Theory Thursday: A Sword at Your Throat

The fear of the right wing conspiracy theorists is typically the confiscation of firearms. And let's be honest, this is not an unreasonable fear.

Restriction on who could bear arms is one of the oldest restrictions placed by a ruler upon a people. The transformation of all people from warriors into citizens, and the restricting of the right to use force to a small dedicated group, is as old as civilization itself. Thorstein Veblen notes that the Warrior and Priest are the seed from which the nobility is formed.

And that's no accident. If they have a sword at your throat, and you don't even have a sword- well you do the math. This is the root of the Locust King, this is where the Hungry Empire gets its hooks in. The Hungry Empire needs workers, and workers don't get much in return. A worker who can defend himself will not put up with what the Empire has in mind. A worker will fight back or runaway.

And of course, this is the modern challenge.

The challenge in modern overpopulated civilized society in policing an armed populace is monumental, and thus the fear of everyone being armed is quite understandable. This is not up for debate. But neither is this, if you cannot defend yourself- you are helpless before those who can inflict violence upon you. This is true even if they are technically the very people assigned to keep you safe. Square that circle.

If you can.

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