An impressive speech by the Netherlands' military chief:
I might disagree about the state having a monopoly on use of force, but it is certainly true that when there is no recognized legitimate state authority, violence often increases. Somalia is a reminder that the absence of a government does not need to a utopia, but the rule by the most brutal.
In essence, the general's speech is a longer version of Orwell's famous statement about us sleeping safely in our beds because rough men protect us.
I'm not so sure that Somalia is "absence of government" so much as it's "Rule by Brutal Warlords". What's really scary is that under Somalia's Rule by Brutal Warlords (or even straight Anarchy), the quality of life has improved from when Communists ruled Somalia.
ReplyDeleteThe lesson: whatever is happening in Somalia is better than a Communist Government!
It's a lesson worth remembering as we flirt with versions of Communism and Socialism.
As for myself: I hate the term "anarcho-capitalism". Anarchy is a misnomer, because it's a system where two individuals can work out their own private set of laws between them; and capitalism implies "Rule by Owners of Capital" when the true "rulers" are individualists. And it's a great irony that anarcho-capitalism would only work if most of the individuals under it are law-abiding.
But then, that's true of all government. If the vast majority of individuals decided that the laws of America didn't apply to them (especially the basic laws, like "Thou shalt not murder or steal or commit adultery"), no words would be able to describe the decadence, the bloodshed, and the ultimate destruction of the American people--no matter how strict the government tried to be!