ZenPundit
Thursday, October 27, 2005
 
5GW REVOLUTIONS REBUTTAL

Jeff Medcalf, the esteemed proprietor of Caerdroia, offers a counterpoint to my gloomy assessment of 4GW wars morphing into 5GW decimation:

"The military is little more than the delegation of the power of self-defense against foreign foes to the State - the militia power, if you will. The police forces are nothing more than the citizens' delegation of authority to the State to enforce the law (which all citizens are duty-bound to do). And so forth.

The practical result of this is that, at least in the US, the State can fail utterly at some task without leading to dissolution — even at the task of defense against enemies, foreign or domestic. Let us say, for example, that the police make a total mess of fighting against a domestic 4GW threat. While it's possible the government could turn to death squads, it is unlikely (again, at least in the US). What is far more likely is that the armed citizens would organize themselves into a group and go solve the problem. There is a name for this: a Committee of Vigilance. Perhaps better known as vigilantes. While not the best solution — such groups tend to get out of hand — it is certainly better than giving up to death or at least chaos."

Jeff is following in the footsteps of William Lind on this issue. Private militias or Vigilantees are a potential " popular" response to 4GW. Jeff is analytically on target ( a good response to 4GW - that is open to debate - probably context matters here).
 
Comments:
Of course, arrogant states might prevent their own people from defending them, by disarming the populace. While in the US that is an increasingly minority viewpiont, it is disturbing that some architects of a "future worth creaeting" appear to endorse such measures.

Fortunately, wiser statesmen (all the way back to Machiavelli) knew the benefits of an armed populace.
 
Yes, I caught that too.

Gun control has always been a non-solution to crime that has more to do with criminalizing self-defense of non-elite citizens than anything else. Same impetus behind some laws that require crime victims to retreat rather than resist a criminal assault or face being charged themselves.
 
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