Michael Sky argues that: "Raids grew into full-scale invasions"until, some four thousand years ago, the world historic defeat of partnership culture was complete."
Eisler stresses that a fundamental characteristic of the conquering civilization was that it "valued the destructive power of the blade:"
"[The invaders] characteristically acquired wealth, not by developing technologies of production, but through ever more effective technologies of destruction."
This is the age-old problem of oppression - beginning with the emergence of ancient Sumer's of the top-down approach. Philip Slater describes these forms - which have persisted into the present - as a "mega-culture" pervading the world.
Thus, as far as we know, authoritarianism began to appear as a dominant societal form in many parts of the world six to seven thousand years ago; we find the appearance of kings, social classes, slaves, standing armies, weaponry, torture and human sacrifice. It has continued to be the prevailing mega-culture around the world ever.
According to Philip Slater:
The original and principal function of authoritarianism was to manage... enslaved tribes - people who would not voluntarily participate in society and carry out its tasks... It is characterized by fixed vertical hierarchies of power--pyramid organizational structures, a rigid system of control, and an exclusive reliance on competition [and force] as a motivating tool.
Because these structures have been in place for thousands of years - at least since the first city-states - it is no surprise that as soon as we take an alternate direction, the old paradigm tends to reassert itself - like an elastic band that has snapped back.
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