Since the Dawn of the Human-Race, we have always viewed other species as inferior to us. We’ve constantly, throughout our tenure on Earth, tried to out survive, outwit, overpower, all other creatures of our Planet. As well, we’ve also attempted to & have used these Same-Methods against our own Fellow-Man. As far as dominating other Non-Human creatures, this makes sense. However, to dominate one’s own Fellow-Man has always been something very controversial & uncomfortable to discuss: from Wars & Conquests, to Slavery & Colonization, from Antiquity to Modernity, Human-Beings have always been in the business of conquering one another. And, for some reason or another, we as Humans have also made ourselves willing to be conquered by our fellow man.
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This subject isn’t about the Morality vs. Immorality of Humans conquering, enslaving, colonizing other Human-Beings. It’s however very necessary, to explore the Reasons how/why this still takes place among Humans via the Modern-World. Now, in order to get a Clearer-Glimpse of how we’ve inherited the Desire to control our Fellow-Man, we must look to the universally, most recognized, Influencers of Human-Civilization: the Ancient-Egyptians, Ancient-Greeks, Ancient-Romans, Ancient-Chinese. Within these Respective-Civilizations, they’ve all had something very much in common: they’ve all viewed themselves as ethnocentrically superior to Other-Civilizations, as a result of the extents of their Accomplishments as opposed to their Neighboring-Civilizations, Opposing-Civilizations, etc. So, because, these Civilizations stood out the most, out of the Other-Civilizations via Antiquity, they developed very similar World-Views: they’ve all deemed their Civilizations as superior to anyone else. For example: in Mandarin, the actual, original, name for China is actually “Zhong Yuen” meaning “Central-Kingdom” or “Central-Civilization”. The Ancient-Chinese literally saw themselves as the Center of the Earth, in terms of: Culture, Sophistication, Technology, Diplomacy, Governance, Arts, Warfare, Math, Science, Spirituality/Religion, Medicine, etc.
In the Mediterranean-World: the Egyptians, Greeks & Romans all had their turn to be a Dominant-Civilization, with one leeching off of the other & eventually one engulfing the other. The Egyptians, being the eldest of these three Respective-Civilizations were the first to decline & fall. Then, the Greeks engulfed Egypt & made it part of the Hellenistic-World. Eventually, Greece also declined & succumbed to the Might that was Rome, and both the remnants of Egypt as well as Greece became an Imperial-Sector of the Greater Roman-World, which dominated/influenced the Mediterranean & basically all of Known-Europe for nearly 15-Centuries.
The Dark-Ages & Middle-Ages gave rise to the Holy-Roman Empire, the Independent-kingdoms of Europe (the Papal-States, Byzantium, etc.). These Feudal-Realms had their own Dominance/Influence over Distinct-Populaces, with barely any resistance to their Respective-Authority. And, then, there’s the rise of the Shogun-Era in Imperial Japanese History, which was almost completely parallel to European-Feudalism, with the exception of the fact that the Chief-Monarchs of Japan, at this Time, were completely powerless. So, then, we look to the Papal-States & Wealthy Maritime-Families of Italy, predating the modern Italian-Mafia, which produced great Geo-Political Minds the likes of Niccolo Machiavelli, Political-Dynasties like the Papal-Borgias & Renaissance-Medicis, etc.
All of these very Vivid-Examples of how Humans have dominated/influenced Other-Humans, across 5Millennia, undoubtedly proves that Domination amongst/between Humans isn’t something recent, and it isn’t likely to go away. One Particular-Thing which I’ve been able to draw from these Historical-Examples is that Humans, even without the existence of other Creatures upon the Earth, would still conquer one another. I state this because, it’s simply, based upon the aforementioned examples that I’ve presented, that Humans, by nature, are Control-Freaks. Also, Humans via Human-Nature desire Order, to dictate what to do, how to dress, what/how to think, how/what to feel, what/whom to believe in. It’s something that we aren’t able to escape from. The Necessity to be led and/or to lead are Essential-Characteristics/Qualities of being Human. Even if one looks back to school: there were class presidents, why? so that from young ages, people would know and/or discover where they fit into society. Every Society, regardless of whether they are Animal or Human societies, must have a chain of command, must have leadership, must have order. There must be a system in place that all peoples respect, recognize, accept as the order for their societies. The issues are whether who more of a justification to be at the helms of societies, and that’s what fuels conflicts, and as well, that’s how wars & conquests are ensued.
The main issue, of course, is why do Human desire the insatiable thirst for control. The answer is simply that certain people, as a result of environment, personal ambition, etc., are able to manifest leadership qualities which attract others & inspire others to follow them. While there are other people who aren’t able or are just not willing to assert dominant qualities necessary for taking reins of leadership.
