Merman and the Sea Serpent (2021) Dibujo por Edwin Loftus

Hunted by a Sea Serpent, a Merman breaks off his and his mate's attempt to escape to face the serpent and buy time for his lover to get away.
Males in a number of species have evolved or were designed for this role. In lion prides, dominant males live in relative privilege and ease, but when rogue males or Hyenas threaten the cubs, that specialization pays off.
Life, in nature and in civilization, is a competitive field in which the best possible tools for survival are critical. One of those tools is the physically optimized Protector. In some species, these are females.
In the human species, civilization has struggled to establish norms that prevent in-species predation, within a tribe and between tribes, creating accepted standards for male conduct that exempts females, children and the elderly as acceptable targets. These are known by various names; chivalry, courtesy, manliness, gentility, fairness, ethics, morality, codes of honor, etc. We have been evolving norms that limit unnecessary, cruel, and collateral harm to both combatants and noncombatants in situations of conflict; Rules of War, Marquis of Queensbury Rules, restrictions on the use of lethal or excessive force, conflict de-escalation and resolution practices, etc.
This "modern civilization" is based on ten thousand years of accumulated trial and error, thought and communications, the establishment of systems of public security and justice. The more advanced, sophisticated, and many of the most effective standards and norms are conceptual-social constructs built on foundations dating back thousands of years, concepts like; objectivity, verification, evidence, testimony, truth, equal application, and other fundamental concepts that can form a generally accepted foundation for self restraint, deferment of judgment, restraint on acceptable reaction and much more.
Most of humanity's improvements in life over our prehistoric ancestors are owed to these slow steps toward progress in our ability to live in close proximity to others, to engage in cooperative activities and to resolve conflicts of interests without having to destroy our rivals and opponents. And now, all ten thousand years of progress are in jeopardy.
The threat comes from the very movement that, ironically, calls itself, "Progressive." It is a movement that dates back two hundred years, based on the idea that the past chains civilization in the past and for "progress" to be achieved, we must, "sever the chains of the past." Their approach to "severing" those "chains" is to diminish awareness of the wisdom of the past in favor of a mystical belief in a mockery of scientific methodology and technological innovation and an idealized version of "justice", called "social justice." Their movement is a rehash of concepts like; "the anointed of God", "the cream rises to the top", "some people are superior to others and destined and deserving of power to control their inferiors", and the less able to adapt to "progress", (as they define it), are a drag on humanity's quest for a better world , undeserving of the lives they live, the resources they consume, and the powers they wield."
If they succeed, they will destroy popular awareness of and adherence to the behavioral norms evolved over the last 2 to 3 millennia, destroying the foundations on which contemporary civilization has been built and producing a regression to a far more primitive and brutal social normality.

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MermanSea SerpentCivilizationNihilism