2 June

Human beings are creatures of desire. Not just for other human beings, but for all things and anything. They pretend to be rational or objective or any of those other words, but in reality it’s all desire. Objectivity is itself a desire. Those desires inevitably clash, leading to violence. The default state of all human groups and societies is violence. Not because individual people are violent in nature, but because we desire. And those desires clash. People who feel themselves above this violence are simply in a position of privilege, their desires are being fulfilled, at the expense of others. The greatest violence always coexists with the greatest peace. When you work in government, a much maligned job, this is your daily bread. Mediating peoples’ desires. Speaking of which, it’s Monday morning, and time to go and do that all again, for another week.