Saturday, February 16, 2013
Misplaced argument
Discussion of self-defense in US has been exclusively focused on guns for a long time. This was NOT the intention of the 2nd Amendment, and it's a carefully planned distraction from the real meaning of self-defense. NRA still repeats the nonsense about dictators taking your guns. Hitler might have done it, but plenty of other dictators didn't. Russia was very well-armed during Stalin's time. Iraq was bristling with AK-47s during Saddam's time, as our soldiers tragically discovered. Those guns were not used against the dictators because the dictators ruled with the consent of a majority of their people.
In 1787 the word arms meant 'self-defense tools'. Those tools included swords, knives, clubs and guns. In 2013 the concept 'self-defense tools' still includes those older items, and also includes computer software, printers, telephones and cameras.
Stalin understood the point. He didn't confiscate guns, but he did refuse Bell's offer to set up a telephone network in Russia, and he fiercely wiped out unauthorized printing presses and mimeographs.
Modern Russians also understand the point, which is why they all have dashcams.
Modern German anarchists understand the point. Camover. Using cameras to document an underground campaign to decamerate the authorities.
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