[Dan.Linehan]

Originally Posted by Scin

Power is evil?

Well, if you believe that, there is zero hope for you. I'm out of this thread.

I think its valid. Power is basically the capacity to enforce one's will onto another.

This is from an essay on anarchy, and I think it rings true.

All governments - from Iraq to Israel, from China to the U.S.A. - all governments, are based on coercion and force. If you don't want to do what the government says, they will either make you do it, lock you up, take your property, torture you, or kill you. Coercion is exercising force to bring about compliance. All governments do it. Whether the coercion is an effort to bring about things we agree with (e.g., reducing littering, stopping sexism or racism in hiring or housing) or things that we don't agree with (e.g., being taxed, drafted, driving 55 miles an hour). The point is that force - naked power - is used to bring about compliance. That's a given, and it seems to me an indisputable fact. Don't do what the government says. Pay the price. Period.