DANG (11) - Defence

Some people believe that the state will defend them from war.

There are actually a variety ways of getting defence from invaders.

1. Local communities can form militias, so they can defend themselves.
2. Communities could employ mercenaries to defend them. The Vatican City has relied on Swiss guards for hundreds of years.

The government is just one method of getting defence and it is not a very good one.

The modern state is not seriously interested in protecting people. Defence forces plan to protect their capital city and military bases, but the rest of the country is expendable.

Many governments are reluctant to spend money on defence, as there are very few votes to be obtained from better armed forces. The state only defends those who support it and any innocent people are harassed by the state.

The reverse problem is that the modern state also tends to be over-ambitious at getting into unnecessary wars, so we should be cautious about giving governments this power.

Temporary military commanders are a safer method of defence.