Despite a supermajority of Keeniacs opposing the “tank”, as Mayor Kendall Lane excitedly called it, the city council overwhelmingly did as they were asked by Keene Police and accepted the armored Lenco BEARCAT killing machine from the Department of Homeland Security. Now it has arrived and is ready to be used to crush your freedom – I mean to rescue people from floods and save people in burning homes.
Keene police only have the best of intentions for the vehicle – the thermal imaging equipment that can see through walls will only be used to find people in fires – they would NEVER use it to try to find cannabis grow operations. Sure, the BEARCAT has gunports all around the vehicle – but don’t worry – they’ll be using those for… um…
Pete, I would argue that the greatest weapon that all authority has isn't the "gun to the head" but rather it's *perceived* legitimacy by the people. That's why I'm very skeptical about the voluntaryist position; it doesn't account for the fact that people have been very conditioned to accept authority or the fact that everyone has their own situation, context, cultural norms, etc. How would a voluntaryist respond to this problem?
Yeah, It seems Pete is away, so I'll add some dialog, Julia. The "perceived" legitimacy or authority follows the "gun to the head", the threats of imprisonment, or other State-imposed sanctions, even if it is only a tolerant resignation, like the cliche, "death and taxes." Violent opposition to the State will usually be crushed. But even if successful, a violent revolution or civil war will usually result in a new Central State that can quickly become worse than the first, like after the American Revolution. A quick primer on the topic might include Murry Rothbard's article, Anatomy of the State.… Read more »