There seem to be far too many governments and principalities that truly believe that might makes right, which, for those who have that might, makes them feel like they are doing the right thing, even though in many instances, they definitely are not. The thing about the progression of humankind is that it needs to thoroughly comprehend that humankind needs to advance from the misguided notion that military armaments and draconian social restrictions are somehow the way that societies should govern themselves which thereupon lends itself to an endless cycle of sword against sword, and if that is the way that things are going to continue to be, surely then, we truly do have our collective heads in the sand, because first and foremost, we have been gifted with a mind, as well as plenty of historical wisdom to lean upon that we apparently are not giving enough mind to, though we really ought to.
While there might well be a multitude of ways to win a given civilization over, the superior way is always one that shows respect for one another and clearly elucidates why a given pathway is the best to follow. This signifies that we need to make our case to people in a way that appeals to their sensibilities, rather than forcing them to adhere to certain things or else something bad will happen to them.
After all, any country that considers itself to be a democracy, or behaves in a manner in which the people supposedly have a voice, needs, therefore, to listen to that voice, in which arguments can be made for and against a certain proposition, so that the people have their fair say. This thus shows not only respect for one another, but also gives people a reason to buy into their democratic participation in selecting their representatives under the expectation that their voice and concerns do matter, which makes for a society that has a vested interest in how things are conducted.
We should want ideas to matter, and further to the point, we should want the population to be educated enough to understand these ideas, because an educated population is one that is not only going to be a lot harder to fool or to control, for that matter, but will be able to respond to the issues of the day with substance, which will make for a better resolution, as compared to a few lording it over the many, without the people having any true input on what actually goes down.
That which is the best society is that which has fair laws equally applied to all, that values the people’s input, and is just and transparent in all that it says and does. This is what a good society should aspire to, and whenever a society resorts again and again primarily to the sword, domestically and/or through its foreign adventures, this clearly is a society that has run off course and needs to ground itself instead in sensible dialogue and to draw upon that wisdom which leads humankind to truly understand that to evolve it needs to honor the pen and discard the sword.