But “vigilante” justice is the name we give to justice that is exercised by individuals with no legal authority to do so within a system where there is an actual legal recourse. People taking matters into their own hands to right wrongs, especially in groups, was a precursor to laws and justice systems. Obviously if the government had literally collapsed and there were no police at all, people organizing to deal with crime would be necessary (even though that system is far, far worse than the kind of good justice system we aspire to).
So you see this as a slope going down from a country of laws to a country of vigilantes. I see it as a step going up from a system that has become corrupt enough that justice has collapsed to a rudimentary form of justice taking grips. I think which of us is right depends on how broken a state the current system is in. And on that I’m happy to agree to disagree.
Yeah, I had written a post talking about union violence leading to labour laws and then walked that back as too extreme. I think that justice sometimes comes about because it’s the only option that people in power have left.
Sort of. But to what extent was Britain’s relationship with Canada guided by the knowledge that if you don’t let people determine their own fate they eventually decide to determine their own fate anyway.
