Hacker News Reader

Comment by skylanh | Hacker News Reader

This is sort of my reference point from a salient and personal perspective on why government's have departments of defense.

TEDxAmsterdam: Peter van Uhm: Why I chose a gun: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjAsM1vAhW0

Link to TED profile: https://www.ted.com/speakers/peter_van_uhm

"Peter van Uhm [was from 17 April 2008 until 28 June 2012] the Netherlands' chief of defense" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_van_Uhm

View on HN

A government needs to wage war at some level to exist.

To eliminate war the motives for war created by governments need to be addressed. There is only one logical outcome, once you decide you don't want war.

Dispense with the government?

Governments are fine. It's states that are the problem. Nation-states (whether ethnic or civic) especially, because they have motivations to wage war that are connected to the fiction that forms their core: "this territory is historically ours", and "you're treating our people poorly". Both are in full display in Ukraine today, but just look at any "Greater ..." article in Wikipedia to see numerous other examples.

Unless you somehow achieve global equality in all things, there's always going to be one group that wants something another group has. Combine that with democracy and you get a government that's happy to assist them with taking it.

"Unless you somehow achieve global equality in all things"

I'd go further and say that unless you achieve the perception of global equality in all things it is futile.

The grass is always perceived as greener, even when it actually isn't.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com