[ExI] Tooth and Claw (was ccp struggles)

[The Avantguardian]

On Friday, April 17, 2020, 06:03:19 AM PDT, Stathis Papaioannou via extropy-chat <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: 

>> The founding principle of America is that the people ARE the government. Whereas other countries have rulers, we Americans have representatives. In other words, we consent to be governed by our equals (i.e. morally equivalent peers) for the sake of schools and highways and the common good. But an armed person and an unarmed person are not equal, they cannot be, for one can coerce the other.
>> 
>> Another way to think about it is this. Max Weber defined a state as an entity that maintained a monopoly on the legitimate use of force within its borders. In most countries when there arises a group of people like an armed gang, cartel, militia, or terrorist organization, then that monopoly on violence is broken and the existence of the state is questioned. Here in the United States of America however, since we have a "government of the people, by the people, for the people", we prevent this from happening by allowing almost everyone to have access to weapons and be part of the militia. An all-inclusive monopoly on the legitimate use of force can never be broken. The use of force for self-defense is legitimatized by natural law.. At least that was the intent of the Founders as near as I can tell.
>> 
>> In America, if you can't govern an armed populace, then you are not fit to govern.

> I can see that you believe this, but it is not an idea that people elsewhere in the world have, even if they support gun rights. It is like a religious idea, which has the characteristic that it seems crazy to anyone not already in the religion.

Do you mean crazy in a clinical sense, Dr. Papaoinnnou? More or less crazy than your Spartan ancestors? Could you be more specific? :-)

Stuart LaForge