True pacification requires reducing power, not accumulating it

Evidence

“Pacification of existence” does not suggest an accumulation of power but rather the opposite. Peace and power, freedom and power, Eros and power may well be contraries! I shall presently try to show that the reconstruction of the material base of society with a view to pacification may involve a qualitative as well as quantitative reduction of power, in order to create the space and time for the development of productivity under self-determined incentives. — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man, 824

Categorization

• SEED: A contrarian essay angle: ‘peace requires giving up power’ as a political principle against liberal-progressive assumptions that more control over nature is how we achieve peace.
• DEFINE: Defines ‘pacification of existence’ in opposition to its technological-fetish reading.
• XREF: connects to: Power works best when power is rarely actually needed — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 728; Power increases only through limitations that co-constitute counter-power — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 716

Broader Connections

• Power works best when power is rarely actually needed #corroborates (0.85) — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 728
• Power increases only through limitations that co-constitute counter-power #qualifies (0.75) — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 716