Christian's Reviews > The Better Angels of Our Nature

just starting... hopeful.

Starting chapt.. 4. So far, very good, but thick with data and supporting ideas. Violence declines from two pressures, the power of the state to make predictable and effective a system of justice, in place of retribution (if you do that, you will go to jail); and social pressures for conformity and civilizing (educated people don't pick their nose in public). Pinker makes a strong case for both acting inconcert over centuries to spread the civilizing message.
His thesis makes me wonder how the ineffectual economic justice that rewarded fraudulant and corrupt banking practices with bail outs and a greater slice of the economic rewards via bonuses, will agrivate a lawless feeling and demands for vigilantly economic justice. White collar crimes go unpunished yet cause as much social upheaval as violent crime. The question is, will throwing a brink through a bank window be effective justice?