Speaking as a former K Street policy wonk: they have been brought to the table (did you not hear about the insurrection?), and no one is out of reach of consequences -- the elites are just lucky folks are obsessed with murdering the president rather than targeting folks whose deaths could actually change things. I've seen a literal supreme court justice nearly get their head clipped off by an incoming WMATA because they were too impatient to check their phone, but we spend so much money protecting the president when the entire system is designed so that person is replaceable. Imagine what would happen if folks like that got... nudged... instead of having morons trying to jump the White House fence?

The main issue with your logic is that a meltdown like the insurrection occurs and someone who is corrupt and entitled double down on the eternal September 11th that has been chipping away civil liberties since Columbine without groking that's exactly the kind of behavior that led to the riot (and the general trend of populism that elected Trump in the first place)

>Do you think violence is always wrong? When is violence justified?

I only think violence is justified in self defense and it's better to use nonviolent means unless you are in imminent mortal danger, and even then, you should consider retreat rather than take a life for the sake of pride. You don't "fight" people -- you attempt kill anyone who puts you in fear of your life in a place you have no duty to retreat.

That subtle distinction is why one of my last initiatives at my old NGO was to sit down with one of the staffers who had joined me in putting a letter opener on her desk after Charlie Hebdo, and warned her that she should be more fearful of free expression lest a literal mob form on the mall, then moved back to Appalachia in a Ryder truck like a cyberpunk Timothy McVeigh. I was sipping a cute little cortado after having smoked my morning joint behind a biker bar when the insurrection happened, no one can cry about my behavior. (I tipped.)

All my life, folks like those dipshit FBI agents from the Pittsburgh field office who ran up on the Capitol have created false concern to oppress others and enrich themselves, while allowing true threats to the homeland to flourish.

You haven't truly utilized the first amendment until someone who victimized you calls you up in utter terror on the Signal you gave them to use in case of iminent civil war... and then gave them your email and told them to never contact you again unless it's to set up a consulting agreement because you aren't a communist and won't free, then blocked them on every comms platform under the threat of having them arrested by the same law enforcement officers who had rioted past their office if they ever contact you again for some Tom Sawyer bullshit.

(That's not hyperbole -- I literally dropped Mike Godwin's business card in the tip jar because I'd run out of two dollar bills, that's how unrepentantly fearless and adversarial my communications are. They should start printing them again and put Woz's face on the back above however you say "Fuck around, find out" in Latin, because dear lord, I'm tired of someone calling the secret service every time I try to buy a quad espresso.)

>If the state is to have the only morally justified use of violence, what can be done when a state uses violence to oppress, enslave, or promote only the interests of the wealthy class?

The solution there is to "Yes and" the capitalists (capitalism is an economic system, not a political system) by withholding your labor until said wealthy class acts out in ways that allow you to use the same laws and norms of neoliberalism they used to abuse others against them.

The above condensed and fictionalized example paints a good picture of how you accomplish that -- forgive me if I stick to creative nonfiction, but I'll need to commute home from here so I can't be as... specific... as I'd like... but I cannot emphasize enough that folks who think they can coerce others deserve to have their lives look like that one Phil Collins song about not saving a guy from drowning should be playing in the movie trailer for their life.

Anyways... thanks for posting parent. I'm off to pound some orange juice, I've got a terrible head cold and had too much Sudafed. Feel free to reply if any of the above requires clarification... but I'll need to get someplace where I can use my laptop -- I've had to start posting over Tor for opsec or whatever.

- Greg.

Voting, for example.

I, for one, will likely never be in a position where it makes sense to go on strike and you won’t find me with a pitchfork and torch at the home of the latest social target. There are other methods, and much more needed ones than strife and violence in the 21st century.