This is a linkpost for http://zackmdavis.net/blog/2017/03/dreaming-of-political-bayescraft/
But I, for one, have never crushed anyone's skull for power and wealth
And so, how much power or wealth do you have? Compared to people who were willing to crush skulls.
the net quantity of skullcrushing per person seems to be decreasing over time
That's not obvious to me. I understand that there is considerable debate over the secular trend of violence over timeline measured in centuries.
most of the time the government gets its way without needing to follow through on that threat
Because this threat is real and if you try to call the bluff, the government will make an example out of you.
That's not obvious to me. I understand that there is considerable debate over the secular trend of violence over timeline measured in centuries.
Steven Pinker has put forward the most comprehensive argument I'm aware of in The Better Angels of our Nature in favor of the position that violence is declining over time, no matter how you reasonably measure it. Among the people I know working on this (I've met a few), the uncertainty is over the causes, not the trend itself. But I suppose there could be biases at play still, given that they self-selected to w...