Where are we going, where have we been?

Have you ever stopped to consider why democracy wasn't the prevailing form of human political organization in the last few thousand years?

This is the most concise way I can sum up or bring to mind a lot of the thoughts and questions I've had about the changing role of government in the last year or so. I've met a lot of people who have very "outlying" opinions on government and the state, and as I've learned more about their positions, I find it extremely hard to describe said opinions to the average person without sounding like some kind of extremist. "What? You think taxes are a form of aggression? What are you, some kind of anarchist?"

Well, yeah, maybe. I'll stick with the flexible and safe term "Libertarian", for now.

But why is that such a red flag for most people? I think a lot of it has to do with exposure. For whatever reason, we as a society (or maybe all societies) tend to act as a resonating chamber for whatever political structure they currently have, or grew up with. The biggest revolutions or political shifts are rarely peaceful or caused by friendly debate.

So the best way I can see to lead someone into this way of thinking, this train of thought that I've been following in my mind for a while now, is to simply ask, "Why didn't we have democracy sooner?" Democracy is a very simple concept. Primitive civilizations certainly had no problem understanding it, but they didn't seem very eager to use it. I want to read, understand, and maybe write a whole book on this question. I've never seen anyone give a coherent explanation about it, or 

The point is that it's silly and a little egotistical to think that we've arrived at our destination, if a destination even exists. "That's it folks, we figured it out! You can stop questioning, or trying new things, and just have faith in the way we're doing things now."