Taking a step back and viewing the government as a legal entity (business, organisation) who just happens to have seized ultimate power over a large piece of real estate and all the people living on it gives some interesting perspective. A government has no natural right to do anything. When individuals refuse to comply with its orders, one soon learns that it is the right of the strongest that truly underpins a government. The use of sheer physical force.
@allan I'm not actually convinced that the Norwegian army (my country is Norway) has more guns than the civilians anymore. Our army has shrunk down to almost nothing after the Cold War ended and Russia ceased to be a threat. We pretty much rely on our neighbors and allies to defend us. Norway would be pretty easy for the citizens to overthrow if needed... And for other countries to invade...
@allan There is plenty of police of course, but they're not exactly armed to the teeth. Norway hasn't seen civil unrest on the level you can see in France, the US, etc.
@thor well according to Wikipedia, Norway has 70,540 people in the active and reserve military with a total area of 323802km2. Canada has 97,500 to defend 9984670km2.
I think in terms of just rolling over and letting ourselves be invaded we might have you beat 😅
But yeah I was mostly referring to police and such. I mean ultimately people only have to follow the govt's rules because the govt can kidnap you with impunity (jail) and kill you if you resist.
@allan I'm not convinced that people who aren't marching around in uniforms (reserves) should be counted. After all, if there's a revolt, many of the reserves might join said revolt, whereas disciplined soldiers are more likely to follow orders from above.
It sounds like Canada is counting on its big neighbour in the south to defend it. We also count on the same guy...
@thor yes, and also since the cold war ended Canada has cut back on the military significantly. It comes up every time NATO meets, Canada doesn't spend nearly as much (as a percentage of GDP) as most other NATO countries.
It is kind of funny that we rely on the US to save us, they are the only country that has ever invaded (twice).
@thor one definition of government is that they are the ones with a monopoly on lethal force (or the "legitimate" use of such force if that makes any sense).
Thinking about government as a business or land owner is just a nicety, what they really are is the group with the most guns. Once another group has more then the government isn't much of a government anymore.