The Libertarian’s Aggression Bugaboo
[Libertarians] are opposed to the initiation of force, i.e., aggression.
I have a minor point to pick with using the term aggression as synonymous with the initiation of force. Aggression is too vague and vast a concept compared to the very narrow matter of the initiation of force.
Aggression could be letting others know you are armed, or that you are trained in arms, or in the liberal’s view, it is even aggressive to believe people have the right to bear arms. Aggression has an emotional tinge to it. A person fighting in response to an assault can be more aggressive once the fight starts than the mugger who started it. In the search for justice, there is no way to separate the two except in terms of the initiator and the victim. In fact, supposing that the 1991 Gulf War was a matter of Saddam Hussein initiating force against a US territory-protectorate of Kuwait, the response to that attack was very aggressive to the point where it was deemed immoral by the president himself to vanquish the remnants of the fleeing Iraqi army. Our aggressive response would have made the current Iraq war unnecessary. If the dispute arose because Kuwaiti oil companies were sticking subterranean oil wells into Iraqi territory, and if one supposes that Iraq had a legitimate property right in those oil rights, then Kuwait was initiating force, even though it was not acting aggressively like a bully, but quietly like a pickpocket. Of course, then, the US was lending itself to that use of force. In other words, you could violate rights without overt aggression, and you can protect your rights by aggressively overwhelming the enemy. An adjective like this is no substitute for “initiation of force” as the term denoting the form of action required to violate someone’s rights. The issue then becomes, what is the form of force? A hold up? A disguised well? A front company? A computer virus sent by email? Or a bullet fired in one’s direction?
Etymology: Aggression means attack. This may be legitimate or illegitimate.
1 : a forceful action or procedure (as an unprovoked attack) especially when intended to dominate or master
2 : the practice of making attacks or encroachments; especially : unprovoked violation by one country of the territorial integrity of another
3 : hostile, injurious, or destructive behavior or outlook especially when caused by frustration
“aggression.” Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2009.
Merriam-Webster Online. 25 September 2009
<http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/aggression>
Often used with aggression, is “bullying,” “harassment,” and “intimidation.” These are also emotional words, and even subjective. Consider the disputes that arise over what is and is not harassment. Things like war, or who started the pretext for a war, cannot be in dispute. What matters is who is initiating force versus who is on the receiving end of that force. That is what makes it improper to speak of aggression.
It does a disservice to the victim of force since it obfuscates the issue.
Lorenz Kraus c 2009
