“Democracy is stable if and only if it is less costly than violent conflict, to

—“Democracy is stable if and only if it is less costly than violent conflict, to those capable of winning a violent conflict.

But high time preference people discount the future cost of their present demands.

Even if they WANTED to preserve democracy and its boons for themselves by limiting their rapacity (that is, if they understood what is at stake and why) they would still lack the perspective necessary to know how much.

Violence is the only way to provide that, the only way to communicate that.

If they demand death and destruction, we simply prefer to supply it now, rather than later.

That way, they may get what they desire, and we may get what we desire – to go back about our business unmolested.

Win-win.”— Eli Harman