Brian Griffith's Blog - Posts Tagged "japan"

In his book "Upheaval," Jared Diamond points out that when Japan formed a modern, unified nation in the 1870s, it replaced the militias of feudal lords with a national army and police force. The traditional samurai militia were forbidden to carry their swords in public or to impose private punishments on others. This is just what the USA has failed to do with its numerous "citizen militias," who retain the right to carry military weapons in public and act as "deputies" to "enforce the people's will." It's as if Japan had allowed it's samurai militias to continue operating as independent forces of intimidation, with a legally protected right to brandish their military weapons in the streets. The whole practice of protecting "militia's rights" is a holdover from the feudal "order."