# Some questions about the western world

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-questions-about-the-western-world/659958>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [June 2, 2013, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-questions-about-the-western-world/659958 "2013-06-02T17:36:09Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 5

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**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\
**Post date:** [June 5, 2013, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-questions-about-the-western-world/659958/81 "2013-06-05T17:46:34Z")

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> [@General\_Bean](#):
>
> I’m just wondering how it is that modern society is so full of bullshit. I know there’s a few places where you can live in communes, where the only authority is your sanity,

What makes you think communes work like that? The idea behind a commune is that everyone shares the work. You will quickly find that other people in communes care very much whether you are pulling your own weight.

> [@General\_Bean](#):
>
> but those are usually filled with (wannabe) anarchists and the like.

You’re right to be suspicious of “anarchists.” I’ve encountered quite a few and the ones I’ve met have a tendency to change their rules and beliefs quite fluidly to suit whatever they feel like doing or saying. They may not all be like that but a number of them have made very bad impressions on me.

> [@General\_Bean](#):
>
> There are quite some nomads in Asia still, but the westernization is threatening their lifestyle. What makes the consumerist society we live in so much better than their world? At least they can take care of themselves if the government makes a mistake (not a rare thing). They don’t claim ground, or leave trash wherever they please.

Um, what? Let’s take just three nomads as an example.

Genghis Khan – killed 40 million people\*, claimed more land area than any other human being.

Timur/Tamerlane – killed 17 million people\*, claimed much of Asia and most of India, built towers of human skulls.

Attila the Hun – I can’t find a figure on how many he killed, but it was substantial. He [claimed a little plot of land](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Huns_empire.png) as well.

\*There’s lots of room to dispute numbers in any multicide, especially ancient ones. These particular figures come from [Matthew White, self-described atrocitologist](http://www.bookofhorriblethings.com/index.html).

Nomads have a vast, well-documented history of killing people, taking their stuff, and seizing land to build empires.

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