Howdy folks - been reading Dawkins again on aggressive strategies in social groups and just thought I’d have a bash at the terrorist angle. Anyway - off we go…
Let’s say there’s a big cosmopolitan city, let’s call it “Cantgetalongopolis” - there’s a lot of ethnic conclaves dotted around.
By far the largest, wealthiest and most technologically comfortable group are the Tremblers, who dominate the West of the city. They love tea and deep restful sleep. Unfortunately there just isn’t enough tea to go round - so they have to get it from the conclave opposite - the Unknowns residing on the more Eastern side.
Now - by and large the members of the two populations fall into three groups: The leaders, the moneyheads and the followers.
*The followers are happy as long as they can sit on their collective asses and survive reasonably comfortably - they don’t know much about the other parts of the city, or the people there, and they don’t really care to. They believe the TV. They usually live with a background hum of fear in their hearts. But that’s okay - they’re used to it. Easily panicked and capricious. Religious in the way a fish is religious about water: its ever-present and they don’t care what colour it is as long as there’s some oxygen involved in it somewhere.
*The moneyheads are the go-getters, they’re rich - and use there money/influence to keep the status quo - afterall they’re are rich within the parameters of the current regime, any boat rocking will upset their applecarts…
*The leaders - often moneyheads themselves on the sly, or at least influenced/backed by them - they strive to keep their conclaves going roughly forward, and please/control the followers, or at least convince the followers that they are being given what they want even if they have to be told what they want in the first place. And of course - to keep themselves in power. The only difference between the two conclave’s leaders is that the Trembler-leaders are only nominally religious by proxy - in that they adopt a certain pious mein to please a (large) segment of their follower component; And the Unknown-leaders are overtly religious (in apparel) and directly impress a religious bent upon their followers en masse. Both hold onto power very basically by telling their followers what they should want - and then supplying it to them.
“Hey followers - this is what you always wanted.”
“Really…? Whoo…”
“and here it is.”
“Gee - thanks boss.”
By whatever factors of fortune you wish to name - the Tremblers are ahead of the society-game with regard to the Unknowns. Both conclaves grew and florished in relative isolation from eachother - until the tea shortages in the West. Then suddenly - the two conclaves began to rub.
The leaders of both conclaves have a faction of followers - a warrior caste. The Tremblers have a large and well trained/well equipped faction. The Unknowns have a smaller-less well trained-less well equipped faction. No match.
Both enter into mutually beneficial business. But all the while the Unknowns are unsettled by the Tremblers, who are so different from them. And carry such big sticks despite their smiles. They buy - but ultimately, they could take if they wished.
But despite the uneasiness, for the Unknown-leaders (who previously had little use for tea) - the money is a life-support system, artificially keeping alive a status-quo/social construct thats day was all but done. Their social evolution slows almost to a stop.
The followers of both conclaves are afraid of that which they don’t know/understand. Some members of both conclave followers go rogue - become fanatical haters of the other group. Forming a sub-group: the Terrors.
The Terrors differ only in that the Trembler terrors are passive - prefering to work by proxy through their leaders and the resident warrior caste; but the Unknown Terrors are active in that they are less trusting of their leaders, and perhaps contemptious of the warrior caste. They live underground. But they have a problem - they have cut themselves off from the usual life-lines, they need money.
The tea crisis goes up and down, the Trembler-followers need their tea. The Unknown-leaders remain worried about the disparity of the conclaves and subtlely massage the crisis for all it’s worth.
Their is no intimate knowledge - no deep understanding - no trust. Only a symbiotic relationship of supply and demand and of course… money. Neither conclave asks any questions - as long as the status quo is preserved. Nobody wants to know.
Now eventually the followers in the two conclaves start to become aware of how eachother lives. This causes unrest. Both the leaders and the moneyheads don’t like this. They like to be in power, to be seen to be pleasing their followers, and they like the status quo as it is respectively…
Something must be done. But what…?
Here the Terrors come into play.
