Monthly Archives: November 2015

Genetic Pacification Theory

The theory has some problems — questionable early data, Italy as a counter example, and the timing of the decrease in violence. Follow the link below for a good discussion below the article.

In this newly published paper, two anthropologists, Peter Frost and Henry Harpending, argue that the last thousand years have seen a radical change in the legitimacy of personal violence. Previously, every man had the right to settle personal disputes as he saw fit, even to the point of killing, and it was only the threat of retaliation from the victim’s kinsmen that kept violence in check. This situation began to change in the 11th century throughout Western Europe with a growing consensus that the wicked should be punished so that the good may live in peace. Courts imposed the death penalty more and more often and, by the late Middle Ages, were condemning to death between 0.5 and 1.0% of all men of each generation, with perhaps just as many offenders dying at the scene of the crime or in prison while awaiting trial. Meanwhile, the homicide rate plummeted from the 14th century to the 20th, decreasing forty-fold. The pool of violent men dried up until most murders occurred under conditions of jealousy, intoxication, or extreme stress.

The immediate causes were legal and cultural: harsher punishment and a shift in popular attitudes toward the violent male—who went from hero to zero. This new social environment, however, also tended to favor the survival and reproduction of individuals who would less easily resort to violence on their own initiative.

European-homicide-rates-600x408

August 2015, confidence in the EU survey

An Ipsos survey of citizens in nine European countries finds a majority of respondents (73%) think things across the EU are headed in the wrong direction, and fewer than half agree that EU membership has improved their own standard of living. Attitudes are most negative among French respondents, with only 15% saying the union is on the right track, and of all countries surveyed only Spain responded more positively to this question than in 2014.

EU citizens report feeling that the EU unfairly benefits its more developed economies (59%, up 2 percentage points), and this is higher amongst Spanish and Italian respondents. Further, a majority (63%) think that pressure from the EU to cut public spending has had a negative effect on their national economy.

However, despite these misgivings, few (17%) want to leave the EU and overall; the most commonly chosen option (29%) for the future of their country and the EU is to stay in the union but seek to reduce its powers. There’s some support for more powers being given to the EU (21%), and even for the formation of a single European government (19%).

The study of more than 7,000 people in nine countries, shows:

Large and increasing majorities in most countries saying things across the EU are going in the wrong direction.
Less than half feel that their personal standard of living has been enhanced by EU membership.
No increase in support for leaving the EU since 2014 – and in Britain the proportion who want to leave has fallen.

www.ipsos-mori.com/researchpublications/researcharchive/3621/EU-citizens-think-things-across-the-union-heading-in-the-wrong-direction-but-committed-to-membership.aspx