(Post 4 – Order in the Mess Series)
Nature favors voluntary bonds that add value. We humans often force them instead. Why—and what happens when we do?
OUR TRAGIC NATURE
For most of recorded history, conquest was the norm. Tribes raided neighboring tribes for land, food, women, slaves. Empires like Egypt, Persia, Rome, Mongols, Ottomans, Spanish, British swallowed weaker groups for resources, power, glory. The pattern repeats: Stronger group sees something valuable (grain fields, gold mines, trade routes, labor), decides it wants it, takes it by force. Resources are almost always the main driver—land for crops, oil, spices, minerals—but human excesses pile on: jealousy of another’s wealth, revenge for past slights, ideological superiority (“we’re civilizing them”), fear of losing what you have.
Behaviors changed with time and context. In scarcity (ancient tribes, hunter-gatherer raids), force was quick and small-scale. In abundance (empires with armies and tech), conquest scaled up—organized, systematic, sometimes with propaganda (“liberation” or “co-prosperity”). But the core stayed the same: forced assortment. No choice for the conquered—join or die, assimilate or be erased.
Effects? Brutal. Death, displacement, cultural destruction, resentment that festers for generations. Cycles of revenge (one empire falls, another rises to settle scores). Yet side benefits sometimes appeared: conquerors passed on knowledge—Roman roads and law to provinces, Mongol trade routes linking East and West, colonial railroads and medicine in some places. But these were byproducts, not the goal. The primary aim was extraction and dominance, and the costs (suffering, instability) usually outweighed any gains.
Why does force clash with nature’s grain? Because it overrides autonomy and voluntary choice—the same things that make natural assortment work. When people are forced into groups without consent or mutual benefit, trust erodes, cooperation becomes coercion, and the whole thing eventually cracks (rebellion, collapse, new conquerors). Voluntary exchange (trade, alliances) spreads knowledge and resources better, with less blood.
One system tried a different path—voluntary from the start, with built-in limits. We’ll look at that next.
One hard choice at a time.
—The Grateful Immigrant Saint Paul, Minnesota
January 21, 2026
LIVE GRATEFUL 🇺🇸
Grateful Immigrant 