General

Re: Were Militias Meant to Be Lead By The State, Or The People?

mahall — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 22:03:48 GMT

Don't the Swiss have a militia these days? That's hardly a libertarian paragon.

All militias don't necessarily have to be statist, just how all guerilla forces don't necessarily have to be socialist.

Re: Were Militias Meant to Be Lead By The State, Or The People?

Merlin — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 20:28:00 GMT

"Guerilla" fighting is a school of tactics, not really a description of the forces. Militia could be well organized into traditional military units and fight in platoons, companies, etc, or be utilized in guerilla warfare, or police actions, etc.

The defining characteristic is just that it's primarily a fighting unit that's self-armed and supplied. They can even be commanded by, and work with, regular army units, and have training.

Don't the Swiss have a militia these days? That's hardly a libertarian paragon.

Re: Were Militias Meant to Be Lead By The State, Or The People?

LogisticEarth — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 20:26:22 GMT

Nowadays that'd be called guerilla.

"Guerilla" fighting is a school of tactics, not really a description of the forces. Militia could be well organized into traditional military units and fight in platoons, companies, etc, or be utilized in guerilla warfare, or police actions, etc.

The defining characteristic is just that it's primarily a fighting unit that's self-armed and supplied. They can even be commanded by, and work with, regular army units, and have training.

Re: Were Militias Meant to Be Lead By The State, Or The People?

Merlin — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 20:25:56 GMT

Aren't gueillas usually led by some socialist fool?

They need not be. leading a successful guerilla action would confer libertarians almost unlimited goodwill, as it has done for socialists for more than a century. I'm looking at you Hong Kong.

Re: Were Militias Meant to Be Lead By The State, Or The People?

Merlin — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 20:22:18 GMT

No war in the US has been a guerilla war.

No just war in the US has been won by arms either.

Re: Were Militias Meant to Be Lead By The State, Or The People?

scineram — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 19:41:25 GMT

Yes, for freedom requires a well-managed government.

No war in the US has been a guerilla war.

Re: Were Militias Meant to Be Lead By The State, Or The People?

limitgov — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 18:36:30 GMT

"Nowadays that'd be called guerilla."

Aren't gueillas usually led by some socialist fool?

Re: Were Militias Meant to Be Lead By The State, Or The People?

Merlin — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 17:28:35 GMT

Nowadays that'd be called guerilla. Militia implies a poorly trained, mass-conscripted force. The stuff of nightmares.

Re: Were Militias Meant to Be Lead By The State, Or The People?

Gero — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 16:08:26 GMT

For centuries before the drafting of the Second Amendment, European political writers used the term "well regulated militia" to refer to the citizenry on the whole, armed with privately-owned weapons, led by officers chosen by themselves.

Were Militias Meant to Be Lead By The State, Or The People?

limitgov — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 15:30:31 GMT

Are militias, that are meant to protect our freedom, meant to be lead by the state?