Restricted Greed vs Grievance the Cause of Civil War

Was our Civil War one of a "Greed" rebellion or of a "Grievance" rebellion?

  • "Greed" Rebellion...

    Votes: 4 40.0%
  • "Grievance" Rebellion...

    Votes: 2 20.0%
  • Combo of Each One... If you choose this one explain...

    Votes: 4 40.0%

  • Total voters
    10
  • Poll closed .

5fish

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Joined
Aug 26, 2007
Location
Central Florida
Greed vs Grievance is a baseline model for the causes of societies in Civil Wars. It was a resent theory being forward by academia about societies and Civil Wars.

From: wiki...

The phrase "greed versus grievance" or "greed and grievance" refer to the two baseline arguments put forward by scholars of armed conflict on the causes of civil war, though the argument has been extended to other forms of war, such as violent conflict in general, rebellion and insurgency, for example.

"Greed" is shorthand for the argument that combatants in armed conflicts are motivated by a desire to better their situation, and perform an informal cost-benefit analysis in examining if the rewards of joining a rebellion are greater than not joining. "Grievance" stands for the argument that people rebel over issues of identity, e.g. ethnicity, religion, social class, etc., rather than over economics. In practice, even proponents of strong versions of these arguments admit that the opposing argument has some influence in the development of a conflict.

Whether the cause of war is attributed to 'greed' or 'grievance' the common factor is the perception of a certain deprivation. If it is an economic deprivation, the inequality will be a 'vertical inequality' and the cause of war will be 'greed'. If the deprivation is caused by ethnicity, age, religion or gender, it will be a 'horizontal inequality' and the cause of war will be due to the 'grievances'.


Most rebellions are ostensibly in pursuit of a cause, supported by a narrative of grievance. But since grievance assuagement through rebellion is a public good that a government will not supply, economists predict such rebellions would be rare. Empirically, many rebellions appear to be linked to the capture of resources

Where would our American Civil War fall on the graph? I believe very high up if not straight up the vertical side for Greed!
 
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