The Trembler leaders listen unhappily to their followers - who don’t like the music that’s being played gradually ever louder over in the Unknown conclave - it disturbs their (self)-righteous sleep. They murmur and toss in bed. They begin to think something should be done to dim the roar. They don’t care that it is their teamoney that is helping to prevent the music’s rawcous jarring softening with time (just as their own slave music/sexually unequal melodies/warlike crescendos were) oh-no - they just want it stopped - and stopped NOW. Loudest of all the voices are the Terrors - who infect and incite the already fearful followers.
But what to do…?
The leaders and the moneyheads don’t really want to rock the boat that brings home the tea. They decide a sit and wait policy. If something happens… they use the warrior caste to chastize, to liberate, to help…
The Unknown-leaders by and large - are not foolish enough to enter into a direct conflict - they try to further isolate their followers from trembler influence by cutting as many means of communication/media exchange as they can. This proves only partially effective. To combat the leakage they engineer propaganda detrimental to the Tremblers - to sway the followers back toward the status-quo. This also boosts the Terror subset. But little direct action is taken. The Unknown moneyheads also do not wish to upset the tea-caddy that makes them rich, but at the same time are too frightened that the whole conclave may come crashing down to stand by and do nothing.
But what to do…?
They are in a dilemna - they can’t waste any more money on the leaders - who ultimately do nothing. The can’t form their own warrior caste without instantly being targetted and squashed by leaders of both conclaves. So what option is left…? The Terrors. Fund them - form a pact of mutual secrecy with the demons.
[size=200]Boom.[/size]
The Unknown Terrors live on a fine line. They cannot grow too large - else they break the surface-tension of concealment and get extinguished. So they stay small, and exploit the trembler’s own technology and more unscrupulous leader/moneyhead members to gain the things they need. Weapons, info, means of delivery. To gain in effectiveness they only have to keep alive the medium of fear that they thrive on… And patiently, wait for the enemy to invent/make possible weapons of greater power. It is not in their interest (or as yet capability) to cut the heads off their enemies - only to add spin to the circle of violence - They hide amongst the innocent followers of their own and other conclaves, striking silently out of the dark like snakes, and sometimes like salamanders - shedding tails, regrowing limbs - it matters not as long as the body lives on.
The Followers of the tremblers react too - whailing at the leaders to end this disturbance to their sleep. Their background fear grows from a hum to a roar. They give their leaders carte-blanche- and wash their hands of the consequences. The Terrors take over the followers voice. They get elected in greater numbers…
The trembler warrior caste is given a hopeless task. Root out the Unknown Terrors. With one hand tied behind their backs. With weapons and information gathering systems meant to deal with large visible groups, not ghosts hiding in children’s schools. Accidents occur. The circle of violence turns and spins - throwing off more and more fear, more and more Terrors.
And while the medium of fear and ignorance between the two groups of followers remains - there is no hope of the the Terrors on either side dying.
Anyway - that didn’t actually turn out to be all that ‘Selfish-Geney’ did it…?
Ah well.
So my questions to you boys and girls out there are these:
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How do we break the circle of violence - and illuminate the ‘followers’ without putting the ‘followers’ of both sides at risk from the ‘Terrors’ OF BOTH SIDES…?
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How do we encourage social… dah… updating regarding human rights/conventions of leadership in the middle-east without relying even indirectly on the big stick…?
Important note(s) -
*This is a ‘sensible posts only forum’ so any posters (you know who you are) who just come online and say ‘those Muslim bastards should all be blown to hell’ - HOWEVER FIGURATIVELY - will be ignored. And possibly ridiculed, if I can find the bile.
*This is not the religious forum No outright discussions about books that were written over 1500 years ago, and were socially applicable then, but less so now, and to be honest possibly not so widely read as you would like to think nor taken as seriously by your average punter…
Anyway - we’re all bright people - let’s see what we can come up with.
Hell - even a complete lack of response may tell us something…
Tab.
) would like to think so, but I cannot see the leveling process ending any time soon. As you indicated, the money and power people have a vested interest in keeping the current situation going as long as they can. Orwell missed the date by a few years, but his description of ‘societies’ is chillingly accurate.
No - I’m becoming convinced, like JT, that there is no happy ending to this particular scenario.
) that this seems unavoidable within the current framework of society/humanity.
