In his classic work Leviathan, which invented the concept of the social contract as underlying civilization,  Hobbes declares that “Life in a state of nature is nasty, brutish, and short.” This is still the situation in primitive uncivilized backwaters, such as Somalia, Afghanistan, and Detroit. But in general, we have created civilizations that enable most of us to avoid living in this unfelicitous state. The question then naturally arises, how have we managed to do this?

By using weapons, dummy!

Ultimately, we convinced people to work together by whacking the people who refused to work together. And what distinguishes the whacker from the whackee? The wacker possesses the whacking device.

The Aeneid, Virgils’ classic poem on the Trojan War which ended with the total destruction of Troy, starts with the line “I sing of the arms and the man.” Damn straight! How else to destroy a mighty city except  with arms.  Athens’ victory over Troy resulted in the ascendant Greek civilization, which brought us philosophy, geometry, poetry, pornographic murals, and stuffed grape leaves.

Which brings me to gun control. Most commentators are hesitant to predict which way the debate will turn out, but I have a guess. The guys who want to preserve their second amendment rights have guns, while their opponents do not.  Damon Runyon said “The race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, but that’s the way to bet.” Same principle here.

But suppose the Damon Runyon principle fails, and firearms are removed from American society. What changes?

NOTHING CHANGES!

The ingenuity of man knows no bounds. Immediately after a gun ban goes into effect, you will see advertisements for semi-automatic clubs, which automatically rebound from the first whack you give your opponent and then drop for a further blow. Smith and Wesson will develop a repeating knife, sort of like a horizontal pogo stick, with a dial by which you can set the number of stabs per minute it will inflict. (It will not be available with a folding handle, however.) And as soon as Diane Feinstein introduces a bill to outlaw these innovations, new and exciting  products will enter the market.

I can hardly wait.