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‘Progressive’ icon's view refutes modern 'monopoly of violence' advocates
Gun Rights Examiner ^ | 29 January, 2012 | David Codrea

Posted on 01/30/2012 6:57:25 AM PST by marktwain

"The concept of a 'monopoly on force' might sound foreign or even frightening to Americans that take great pride in our revolutionary beginnings," Coalition to Stop Gun Violence Executive Director Josh Horwitz wrote in a Huffington Post citizen disarmament advocacy piece, "but it is the fundamental organizing principle of any political entity, including the United States."

“To back up this assertion,” I explained in a GUNS Magazine Rights Watch column, “he cites, ‘German political economist and sociologist Max Weber.’"

“What he doesn't cite,” I elaborated, “is Weber's support for approving Article 48 into the Weimar constitution, establishing "emergency powers" to bypass Reichstag consent, and allowing Adolf Hitler's rise to unchallenged power. Not to mention the attainment of a ‘monopoly of force,’ although Weber preferred the term ‘violence.’"

It’s no surprise someone representing an organization that changed its name from “The National Coalition to Ban Handguns” in order to mask its true intent would keep that bit of crucial information from his readers—after all, he must have boxes of books on the subject nobody’s buying or reading that he needs to unload. But those who agree with Horwitz’s historically insupportable, and frankly, loopy conclusion, that the freest and safest citizens are those who cede their primal rights to an all-powerful state monopoly, might be interested to learn that one of the “founding fathers” of modern “progressivism” came to the exact opposite conclusion.

I speak of “Robin Hood of the Law” Louis Brandeis, an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court nominated to the high court by Woodrow Wilson, and a leading proponent of “progressive” causes in his day.

From The Volokh Conspiracy, author and attorney Dave Kopel shares an exchange between Brandeis and the United Kingdom’s Ambassador to the United States:

(Excerpt) Read more at examiner.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Government; Philosophy
KEYWORDS: banglist; brandeis; constitution; horwitz
A "monopoly of force", as defined by Weber, dismisses the theory of natural rights, which is what the Constitution of the United States is built on.
1 posted on 01/30/2012 6:57:29 AM PST by marktwain
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To: marktwain

It is never about guns. It is always about control. Once disarmed, subjects are easy to control through a “monopoly of violence”.


2 posted on 01/30/2012 8:05:27 AM PST by muir_redwoods (No wonder this administration favors abortion; everything they have done is an abortion)
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To: marktwain

In America, the People Are the State.


3 posted on 01/30/2012 8:09:34 AM PST by UnbelievingScumOnTheOtherSide (REPEAL WASHINGTON! -- Islam Delenda Est! -- I Want Constantinople Back. -- Rumble thee forth.)
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To: UnbelievingScumOnTheOtherSide

Only in that old relic, The Constitution. Since at least LBJ and maybe as far back as Wilson, the Government has assumed the role of sugar daddy in exchange for peoples freedom and most people are happy with the deal.


4 posted on 01/30/2012 8:43:13 AM PST by muir_redwoods (No wonder this administration favors abortion; everything they have done is an abortion)
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To: muir_redwoods

Most people ARE happy with a free lunch.

But a few hours later they are hungry again and there is no more free food.


5 posted on 01/30/2012 4:09:59 PM PST by UnbelievingScumOnTheOtherSide (REPEAL WASHINGTON! -- Islam Delenda Est! -- I Want Constantinople Back. -- Rumble thee forth.)
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To: muir_redwoods

Most people ARE happy with a free lunch.

But a few hours later they are hungry again and there is no more free food and the cost of the lunch is included in dinner.


6 posted on 01/30/2012 4:11:11 PM PST by UnbelievingScumOnTheOtherSide (REPEAL WASHINGTON! -- Islam Delenda Est! -- I Want Constantinople Back. -- Rumble thee forth.)
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