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Government is the legitimate exercise of force. That's kind of the whole reason it exists.
by labster 9y ago
Government is the legitimate exercise of force. That's kind of the whole reason it exists.
- icebraining 9y agoThat doesn't mean this particular use of force is legitimate. Unless you mean that all uses of force by the government are legitimate, in which case you'll have much to defend.
- labster 9y agoThey're almost all legitimate uses of force by definition, unless the government breaks the law. This is orthogonal to moral or utilitarian concerns, however. But whenever I see people upset government uses force, I think: of course it does. It's like birds using wings or Emacs users using the control key.
- icebraining 9y agoMy point is that people may be upset at this particular use of force, not of the use in general. That it is legal is beside the point.