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Learn more about us here 👉 https://nova-lavica.sk/

PS: If you want to know how to start a trade union at your workplace, or how to set up a cooperative, write to us. We’ll be happy to explain 😉

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Learning
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00:00Before we begin our video, a short note. We'll be glad if you like, comment, and share our
00:05content. We are the largest left-wing civic association in Slovakia, and we want to keep
00:11growing. New videos are published Fridays. If you like what we do, you can support us financially
00:17and become our members. More information is available on our website, and most importantly,
00:23don't forget to subscribe to our channel. Do you even realize that democracy is human nature?
00:29What is truly natural to us? People intuitively long to make decisions about their own lives.
00:36Democracy is not some artificial invention of modern political scientists, but a deep sense
00:42of justice we carry within us. When we feel we can take part in decision-making, we experience
00:48fulfillment and safety. When someone takes our voice away, we feel frustration and defiance.
00:54This feeling did not arise yesterday. It is written into our evolutionary history. Roots in the
01:01distant past. About six million years ago, our ancestors in Africa split from our common ancestor
01:08with chimpanzees. Since then, humans have evolved in the environment of small groups.
01:15Human evolution is not just biology. It is also social evolution. For millions of years,
01:21we developed ways to live together, to resolve conflicts, and to share resources. And all of
01:28this in settings where everyone knew everyone else. Life in bands. Hunter-gatherer bands usually had
01:35between 20 and 150 members. Anthropologists speak of the so-called Dunbar's number, the limit of people
01:42we can remember and maintain relationships with. If someone was aggressive or manipulative,
01:48they could not hide. The group knew them, exposed them, and, if necessary, ridiculed or expelled
01:55them. Power pathologies such as narcissism, psychopathy, or Machiavellianism had little room
02:02here. Everyone had a voice, because collective decision-making was a necessity for survival.
02:09We must realize that lifelong chiefs in such societies hardly existed. Hierarchies were almost
02:15non-existent. There were only stronger or weaker friendships. Dominant individuals were not the
02:21most violent males, as many people mistakenly believe today, because such men could easily
02:27be removed by two others with the consent of the group. Those who were dominant were the ones who were
02:33liked. Those who helped others. Those who were the kindest. Humans are kind by nature. This seems
02:40paradoxical only to those who have believed the manipulations of capitalism. In reality, the super
02:46ability of the human species is not competition. Our super ability is cooperation. And we cooperate
02:53best with people we like. This is also a relatively new finding of anthropology. Our social evolution
03:01directly shaped our biological evolution. As humans became kinder, their facial features softened.
03:08We replaced animal-like muzzles and heavy brows with gentle facial traits.
03:13That is also why we find kind people more attractive than hostile ones.
03:18Why a kind human face is seen as beautiful. Democracy as a natural state. When we speak of democracy
03:25today, we often see it as a political system of the last two centuries. The truth is different.
03:31Democracy is older than states, older than cities, older than civilization. It is millions of years old,
03:39because it was part of life in hunter-gatherer communities. It was neither perfect nor romantic,
03:45but it was natural. Decisions were made collectively, power was shared, and extreme dominance was suppressed.
03:51Turning point. Agriculture and villages. About 10,000 years ago came a huge turning point.
04:00Agriculture appeared. People began to live permanently in one place, cultivate crops, and raise animals.
04:08Populations grew. From small bands arose villages with several thousand inhabitants.
04:14Archaeological sites like Jericho or Tsatalhöyük proved that people were already building complex
04:20settlements. And this meant they suddenly lived in environments where it was no longer possible to
04:25know everyone personally. The birth of hierarchies. The anonymity of larger societies opened space for new
04:33types of personalities. Where reputation and personal ties were no longer enough for control, manipulators,
04:40narcissists, and psychopaths could gain influence. The first elites appeared. The first monumental
04:47buildings. The first signs of inequality in graves. From egalitarian communities, hierarchies were born.
04:55And with them began 10,000 years in which we have lived continuously in autocracies,
05:00with democracy reduced to an empty word. It became just an ideal, never truly reached for 10,000 years.
05:08A skewed balance of time. Compare this. Six million years of evolution in small democratic communities,
05:16versus only 10,000 years of hierarchies and autocracy. That is less than 1% of the time. Even if we look
05:24only at our own branch, Homo sapiens, which has existed for about 300,000 years, it is still only 3%. For the
05:33overwhelming majority of history, we lived in direct democracies. And only for a tiny fraction of time
05:39have we suffered under power hierarchies. The nightmare of history. From this perspective,
05:46our civilization is a peculiar exception. The last 10,000 years can be seen as a nightmare from
05:51which we are trying to awaken. Hierarchies and autocracies are not our nature. They are a historical
05:58deviation. That is why the desire for freedom, equality, and fraternity still burns within us.
06:05That is why revolutions and democratic movements arise again and again. They are a return to our
06:12primal essence. Conservatism and the left. A paradox. Here comes an interesting irony. True conservatives,
06:20who want to return to the past, should support democracy, because humanity's past was democratic.
06:27And true democrats and socialists, who want to move forward and create new things, are in fact also
06:33going back. Back to the vast majority of our history, to natural equality. If these two directions met,
06:40they could form a strong alliance. A return to human nature. A return to democracy.
06:47Conclusion. Awakening. Our challenge today is clear. After 10,000 years of hierarchies, we face the question
06:56of whether we want to continue violating our nature, or return to who we are. Democracy is not a utopia.
07:04It is a return home. It is an awakening from a nightmare that has lasted far too long.
07:10If we want to live as humans, and not as subjects, we must once again turn to what has accompanied us
07:16for millions of years. Cooperation, equality, and collective decision-making about our destiny.
07:24Before we end our video, a short note. We'll be glad if you like, comment, and share our content.
07:31We are the largest left-wing civic association in Slovakia, and we want to keep growing. New videos
07:37are published Fridays. If you like what we do, you can support us financially and become our members.
07:44More information is available on our website. And most importantly, don't forget to subscribe to our
07:50channel. Thanks for watching.
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