"And capital punishment, however ineffective it may be and through whatever ignorance it may be resorted to, is a strictly defensive act, - at least in theory"
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Capital punishment gets laundered as “defense” the way a fistfight gets rebranded as “self-care”: the label does most of the moral work. Tucker’s line is a tight, anarchist feint. He grants the state its cleanest possible alibi - “strictly defensive… at least in theory” - only to expose how threadbare that theory is the moment you touch reality. The phrase “however ineffective it may be” isn’t an aside; it’s a trapdoor. If an act doesn’t reliably protect anyone, “defense” becomes a sentimental costume for something else: vengeance, spectacle, social control.
The subtext is Tucker’s larger war on coercive authority. As a 19th-century individualist anarchist, he’s skeptical of institutions that claim moral necessity while practicing convenience. “Through whatever ignorance it may be resorted to” reads like a diagnosis of the public’s role: not mustache-twirling cruelty, but a civic fog where fear and received wisdom substitute for evidence. Ignorance here isn’t just lack of information; it’s a political resource that makes killing feel administrative.
The context matters: this is a period when “scientific” criminology, moral reform movements, and the expanding modern state are all competing to define crime and punishment. Tucker’s move is to meet the pro-execution argument on its own preferred terrain - protection - then quietly pull the pin. If the only defensible story is “in theory,” he’s implying, the practice is already convicted.
The subtext is Tucker’s larger war on coercive authority. As a 19th-century individualist anarchist, he’s skeptical of institutions that claim moral necessity while practicing convenience. “Through whatever ignorance it may be resorted to” reads like a diagnosis of the public’s role: not mustache-twirling cruelty, but a civic fog where fear and received wisdom substitute for evidence. Ignorance here isn’t just lack of information; it’s a political resource that makes killing feel administrative.
The context matters: this is a period when “scientific” criminology, moral reform movements, and the expanding modern state are all competing to define crime and punishment. Tucker’s move is to meet the pro-execution argument on its own preferred terrain - protection - then quietly pull the pin. If the only defensible story is “in theory,” he’s implying, the practice is already convicted.
Quote Details
| Topic | Justice |
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