[MUD-Dev] The reality of constant combat??

[Jon A. Lambert]

> From: Jeff Kesselman <jeffk at tenetwork.com>
> 
> Granted all I knwo of is Athens, which had a highly developed political
> structure, but are you REALLy telling me that any time 2 Spartans disagreed
> in the streets, they puilled swords and tried to kil leach other?
> I find this highly unlikely.  As you point otu it WAS a millitary society
> and  millitaries typicly run on STRICT rules.
> 

You misunderstand or maybe I misunderstand what you were asking.  In Sparta
and in Germanic tribes it was organized.  Murder was a crime.  What I 
described was not considered murder since it was in context of societal
laws written or unwritten.  

I see nothing new or unusual with reference to the LA gangs.  The Greeks
make frequent references to open gang warfare and anarchy.  In Plato's
Republic, Socrates makes the observation that this is a peculiar trait
of democracies.  It suggests to me that one would be more likely to
find gangs in lovely Athens than one would in spartan Sparta. (urmm
I wonder why that sounds redundant)

> ..
> >You can't assume that justice or fairness will be perceived the same
> >way by any player.  Some will gravitate toward Sparta, some Athens.
> 
> In afct i have this in my current world for my current project. the
> differnce between yo uand I is I EXPECT Raam, the city without any laws or
> law structure, to be like south central LA on a bad day. 

Maybe this is the misunderstanding.  Cities do not exist for long in a
state of anarchy.  A power vacuum will always be filled by some group and
the will implement or force a government.  The form and the effectiveness
of such a government will and can be highly variable.  If the government 
is ineffective, areas like you describe below will occur.

> palce for peopel to play "street gang", but also, like Los Angeles, I've
> built major sttucture to keep the anarchy and chaos "in its palce" (yes, up
> to and including the equivelent of callign in the amrines, which, if you
> remember the last LA riot, was done.)
> 

JL

-
"If I'd known it was harmless, I would have killed it myself"
*- Through a Scanner Darkly - PKD -*

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