ID: 4 panels:
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A self righteous person holds their hand up and says “Violence is never the solution.”
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Stephie replies with a smile “Oh! So you agree that we shouldn’t give weapons to the police?”
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She adds “And that we should dismantle the army?”
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Stephie is now right up behind the other person, looking angry, saying “Or did you mean that violence is only a solution when it helps maintain the status quo?”. The other person looks deeply uncomfortable.
Credit: Sophie Labelle
The actual argument is to limit violence to specific institutions - what those institutions do is perpendicular. For example, neither desegregation nor the Holocaust were “status quo,” but both relied on limiting who could threaten force.
Proliferation isn’t a safe bet, either, as shown by Mexico’s cartels. Democratic power structures at least theoretically reflect everyone’s concerns. Plain old gangs tend to assert control through merciless terror. However you feel about American power structures - you probably won’t get shot in your home for tweeting ‘man, I hate these power structures.’