When Max Weber formalized his definition of state, he was asking to stir up trouble. Luckily, he wasn’t around long enough to bear the heat from peace-touting, anti-war idealists of the sixties. For a polity to be considered a state, Weber postulated, it must hold a legitimate monopoly on violence. In other words, the state must retain exclusive control over violence and its u … [Read more...] about Brain Fodder: Why I Chose a Gun