{"id":6267,"date":"2020-08-14T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-08-14T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lawcomic.net\/guide\/?p=6267"},"modified":"2023-11-01T23:13:16","modified_gmt":"2023-11-02T03:13:16","slug":"69-the-institution-revolution-gods-and-government","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lawcomic.net\/guide\/?p=6267","title":{"rendered":"69. The Institution Revolution: Gods and Government"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"The<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n

Narration flows as pan down from a blue sky to slowly reveal a classical temple with a silhouetted statue of The State backlit by a sunrise.<\/p>\n

NARRATOR: We did indeed need a bigger narrative!<\/p>\n

To recap:\u00a0Without<\/strong> some sort of narrative, our society can’t be any larger than a\u00a0band<\/strong>, where everyone knows everyone else intimately. Our daily, shared existence is where we demonstrate loyalty and reinforce norms.<\/p>\n

The narrative of\u00a0kinship<\/strong>\u2014of lineage, tribe and clan\u2014made it possible for us to cooperate with people we barely even knew! Our shared\u00a0belief<\/strong> that we were on the same team made it possible to share allegiance, loyalty, and norms without personal, daily experience of each other’s behavior\u2026<\/p>\n

even though<\/em> this team existed\u00a0nowhere<\/em> but inside our own heads\u2014purely the product of our shared\u00a0imagination!<\/strong><\/p>\n

And yet this imagined narrative was\u00a0powerful<\/strong>, transcending time and space, enabling us to build communities that could combine and scale up rapidly.<\/p>\n

Efficient,<\/strong> too! Now we enjoyed the benefits of intense social commitment, without bearing the burden of monitoring everyone else all the time.<\/p>\n

Still, kinship could only get us so far.<\/p>\n

And so\u2026<\/p>\n

As our communities grew larger and denser\u2026 As unrelated people had to start working together\u2026 We needed to imagine a team even\u00a0greater<\/strong> than family\u2014a team we’d nevertheless instinctively\u00a0feel<\/strong> part of, part of our very identity. We needed a narrative that was bigger than ourselves\u2026\u00a0separate<\/strong> from ourselves\u2026 a narrative with a life of its own\u2026 and which would\u00a0live on<\/strong> long after we individuals had passed away.<\/p>\n

It was time for a new revolution.<\/p>\n

It was time for THE INSTITUTION REVOLUTION!<\/p>\n

JOE AND SIS IN UNISON: Or as\u00a0I<\/strong> like to call it:<\/p>\n

JOE: The\u00a0Road to Religion!<\/strong><\/p>\n

SIS: The\u00a0Road to Rulers!<\/strong><\/p>\n

PANEL: Joe and Sis putting on elaborate ancient headdresses.<\/p>\n

JOE:\u00a0Religion!<\/strong><\/p>\n

SIS:\u00a0Rulers!<\/strong><\/p>\n

PANEL: Joe shrugging, Sis having a realization.<\/p>\n

JOE: Meh, I guess one could argue they’re the\u00a0same<\/strong> road\u2026<\/p>\n

SIS: Nuh-uh. I know what you’re thinking, but-<\/p>\n

SIS (Thinking): Wait, what am\u00a0I<\/strong> thinking?\u00a0He<\/em> could do most of the work on this bit, if I let him.<\/p>\n

PANEL: Sis pushing Joe forward to the next panel.<\/p>\n

JOE: It’d be messy, but we\u00a0could<\/em> tell both stories at the same time. We could call it “From\u00a0Kinship<\/strong> to\u00a0Kingship<\/strong>.” Ooh! Or how about\u00a0“Church and State?”<\/strong><\/p>\n

SIS (overlapping Joe’s words): No! No! You’re right, too messy.\u00a0You<\/strong> go first. I\u00a0insist!<\/strong><\/p>\n

PANEL: Joe making an expansive “picture this” gesture in front of a heavenly sky.<\/p>\n

JOE: If you say so. All right! Let’s take a quick walk along\u2026 THE ROAD TO RELIGION!<\/p>\n

<\/div><\/div>Transcript<\/a>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sitemap_exclude":false,"_sitemap_priority":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[48,35,61,60,1,46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-brief-history-of-government","category-constitutional-law","category-inventing-religion","category-the-institution-revolution","category-uncategorized","category-what-were-they-thinking"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t