More Government, Less Peace

There will be no isolation
In our secret separation
--The Fixx

Most people view themselves as peaceful. They claim that they detest violence. 

However, many of those same people are proponents of a strong state. The core competence of the state is force. When people contract with the strong arm of government to get something that they want, they are not acting peacefully. They are principals of violence, collaborating with agents to act aggressively against others.

Truly peaceful people seek to influence others through persuasion. They don't coerce.

A valid gauge to the innate peacefulness of a society is the size of its government. The larger the government, the less peaceful the citizenry. 

Further, because government is viewed institutionally, the larger the government, the more violence has been legitimized.