Let’s look at important figures in History, like Gaius Octavianus (the real-name of Augustus: the 1st-Emperor of the Roman-Empire), for example: his entire Political-Career was based upon the Platform of him being a Political-Heir of Gaius Iulius (the real-name of Julius Caesar, the leader of the 1st-Triumvirate & Last-Leader of the Roman-Republic). Unlike his Political-Genius of an Uncle-Octavianus (after the assassination of Iulius) was able to hold on to the Illusionary-Remnants of the Political-Legacy of the Roman-Republic. However, at first, a Caesar he was not: Octavianus wasn’t the most Adept-Politician, nor was he an Admired Military-Master, like many of his Geo-Political Rivals, namely Marcus Antonius (the real-name of Marc Antony, a Member of the 2nd-Triumvirate along with Octavianus & Lepidus), especially for the tumultuous & dangerously deadly Political-Atmosphere of Ancient-Rome. However, what he lacked in Political/Military-Prowess, he compensated by being able to use his Powers-Of-Rhetoric/Propaganda. His Relation to Iulius, and the Political-Vulnerability of his Opponents to be the “Last-Man Standing” were their Greatest-Weapons, which they used often. However, his Story isn’t at all very common. Most-People in his shoes would’ve fell to the Wasteside. However, because of his great abilities to manipulate other people, he survived perhaps the most dangerous time in the history of Ancient-Rome’s political history. Octavianius had thus proved that one doens’t have to have all the tools of leadership in order to be dominant, one just needs the right amount of circumstances in one’s favor & capitalize on those opportunities. That’s what I’d really like to talk about: risk-taking: many, most Humans are very comfortable being dictated to, as opposed to dictating, because, that involves great risks. Most Humans are very satisfied being safe, ordinary people. But, it takes a lot of daring, cunning, ambition, and a slight bit of carelessness, to be a risk-taker.
If one notices, no political personality was ever successful, unless they were drastic risk-takers. Look at the great military leader, Hannibal, the one-time ruler of, the North-African City-State, Carthage (modern-day Tunisia). He made a daring invasion of the capital of the Roman-Republic, Rome itself, during the Punic-Wars. Now, ironically, even though he lost the Punic-Wars, and his kingdom, he’s actually even more famous than the Roman general who defeated him, and whom the entire continent of Africa bears his name: Scipio Africanus (Africa, of course, meaning “the Land Africanus conquered” in the language of Latin).
https://shec.ashp.cuny.edu/exhibits/show/two-wings-of-the-same-bird/item/2511The reasons as to why Humans have such an easy time to dominate one another is because we often view those who are perceived to be less advanced than we are as sub Human, and/or animal like. This thinking is one of the main contributing factors which people use to justify racial-superiority. It’s the need/want to always have an advantage or the illusion of an advantage over someone else which gives Human the drive to pursue dominance over their fellow man.
One may ask why does any of this even matter. Well, the reasons why it matters, as to what drives Humans to dominate one another is the fact that self domination of one’s fellow man occurs in every sphere of Human existence, whether on the school playground, or at home, or at work: anywhere & everywhere that Humans live, thrive, there will always be someone in charge, and those who are told what to do. It eventually comes to the point of which side of the line drawn in the sand do you, as an individual want to be on. Each one of us, as Humans, really have to self evaluate our own outlook & perception of our fellow man, to decipher whether we are leaders or followers, and if we are either one, whether or not we enjoy being either one, and if not, then, are we willing to switch.
Honestly, this isn’t really an easy question to answer for anyone. There are, believe it or not, benefits to being either one. When the dominant, one has the privilege to exercise power & control, to their own agendas, while being dominated alleviates one of the responsibility of providing certain necessary essentials to entire populaces, and/or maintain certain normalcies of societies. However, the downside to either one is being overthrown from one’s power & authority, and at best forced to leave one’s domain, or at worst risk being killed or enslaved by one’s respective conquerors. Also, those dominated may very well have basic Human rights taken from them unjustifiably, without any say about it, and virtually no way to retain those basic rights.
It’s basically a choice of preference at a certain point. There are some of us who think that we would make great leaders, but, when given the opportunity to be leaders, either shirk in our responsibilities, or get overthrown. Likewise, those of us who so choose to be controlled have the illusion that it’s less work to be a subject, whereas, in fact, being a subject of someone else forces you to work even harder for the respective power-structure that one is under. This dichotomy, dominant vs. dominated, is definitely not easy, or simple options to choose between.
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