Seeing how people protest mistreatment and abuse, while pacing modern industrial cities, got me wondering...
Is it our dependency on external resources that maintains the vicious cycle of war and the corruption of those in power?
Any group of people that are utterly dependent on resources from others, will have the mandate to make certain that the resources keep on flowing. For example, for city folk, if food does not enter the city regularly, then many people will be harmed. That's why they will even go as far as to abandon moral behavior and force those transactions. Currently, this is achieved with farm subsidization, at least in many western countries that I know.
Would there be no war if all communities and people were self-reliant? At least, for their more urgent needs.
Would those who are in power, those who are more influential over the local community, be less susceptible to immoral behavior, when their community is self-reliant?
I'm sorry if this topic feels overly hypothetical, but I do feel it can make for a good discussion.