Moral Defense And The Use Of Force

Presuming one has made oneself into a being worth defending and has produced something of value to prevent losing, of course defense and protection are real values; but defense and protection do not equal the use of force, and in most cases do not require the use of force.

The moral individual loathes the use of force, because its use never produces anything positive. For the moral individual force is the method of last resort, because there is almost always a less costly and more productive way to defend what is worth defending.

Here are some rules of defense for individualists:

1. The first rule is always, don’t be there when it happens. I know this sounds like a kind of joke, but it is very serious. More people get into trouble being where they know the possibility of threat is high, and their reason for being there is almost always to fulfill some irrational desire or whim. Even when a threat is obvious, they do not have the sense to leave.

2. It is cheaper to pay the, “squeeze.” The use of force is not without cost, in fact it is almost always the most costly means of defense. In addition to the obvious costs in time, materials (if weapons are used), and effort, there are the inevitable emotional costs because using force is always traumatic.

Squeeze is a euphemism for a, “bribe,” the peace of meat thrown to the vicious dog to keep it busy while one continues with their life. One could use force against the dog with the possibility of failure, but why take the chance? If you kill the dog, it won’t be a threat again, but a new dog will just take its place and may be more difficult than the dog one knows.

3. Walls, fences, locks, alarms, and other devices are all means of defense that not only protect one’s person and property from intentional threat, but also from some forms of accidental or unintentional harm. Their production and use are a positive form of defense, as opposed to the negative form which relies on force.

4. Never a hero, is a defensive attitude. No one is put into this world to prove anything to anyone else. If one is concerned about what anyone else thinks or says about them they are suffering from a kind of inferiority complex. It is more heroic to “run away” from a threat than to “stand and fight” when the fight is almost always over something of no real consequence or purpose. You have nothing to prove to the world, and the world doesn’t care anyway.

5. Keep your blinds down and you mouth shut. The measure of a society’s civilization is in direct proportion to the degree a society prizes privacy. (By society I mean the individuals who are that society.) I’m surprised by those who seem so concerned about government intrusion into their, “privacy,” when those same people are on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and a million other “social-media” sites telling the whole world, in intimate detail, everything they do, everything they have, everything they feel, their personal troubles, their every foible and fault, and how wonderful they are and how lucky the world is that they are in it. Those who really have something to defend are not going to display to the world their most private possessions. Show the world your pearls but don’t complain when the world tramples on your pearls and you. (Some will understand the allusion here.)

6. When force is necessary, there are no rules. Force is almost never necessary because there is almost always a less expensive, less traumatic, more rational method of defense. In those rare exceptional cases when one is left no other choice and force is the only means of defense against a determined threat, there is no such thing as, “an appropriate use of force.” When force becomes necessary, it means all rational means of defense have been eliminated, the use of force means reason has been set aside and whatever the threat one is facing, it is irrational brute force, and whatever it takes to eliminate that threat is both necessary and justified.

—(06/10/16)