20 July

Manners evolved amongst elites, specifically amongst rivals for elite positions. Manners were the way rivals signalled to each other that they deferred to one another, rather than have conflict or fight. A way to hold violent conflict in check. These manners were then imitated by lower status people, as manner-isms. One ‘put on airs’, imitated higher status life. Like Hyacinth Bucket. It was always about status, not moral behaviour. Elites themselves then lost these ‘soft’ skills, which had their origin in violence. Look at the total pig somebody like Trump is. As a result the wider population also lost the imitative source of their own manners. Today, to quote DH Lawrence, so many are ‘mincing little pigs’, with no manners at all. Take a drive on any busy road to see it. Meaning societies have become more violent, because techniques to suppress status rivalry have been forgotten and have fallen away.