[ExI] More deaths from COVID-19 than Afghanistan and Iraq wars combined

[Stathis Papaioannou]

On Fri, 17 Apr 2020 at 11:17, spike jones via extropy-chat <
extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:

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> *From:* extropy-chat <extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org> *On Behalf
> Of *Stathis Papaioannou via extropy-chat
> *Sent:* Thursday, April 16, 2020 5:26 PM
> *To:* ExI chat list <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org>
> *Cc:* Stathis Papaioannou <stathisp at gmail.com>
> *Subject:* Re: [ExI] More deaths from COVID-19 than Afghanistan and Iraq
> wars combined
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> On Fri, 17 Apr 2020 at 10:16, spike jones via extropy-chat <
> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:
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> >…Why not give everyone access to the virus under the right to bear arms?
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> Stathis Papaioannou
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> Give?  Everyone already HAS access to the virus, way more than we want.
> What are you suggesting we give anyone?
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> >…The legal right to use whatever weapons you might feel you need to
> protect yourself. A rifle will not deter the Government from arresting you
> if you disagree with them, but weapons of mass destruction might.
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> Stathis Papaioannou
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> Stathis, this is a weird tangent about police.  The militia isn’t about
> the police or fighting the army or any of that.  That isn’t what the second
> amendment is about.  The police, the militia and the army are all allies.
> We are all on the same side: protecting the security of the free state.  We
> are not rednecks or stupid.  We aren’t from any particular state.  We are
> all beneath the contempt of some, but no worries, we are here to protect
> them as well.
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> The army and law enforcement are professionals.  The militia is citizen
> volunteers.  In the scenario where the militia is necessary to the security
> of a free state, there is no army or police, for the government cannot pay
> them.  If the government cannot pay the police, they go into other
> professions.
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> I notice a common notion among those who do not believe that a militia is
> necessary to the security of the free state: they cannot fathom a situation
> where the government cannot pay the soldiers and police.  They cannot
> understand how a government would not be able to pay.  That isn’t the least
> bit difficult for me to imagine, and hasn’t been for decades.
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> Now it must be far easier to envision. What if… we try to re-open the
> economy, but every time we do, there is a massive new outbreak, resulting
> in a new lockdown?  And what if that continues?  For months?  What if
> longer than that?  Then businesses fail in unison.  Tax revenues dwindle to
> nearly nothing.  Is that difficult to imagine?
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> In that scenario, the militia would defend against those who would use
> weapons of mass destruction such as a virus.
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> Please, what part of that horrifying scenario is hard to envision?
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Well, I misunderstood. I thought you were saying the citizens should have
arms so that they can resist the Government if they tried to abuse their
power. The only real power the Government has is through employees that can
use force, such as the police and the armed forces; surely you don’t
believe that Donald Trump himself will force his way into your home in
order to take the gold you have buried in the garden.

Now you are talking about something quite different: what if the Government
cannot pay its employees? Then I suppose they will ask for volunteers, or
reintroduce the draft, which is essentially a form of slavery. That would
suck, but it would probably wouldn’t suck any less if there were millions
of people running around with guns.

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Stathis Papaioannou
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