Brutality is predictable in its expression. It always comes from the same sources and the same motivations.

Tonight, I want to examine those.

So I will!

1. Brutality makes you strong

This is one of the many myths created by our status seeking reptile brain. The most primitive way to show dominance over another is to hurt them and get away with it. Whether it’s a fascist dictator or one of his low level thugs, the appeal is the same. Hurt people who are helpless to stop you, and you will get a rush of adrenaline and the feeling of dominance and power. This is why many of the wrong sort of people are attracted to law enforcement and other security work. They might say the right things at the psych eval and show the right attitudes around their superiors, but deep within them burns a desire for one of the most intoxicating things in the world : socially sanctioned violence.

This is also why there will always be people seeking harsher punishments in harsher jails no matter what the evidence says about what reduces harm to society. Those people don’t care. They just get a high from the brutality, and are always seeking a bigger fix. PUNISH THEM HARDER is their constant refrain, and they may mouth the words of justice and public safety, but all they really want is their share of public brutality towards the people with the least social status : the ones we label “criminals”.

2. Brutality is how the world “really” works

This is the common refrain of all kinds of brutes. In order to shield themselves from the realization of how awful they are, they have to construct a blatantly transparent belief system in which being a bully and a brute is necessary and even laudable because everyone is as horrible as they are, and they are just more “honest” about it. The sheer amount of evidence they have to ignore is staggering, but once a person is an abuser – of any sort – they need to abuse. It is a vital part of their coping mechanisms, and the high they get from brutality and the feeling of power and certainty it creates, however temporary, is the drug to which they are addicted. Therefore, like all addicts, their world view is formed around the basic premise that the addiction shall not be questioned and whatever has to be believed in order to keep the addiction fed, will be believed.

3. Compassion is a sign of weakness

This is one of those beliefs. Because the brutal and abusive person has a necessarily very narrow world view in which brutality and power (reptile brain) are held as the ultimate good, then it follows that anything that opposes it, like higher brain functions, is the enemy. From this weak and narrow point of view, compassion is weakness because it leads away from brutality.

But in reality, compassion and mercy don’t make a person weak. They only make them less brutal. They lead away from the harsh, cold, brutal world of the dinosaur brain and into the more community oriented collective actions that have made human beings the dominant species of the world.

So compassion doesn’t make people weaker. It makes them more human.

4. The constant threat of our enemies forces us to be brutal

Clearly another delusion caused by the needs of the brutal mind to ignore its own unworthiness, the brutal primitive mindset demands that there always be an enemy whose presence justifies the kind of harsh, brutal mindset they prefer. That way, instead of masking their brutality behind the justice system, they can hide it behind communal defense. Whether or not the enemy is a foreign nation or kids on skateboards, there is nothing the brutal primitive likes more than an excuse to stop pretending to be civilized and instead rely on the dinosaur brain emotions which the weak-minded trust and prefer.

And of course, if there is no such enemy, the need for this febrile justification is so strong that one will be invented. Based on the tiniest shreds of evidence, or no evidence whatsoever, an enemy will be found, war will be declared on it, and the brutal person has their molecular thin justification for reverting to their preferred primitive state.

Hence the evil genius of the modern penchant for declaring war on abstract concepts like “drugs” and “terrorism”. These supposed wars are designed to be unwinnable. Thus, the brutes using them for smokescreen will never have to face the horrible reality of having to think like a human being again.

5. Everyone will have to become brutal eventually

Otherwise known as the Apocalypse Principal. This is the brute’s need for tools of denial writ large. In order to justify their own brutal and primitive attitudes, the brute must imagine that, within their lifetime, civilization will revert to such a primitive state that the brute no longer feels out of plate in a society which runs on principals they can’t stand and do not trust. In fact, in this brutalist fantasy, the barbaric and mindless values they have cultivated will actually turn out to be a blessing, as opposed to a clear sign that for some people, civilization just doesn’t “take”.

Hence the popularity of all forms of apocalyptic belief. Whether your chosen apocalypse is biblical, environmental, political, or economic, the brute assures themselves that soon, everyone will be brought down to the brute’s level, usually because people didn’t do what the brute told them (or wanted them) to do.

Thus, in one neat package, the brute gets to believe that all this complex civilization stuff that they don’t understand and don’t like will go away, the reason will be because the brute was right and they were WRONG, and every one of the people who think they are better than the brute just because they are morally intact will suffer, and they will all have to play by the simple, brutal rules which are the only kind the brute can understand.

Heck, then even have a head start, if they are a survivalist. Survivalists love the idea that they will live while all the people they hate (you know, the pro-civilization ones) will die because they are not brutal enough.

Hmm. Didn’t get into the motivations and causes and such. Maybe next time.

I will talk to you nice people again tomorrow.