OT: Celebrity advice (was: Advice to a Junior in High School?)

Gerrit Holl gerrit at nl.linux.org
Wed Aug 27 14:52:28 EDT 2003


Terry Reedy wrote:
> " Every political choice ultimately reduces to a choice about when and
> how to use lethal force, because the threat of lethal force is what
> makes politics and law more than a game out of which anyone could opt
> at any time."
> 
> Do you disagree?

Yes.

Maybe a government needs to use violence to enforce people getting
into prison if they refuse to obey the law. But a prison is not
lethal (at least, not in civilized regions like those in Europe
and some parts of the USA). 

If a community decides to build a road, it has nothing to do with
lethal force. Nor does it to strengthen the dikes, or cut taxes,
or even create more strict gun laws. This statement by ESR is
absolute nonsense.

> Or are you one who doesn't the 'people' to notice the
> elitist hypocrisy of being 'anti-gun' while supporting the bearing
> *and use* of guns by 'govern-men' the elitists hope to control?

I am against all violence. But because we don't live in Utopia, the
government sometimes needs to use violence to enforce the law. The
difference is that, in civilized countries, the law is (mostly)
democratic and (for a large part) fair. Government violence is
something absolutely different from person-violence (I don't know
how "eigen rechter spelen" is called in English).

> (I think it safe to say that during the 20th century, 99% of the 100s of
> millions of murders were committed by armed govern-men rather than by
> private persons acting alone.)

That is probably true. But do you seriously think that the Dutch, Swiss,
American or Japanese government can be compared with those of Hitler, Stalin,
Pol Pot, Saddam Hussein, Kim Jong Il, etc.? Weapons in hands of idiots can
cause dozens of deaths. Power in hands of idiots can cause millions of deaths.
Does the latter mean the former isn't true?

Gerrit (socialist).

-- 
168. If a man wish to put his son out of his house, and declare before
the judge: "I want to put my son out," then the judge shall examine into
his reasons. If the son be guilty of no great fault, for which he can be
rightfully put out, the father shall not put him out.
        -- 1780 BC, Hammurabi, Code of Law
--
Asperger Syndroom - een persoonlijke benadering:
	http://people.nl.linux.org/~gerrit/
Het zijn tijden om je zelf met politiek te bemoeien:
	http://www.sp.nl/





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