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nevermind =)

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I liked it alot. The picture at 3:24 is my favorite.

The Battery was attacked REPEATEDLY in the colonial period. I like this piece, but I can't stand manipulating facts to make people's hearts bleed.

Also, what I have to say is probably unpopular, but, welcome to the world, ladies and gentlemen. War is the norm for state level societies, always has been. You think you don't like it? You see a possibility for another societal ontology? I assure you, you are not that smart.

Distorting historical facts is low, I'm disappointed in Wilcox.

Sounds like you must have read Will and Ariel Durant's essay "The Lessons of History" that accompanies their 10 volume work "The History of Civilization." The short essay should be required reading for every school kid.
From Chapter 11, History and War (presented as a debate between general and philospher)

General;
"War is one of the constants of history, and has not diminished with civilization or democracy. In the last 3,421 years of recorded history only 268 have seen no war. We have acknowledged war as, at present, the ultimate form of competition and natural selection in the human species. "Polemos pater panton," said Heracleitus; war, or competition, is the father of all things, the potent source of ideas, inventions, institutions, and states. Peace is an unstable equilibrium, which can be preserved only by acknowledged supremacy or equal power."
Philosopher;
"Perhaps each of us, while maintaining adequate defenses, can arrange nonaggression and nonsubversion pacts with other states, and from these accords a world order may take form within which each nation will remain sovereign and unique, limited only by agreements freely signed. We ask you to join us in this defiance of history, this resolve to extend courtesy and civilization to the relations among states.......if you and we succeed, we shall merit a place for centuries to come in the grateful memory of mankind."
General;
"You have forgotten all the lessons of history.....interludes of widespread peace are unnatural and exceptional; they will soon be ended by changes in the distribution of military power. You have told us that man is a competitive animal, that his states must be like himself, and that natural selection now operates on an international scale. States will unite in basic co-operation only when they are in common attacked from without."
>> ^RhesusMonk:
The Battery was attacked REPEATEDLY in the colonial period. I like this piece, but I can't stand manipulating facts to make people's hearts bleed.
Also, what I have to say is probably unpopular, but, welcome to the world, ladies and gentlemen. War is the norm for state level societies, always has been. You think you don't like it? You see a possibility for another societal ontology? I assure you, you are not that smart.

*promote

Promoting this video and sending it back into the queue for one more try; last queued Wednesday, April 9th, 2008 6:47pm PDT - promote requested by kronosposeidon.

I have not read the essay you quoted, though I like the idea of a modern rhetorical dialog. I am actually a trained Classicist and a biological anthropology master's student. From both these fields arises the only conclusion worth discussing: namely, and I quote the title of a questionable book "War is a force that gives us meaning." For better or worse, it is, as your quote describes, the captain of human selection, aside from microbial flashes in the pan every millenium or so. Our species is defined by how well our ancestors fought one another in competition over resources: only the badass have survived. The badassness I'm talking about is not only evident in our physical forms (skeleto-muscular and cognitive forms), but is also present in the very threads that weave we individuals into our cultures and our cultures into societies. I embrace the idea of a cultural revolution against these tendencies, but without basing such a revolution in the above premise, the cause is as doomed as all attempts have ever been.
>> ^snoozedoctor:
Distorting historical facts is low, I'm disappointed in Wilcox.
Sounds like you must have read Will and Ariel Durant's essay "The Lessons of History" that accompanies their 10 volume work "The History of Civilization." The short essay should be required reading for every school kid.
From Chapter 11, History and War (presented as a debate between general and philospher)

War is indeed one of the constants of history, but "history" in this context is the last 4000 years - ie, recorded history.

There existed until 12,000 - 14,000 years ago a kind of paradise on this planet which is embedded even deeper into our human makeup. The male dominator culture and the slow death of tribal culture destroyed it.

Where is that paradise recorded? Because it predates written language, and because none remain alive from that period (that I know of), we have no idea whether peace or warfare prevailed. Available evidence suggests it was probably very violent. Tribal culture is notoriously violent, as one competes with the other for resources and territory. Remember the "ice man" they found a few years ago in a European glacier. As I recall, he lived more than 5,000 years ago. Interestingly, he was armed with bow and arrows and likely died of that arrowhead found lodged in his chest. This notion of some prior utopia is not supported by evidence, sorry to say. The noble savage was exactly that "savage."

Rule of law, shared governance, and common enterprise would result in the best chance for world peace. That's a tall order, but one I hope we may, someday, find.

>> ^Irishman:
War is indeed one of the constants of history, but "history" in this context is the last 4000 years - ie, recorded history.
There existed until 12,000 - 14,000 years ago a kind of paradise on this planet which is embedded even deeper into our human makeup. The male dominator culture and the slow death of tribal culture destroyed it.