Politics as Violence

And the men who spurred us on
Sit in judgment of all wrong
They decide and
The shotgun sings the song
--The Who

In a 1918 speech, German sociologist Max Weber observed "a state is a human community that (successfully) claims the monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force within a given territory." Of course, that government is legitimized force was understood long before Weber took the podium.

He goes on to note that the right to use force by individuals or institutions in state-governed territory exists only to the extent that the state permits it. Personally, I would have used 'privilege' rather than 'right' to describe this situation. But it does follow that a state that claims a monopoly on force will seek to limit its use by others...lest state authority be threatened and revolution be at hand.

"The modern state is a compulsory organization," Weber observes, "that organizes domination."

As such, those wanting to engage in politics let themselves "in for the diabolic forces lurking in all violence." Weber states that the kingdom of heaven does not operate under auspices of violence, and that those seeking salvation of their souls "should not seek it along the avenue of politics, for the quite different tasks of politics can only be solved by violence."

"Everything that is striven for through political action operating with violent means and following an ethic of responsibility endangers the 'salvation of the soul.'"