I’m guessing that one would be hard-pressed to see in very many other places around the globe the following bumper sticker I saw last night:
“I’ll serve and protect myself, thank you very much.”
I’m not a big fan of bumper sticker philosophy and should probably shrug this one off without commentary. But what the heck, it inspired a few thoughts beyond thinking of it as an exemplar of American exceptionalism.
So…On the one hand, I love the rugged individualism that the sticker’s slogan expresses. My dark side also enjoys the poke it takes at the standard police motto given that the guardians are sometimes a threat to those ostensibly guarded. I also like its not-so-subtle support for the 2nd Amendment.
However, I’m still influenced enough by Hobbes and Thucydides – not to mention other thinkers less negative about human nature and the state of nature but still decidedly “statist” – to think such an anarchist-suggesting slogan is a bit naive. In anarchy, we’d still be required (assuming we wish to survive at minimum and the world is not populated by angels) to form or purchase collective defense forces unless we could guarantee that others would not use coercive power against us. Indeed, given the benefits of amassing coercive power in a world of such “self-protectors,” we’d soon find ourselves desirous of a state or a state-like entity so we could peacefully rest our head at night.
That being said, I still love the bumper sticker’s sentiment of self-help since ultimately we need to be able to defend ourselves when necessary even if we still desire a state* (like when the government fails to fulfill its ultimate end or even when the state itself becomes enough of a threat to our natural liberties to warrant the use of force — see many places around the globe or America 1775). And I certainly respect and appreciate the notion that we should “serve” ourselves rather than rely on or demand the service of others. But again, one probably shouldn’t think too deeply about what one reads on the back of a pickup truck.
* I prefer a strong but limited government. In other words, one that enjoys the capacity to secure individual rights but does very little beyond that.
