Stating with the understanding that all mandatory, human government is illegitimate, it is interesting (and perhaps important) to understand all the various forms of human government which abound or have existed on this poor planet of ours.
We do point out that, theoretically, a mandatory human government based on the fundamental of universal consent might – might – possibly be legitimate. But even that is unlikely, given Lincoln’s theorem: “You can fool ALL of the people some of the time, and some of the people ALL of the time, but not ALL of the people ALL of the time.” Government isn’t rolling dice, and how many times in a row can you get snake eyes before something else comes up? Even unanimous democratic government, especially when done in the form of a representative democracy, is virtually (99.9999%) certain to take away human liberty and responsibility.
We here at TPOL were just made away of a concept called “managed” or “guided” democracy. (Oddly enough, via a war game based on Warhammer 40,000.) According to some definitions:
A managed democracy (a/k/a guided democracy) is a system of government that holds formal elections but uses state power, media control, and bureaucratic rules to ensure the ruling elite always wins and keeps control. Key Characteristics include:
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The Price of Liberty 
Aggression? Or self-defense?
A guest commentary and more!
Tom Jefferson described liberty and how laws did not sustain and support liberty, because tyrants used law just as much (or more) than lovers of liberty did.
“How keep under control the men entrusted with the handling of the government apparatus lest they turn their weapons against those whom they were expected to serve? The main political problem is how to prevent the rulers from becoming despots and enslaving the citizenry. Defense of the individual’s liberty against the encroachment of tyrannical governments is the essential theme of the history of Western civilization. The characteristic feature of the Occident is its peoples’ pursuit of liberty, a concern unknown to Orientals. All the marvelous achievements of Western civilization are fruits grown on the tree of liberty.” ~ chapter 21, Theory of Money and Credit, Ludwig von Mises, AD1912
Obviously, free-market/free-enterprise anarchists (like us at TPOL) believe we have come up with the answer to Von Mises’ “main political problem.” Get rid of mandatory human government! Now, we understand that such a statement is considered “extremist” and not viewed as either feasible or desirable by the general public. And certainly not by those in power. So we are condemned when we act to provide that situation, in word or deed.
And that is the point of the question: when we resist human government and human governors (political rulers) are we acting in self-defense, or are we taking aggressive action against them, and those who support them? Is it extreme to take action against the system?
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