[ExI] the law and EP

[Keith Henson]

<spike at rainier66.com> wrote:

> Germany was a dictatorship at the time.  The US is not a dictatorship.

Not yet.  But before Hitler took over, neither was Germany.  Why did
Germany convert to a dictatorship?  Could it happen here?  Do you care
about these questions?

EP provides an answer (not a happy answer) if you are willing to
consider the psychological traits honed in the stone age.

If you reject EP, then I suspect the conversion of Germany will
forever be a mystery to you.

> Our system was set up to prevent that.

That was the intent.  EP makes a case that it has been exploiting the
resources and the relatively bright future that have prevented a
dictator taking over rather than the "system."  Laws and state
governments are at most a few thousand years old.  The psychological
traits that emerge when people are facing a bleak future go back deep
into the stone age.

Among those traits is irrational leaders becoming attractive to the
stressed people.  Seen any of that lately?

Keith