Dear Friends,
It seems to me, violence is a problem, and has been since the first amoeba ate an algae. This is because there is no answer to violence but violence. If a bear, thug… or government is intent on doing violence to you, clever debate will not change their minds. Only a sufficiently violent response ends the threat. This is possible with a thug or bear but rarely with government. Government has usurped a monopoly on violence. Therefore whenever you see violence being allowed by the government, it is because the provocateurs are government agents, and the violence is the government’s policy. Violence only works to counter violence if the victim is able. When government disarms potential victims, in the face of violence, the government obviously wants them to be victims.
Violence is a force of nature as gravity and light, but unlike gravity it cannot be countered with wings, and unlike light it cannot be hidden from, violence can only be countered by violence. That is the fundamental problem with violence. No matter how peaceful the victim is he or she will still be preyed upon. Hiding only works as long as you are hidden the moment you are exposed you become an ideal victim. Gazelle counter violence by speed which created an evolutionary arms race. Ganging up against it (meeting violence with violence) is how gnus deal with violence. This is effective until one is caught alone. Armor is another possibility but has its drawbacks. Then there are quills (armor). Which leaves poison, spray and stink, which is meeting physical violence with chemical. Showing that even nature, which has had a billion years to work out the problem, hasn’t solved it yet.
The “reason” the government exploited to usurp its monopoly on violence… was that it could be the just counter to unjust violence. Using the gnu strategy. Like when the railroad came through your farm and took your land by beating you, until you signed it over to them for pennies on the dollar… oh yea, a “just” counter to unjust violence. Back in the day, the US courts were so in the pocket of the rail roads, that the term railroaded was invented. So, despite the rhetoric about being a just arbitrator against unjust violence, government has instead been the abettor of the violence, and a bulwark against reactionary just violence, to stop the crimes. Which suggests that banding together on a large and perhaps small scale as well, (to counter violence) lends itself to exploitation by the elite.
The safeguard against abuse, the courts, are proven worthless. Take a gander at the Alex Jones “trial.” This is simply another in a long line of self discrediting actions by the court system. As January 6 political prisoners rot in prison without bail, trial, access to evidence and often in solitary confinement, not one of Epstein’s clients has been arrested, for molesting little girls! There could be no greater failure of a criminal justice system than that. Not prosecuting violence done to innocent girls while using violence to forward a political faction’s cause. Our legal system has become the avatar of Bastiat’s The Law. The truth is, if anyone is above the law there is no law only arbitrary rule, in the way Thrasymachus described it in Plato’s Republic.
Since government is not and never will be a just arbitrator, meting out just violence to counter criminal violence, its monopoly on violence is unjust and a usurpation. What alternative do we have though? Since clearly there will always be violence, because there will always be people willing to use it to get their way, it is in our interest to come up with a solution to the problem of violence. Maybe it is simply to arm everyone against it. Perhaps a better solution might be to give the people a weapon to use against the elite… that is not as flimsy as suffrage. A branch of government that is directly responsible to the people for keeping politicians, the courts and the administrative state… in line. Give us real teeth. Because, lets face it, nothing screws with a wolverine or badger… again anyway.
Sincerely,
John Pepin
