force

Anton Sherwood (dasher@netcom.com)
Thu, 8 Jan 1998 18:42:41 -0800 (PST)


: > AMG:
: > > Is it possible that the force that government occasionally uses

: Anton Sherwood wrote:
: > Occasionally? What is government, if not the threat of force?

Robin Helweg-Larsen writes
: Honestly, I intended to lurk for a while before butting in on other
: people's discussions... but... :-)

Sorry about that. <g>

: That could be applied to all social interaction. If you attack me,
: you do so under the threat that I may defend myself;

You call an attack a "social interaction"?

: even if you only insult me, you do so under the threat that I may
: react violently. Government is no worse inherently than people.

It does at least two things that you, in your example scenarios, don't:
it decrees rules for interactions between *others*, and it requires
others to contribute to its own efforts.

: I don't disagree with your view of government, but it is a very cynical
: view, and loses validity if you don't apply as rigorous a cynicism to
: your own dealings with others.

Um, okay: next time I use or threaten force against someone who's
minding his or her own business, I promise to take a very dim view of it.

Anton Sherwood *\\* +1 415 267 0685 *\\* DASher@netcom.com