiting.

Doing the math.

Bringing in a third party.

Reading.

Experimentation.

Taking a nap.

Eating.

Spending money.

Machining.

Being nice.

Science. Technological development. Research. Engineering. Writing. Language. Cooperation. Democracy. Diplomacy. Love. Ethics. Philosophy. Farming. Industrialization. Markets. Shipbuilding. Electronics. Masonry. Metallurgy. Flight. Medicine.

If you want to see examples of "solutions" to human problems other than violence, you need only to open your eyes and look around.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com