Oddbean

The military industrial complex here in the US (I'm a citizen) is nothing short of the most well funded mafia in the history of organized crime and should be dealt with accordingly. In other words, hangin's too good for 'em.

I’ve been thinking about the first non central government state ever created. The first iteration of the nation of Israel. No king, no prime ministers, no congress. no central government at all. Just a collective moral framework, and Rule of Law. Local magistrates for deciding conflict. Strong property law, total debt forgiveness once every generation. Law enforcement was not outsourced. The people themselves carried out punishment after a fair hearing and decision, in the form of stoning. Sounds barbaric, but lately I’ve been wondering how barbarous it actually was.

There was a book about this ancient Israeli government that I read some time ago called "Radical Moses: The Amazing Civil Freedom Built into Ancient Israel (God and Government)" by Gordan Runyan. nostr:nevent1qqsfwux6eghl8t54q95n0gz986glh7x5x0jkn9mas3sqgjyxlar0clspzamhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumn0wd68ytnzv9hxgtczypssvegyv9lw0yu8qg0p3jylk7w3mk7ru7llr88j9x85q3n0su27jqcyqqqqqqgcmrmjw

it depends how optimistic or pessimistic I am while reading about it. for example, God sounds so common sense and pro human happiness Deut 24:5 When a man hath taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war, neither shall he be charged with any business: but he shall be free at home one year, and shall cheer up his wife which he hath taken. then the pessimist in me is like, what if she never liked him and would rather he go to war.