14. Intelligent Control of Civilization

The fact that intelligence is man´s greatest survival skill argues that intelligence should also be used to achieve the survival of our species, which requires civilization (social/economic organization). The fact that civilization requires control is obvious, to prevent collective annihilation. This requires intelligent control of civilization. Clearly, this is not yet in place.

The above statement may be incorrectly interpreted as a preamble to a suggestion to cede control of the law to scientists and engineers. Ominous premonitions of legislated coke-bottle eyeglasses, pocket protectors and slide-rules for all come to mind. Relax, this would destroy scientists, engineers and you as surely as it has destroyed all others who have aspired to rule. I would personally refuse the opportunity. Mankind cannot be "ruled" for the simple reason we have the collective power to be free and rulers do not have the power to enslave us. There is a far better way.

Thus far, the following facts of humanity and perhaps any intelligent life-form occupying an environment of limited resources which must be shared have been proven and have overwhelming historical evidence in support.

The Facts of Mankind:

• Mankind is forced by natural factors constraining survival choice to live in close proximity and competition with the most dangerous predator of all, his fellow man. For protection from their fellows, individuals have no choice but to choose to join a group, ultimately leading to functional differentiation between groups in civilization. There is no evidence that individual man has any required moral considerations imposed by the laws of nature apart from survival of himself. In choosing to join a group for protection, an individual also chooses to depend on the group, making survival of the group in the individual´s survival interest. There is no evidence that mankind has any natural compulsion to consider the survival of his species, apart from the need to procreate. As a consequence, no individual or group has any natural reason to consider mankind´s interests as a whole. Individual and group survival considerations dictate that the most efficient short term survival choice is to prey on other individuals and groups. This is a consequence of natural law. Survival of the fittest. With man, as in all species, fittest does not mean the strongest. Fittest means those most able to adapt and use time, energy and environmental advantages most efficiently.
• Natural factors dictated by physical reality, limited resources and personal survival drive mankind to organize into the largest group maintainable by the limits of geography, transportation, communication and organizational ability or, in short, by the projection of force and economic power which is used to absorb weaker groups. This is a natural trend leading to the planet ultimately having one "king of the hill". We see this being attempted now by the faltering and doomed to fail American aspirations to empire.
• The differences between individuals in the areas of intelligence, knowledge, physical strength, initiative, ambition and environmental advantage in artificial power hierarchies results in a natural polarization of mankind into two groups, those who choose to enslave and those who attempt to be free. In other words, predator and prey. Another major factor is the finiteness of personal resources, which implies efficient choice, which means meeting your goals with as little effort as possible. The most economically efficient methods are to force or trick others into meeting your wants and needs. This creates defensive conflict from the victims, whose ability to survive has been reduced, endangering mutual survival.
• Because of unavoidable competition for finite resources, some "final arbiter of disputes" must be chosen to prevent the group from endlessly splitting into factions competing for dominance, destroying social organization until the survival of all is threatened. This fundamental compromise must be made by all free men, in their own self interest if any are to survive. It is the first and most fundamental natural law of organized man, to choose and submit to a "final arbiter of disputes". This is a survival imperative, a consequence of natural law applied to man in a group setting. This is the origin of man´s law which is also nature´s law dictating survival choices for groups of intelligent creatures competing for limited resources. This mutual survival requirement is so necessary that the use of force against inherently free men who refuse to submit can be justified on the basis of mankind´s survival which is more important than the dissention of any individual or group. Since man is inherently free, the "final arbiter of disputes" must be chosen by the majority. If this is not the case, the majority can and will forcefully change the "final arbiter of disputes" to one of their own choice.
• The natural polarization of man into predator and prey groups, combined with the necessity to have a final arbiter of disputes makes the "arbiter of disputes" role highly contested among those who would be predator and prey wishing to defend themselves. Competition for this position causes the same conflict problems it was intended to address. The temptations of power to enslave are irresistible and universally corrupting for the simple reason that it allows those possessing power over others the ability to survive without effort.
• Historical experience shows that entrusting a single individual or group with "the final arbiter of disputes" position results in corruption and alliances of predator groups which enslaves the people, creating conflict, destroying cooperation and greatly threatening the survival of all.
• The above dynamics have resulted in a human history of warfare and collapsed civilizations, even after the introduction of democracy which was a concession by rulers of the natural fact that that the ruled are numerically superior and have the power to provide the necessities of life by production of wealth. The majority democratically tyrannized minorities using "the law", including enslaving the productive, destroying commerce and economies. Some better way had to be found to limit the power of government and law to leave people with the ability to survive and to break this vicious cycle of conflict and collapse of civilization.
• The above factors and more, in different terminology were considered by Benjamin Franklin and other great intellects in "The Federalist Papers" which are a historical record of discussions by perhaps the greatest intellects of all time leading to the crafting of the Constitution of the United States of America which is a legally binding statement of what government and law can and cannot do. This placed severe constraints on arbitrary power, providing stability and freed the American people of conflict with power enough to cooperate, innovate and create the most powerful civilization this planet has ever seen or will see again for a long time after current events take their natural course.
• There is strong evidence in the constitution and early laws of the United States that the precise legal meaning of the "rule of law" was clarified and understood by all educated Americans and considered to be knowledge so obvious and basic that there was no need to state it. This definition seems to have been purged from all historical records. I have no doubt that it exists in some dusty legal text, well hidden by those who do not want this knowledge to exist or to be judged according to it. The "rule of law" trumps all other law and is used as justification by those who wield this dangerous power. It may be a good idea to know exactly what the "rule of law" is, how it functions and the purpose it serves. The "rule of law" is claimed by judges as the moral basis of their authority and therefore forms the basis of western civilization itself. The intellectually curious may want to know how lawful the actions of our current "guardians of civilization" really are. Clearly, the law is not doing so well in the results area as the worldwide trend to social violence, economic collapse, eternal war and mankind´s ultimate extinction indicates. Perhaps we should know what the "rule of law" really is so we can judge for ourselves. After all, we have the power.