# What were you THINKING? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 13, 2023, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532 "2023-10-13T19:36:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 7833
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2026, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/7833 "2026-08-06T00:10:23Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Force and violence is how any government operates. We usually don’t think about it that way, but it’s true. Agreed. Indeed, it can be argued that the monopoly of violence is one of the defining characteristics of a state. > [@Does the state have a monopoly on violence?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-state-have-a-monopoly-on-violence/1024175): > > Continuing the discussion from [Red button or blue button dilemma](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-button-or-blue-button-dilemma/1024041/294): I do not understand this sentence. Unless I’m mis-understanding, it seems the opposite is true. Have you never heard the term “state [monopoly on violence](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monopoly_on_violence)”? The [state](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_(polity)) (in the form of law enforcement officers) is the only entity permitted to employ violence to keep the peace. Indeed, per the Widpedia article, [Max Weber](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Weber) in his essay [Politics as a Vocation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_as_a_Vocation) (1919) stated that the monopoly on violence is the defining conception of… --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532)._