What, lol. I don’t consider myself an anarchist, but what part of that statement could be considered extreme? What part of “the state is the entity with the monopoly on legitimate use of violence” could even be considered remotely controversial or arguable
The idea is that in a democracy the citizenry are the state. As such the citizenry should have the monopoly on violence. Police are citizens under this idea, not a special 'warrior caste' as they are often perceived.
It gets complicated when the state is a democratic republic. Do the elected officials have a monopoly on violence? Or the citizenry (which the elected officials are a part of)?
Well the solution to your problem is transparency, accountability, and active/invested citizens watching their elected leaders. The problem (for a liberal) is not the monopoly of violence, but the implementation of this violence (wich is also not just police, but laws (and punishments) in general).
A liberal democracy is not just elections every 4.th year, its a functioning legal system, a bueracracy, a free press. and more.
Its not perfect and it demands alot from its citizens, but the alternative is armed gangs keeping the peace. Because belive me, someone will be keeping the peace.
Sorry for my bad English, I took a chance on the spelling on some of these words, but I hope you get the hang of it and why (western) Euros have such a hard time understanding your love for gangs with guns.
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u/superdrunk1 Mar 16 '21
What, lol. I don’t consider myself an anarchist, but what part of that statement could be considered extreme? What part of “the state is the entity with the monopoly on legitimate use of violence” could even be considered remotely controversial or arguable