Social institutions have two main roots in human nature: internally, the correlative impulses to command and to obedience determine the social hierarchy and give authority to government; externally, another pair, cohesion and rivalry, are the determining factors. Impulses of co-operation and impulses of combat are equally primitive.
Source: Bertrand Russell: Human Society in Ethics and Politics, 1954, part II: The Conflict of Passions, chapter 5: Cohesion and Rivalry, n.1
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A society that is as equal as possible and free from excessive competition is desirable, but such a society cannot be achieved under anarchy. To realize and maintain such a society, power structures and government are necessary. However, it is also true that "power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely," making it extremely important to tame and control power effectively.
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