101–109 of 109 posts
So you're forced to join a gang and fight their rival gangs, or you form your own gang equipped with rifles and grenades ready to commit violence, so that you can fight against joining that gang, or any other gang. Either way you're in a violent gang. I guess I'd rather have the state maintain a monopoly on violence.
Yes, until they go completely outlaw rogue like ice has done in the USA.
So you're forced to join a gang and fight their rival gangs, or you form your own gang equipped with rifles and grenades ready to commit violence, so that you can fight against joining that gang, or any other gang. Either way you're in a violent gang. I guess I'd rather have the state maintain a monopoly on violence.
I agree, not all violence is the same. But further, perhaps our sense of morality atrophies when we concede the idea of just violence (just as in "justice") only to the state. I presume those fighting the cartels might have more of a developed sense of civic pride and duty than anyone in a more stable place. Perhaps I'm wrong though
Mexico has been like that for decades, I believe it's top 1 priority for most Mexicans yet it's still not fixed. What gives ? At some point when your government is so corrupt, you got to take weapon and organize yourself. It's sad.
A characteristic of most of Latin America is that the Police and the Army were created to protect power, not the people, and there hasn't really been an effort to change the mentality.
So you're forced to join a gang and fight their rival gangs, or you form your own gang equipped with rifles and grenades ready to commit violence, so that you can fight against joining that gang, or any other gang. Either way you're in a violent gang. I guess I'd rather have the state maintain a monopoly on violence.
the real war the US should be fighting
There's no need to fight. The proper solution is to end the war on drugs, allowing people to do what they will with their own bodies. Once people can legally buy their drugs, the cartels will starve. Use the money saved from reducing our prison population by 75% to pay for widely-accessible treatment for addiction as well as mental health problems. Build more affordable housing so homelessness is less of an issue. As…
So you're forced to join a gang and fight their rival gangs, or you form your own gang equipped with rifles and grenades ready to commit violence, so that you can fight against joining that gang, or any other gang. Either way you're in a violent gang. I guess I'd rather have the state maintain a monopoly on violence.
> I guess I'd rather have the state maintain a monopoly on violence. Yes, until they go completely outlaw rogue like ice has done in the USA.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I guess I'd rather have the state maintain a monopoly on violence. Yes, until they go completely outlaw rogue like ice has done in the USA.
And by go rogue you mean do exactly as ordered
The US government is split into three branches with separation of powers. The executive branch does not have the authority to give orders which bypass laws and the constitution. Any agency that follows such orders has gone rogue, as following illegal orders is the definition of that.
So you're forced to join a gang and fight their rival gangs, or you form your own gang equipped with rifles and grenades ready to commit violence, so that you can fight against joining that gang, or any other gang. Either way you're in a violent gang. I guess I'd rather have the state maintain a monopoly on violence.
The danger always is that these militias can themselves become corrupt and oppress their own people.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
What choice do they have? This is not your usual vigilante group. This is a reaction to an overwhelming force of criminal gangs killing citizens and the government being powerless to stop them.
> This is a reaction to an overwhelming force of criminal gangs killing citizens and the government being powerless to stop them. Is the Mexican government, with their tens of billions in military spending, actually "powerless" to stop these gangs? I very much doubt it.
The corruption isn't always "I want to get rich" type, sometimes it's "I don't want to be murdered in a horrific way" type.