http://www.eatbees.com/blog/2007/03/07/monopoly-of-force/ "If not now, when?" Fri, 19 Mar 2010 18:59:47 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 http://www.eatbees.com/blog/2007/03/07/monopoly-of-force/comment-page-1/#comment-3980 eatbees Thu, 08 Mar 2007 04:41:09 +0000 http://www.eatbees.com/blog/2007/03/07/monopoly-of-force/#comment-3980 You know, I thought of that myself, how the U.S. Constitution was set up to guarantee sufficient force to the citizens to overthrow the government if it should ever become a tyranny—at least, that's what I learned in 9th grade! Of course, this could be one more instance of the U.S. standing almost alone among developed nations (our love of the death penalty and our extreme individualism are others)—but the principle is sound, that power has no legitimacy without the people's consent. When Hezbollah, Moqtada al-Sadr and Hamas lay down their arms, we will know we are seeing "consent of the governed" in the Middle East, not just the (inachievable in any case) "monopoly of force." You know, I thought of that myself, how the U.S. Constitution was set up to guarantee sufficient force to the citizens to overthrow the government if it should ever become a tyranny—at least, that’s what I learned in 9th grade! Of course, this could be one more instance of the U.S. standing almost alone among developed nations (our love of the death penalty and our extreme individualism are others)—but the principle is sound, that power has no legitimacy without the people’s consent. When Hezbollah, Moqtada al-Sadr and Hamas lay down their arms, we will know we are seeing “consent of the governed” in the Middle East, not just the (inachievable in any case) “monopoly of force.”

]]> http://www.eatbees.com/blog/2007/03/07/monopoly-of-force/comment-page-1/#comment-3975 Bill Day Thu, 08 Mar 2007 02:30:13 +0000 http://www.eatbees.com/blog/2007/03/07/monopoly-of-force/#comment-3975 "Monopoly of force" seems like odd rhetoric from people who presumably believe that the Second Amendment to the American Constitution guarantees an individual right to bear arms in order to counteract tyranny. An alternative paradigm to "monopoly of force" might be "consent of the governed," which evinces a decidedly more respectful attitude toward the citizenry. “Monopoly of force” seems like odd rhetoric from people who presumably believe that the Second Amendment to the American Constitution guarantees an individual right to bear arms in order to counteract tyranny. An alternative paradigm to “monopoly of force” might be “consent of the governed,” which evinces a decidedly more respectful attitude toward the citizenry.

]]>