The history of human conflict has always included a set of rules, regulations, and ethical considerations to be followed to keep the fight fair. Whether on the playground or on the battlefield, all societies have a sense of a line that shouldn’t be crossed. Comedians are meant to punch up, not down. Schools have anti-bullying rules. Military conflict should limit civilian casualties. Many of these guidelines, like the Geneva Conventions, have been codified into international humanitarian law.
If your first thought was to immediately list the various times that those rules have been broken, then consider this: We now live in an era where we don’t even pretend to follow rules of fighting fair. If we once gestured towards ethical guidelines for conflict, then later worried over the effects of moral relativism, today, we don’t even bother.
