Ben Landau-Taylor's article in UnHerd makes a simple argument: simple, easy-to-use military technologies beget democracies. Complex ones concentrate military power in the hands of state militaries and favor aristocracies or bureaucracies.

One of the examples he gives is how “the rise of the European Union has disempowered elected legislatures de jure as well as de facto.”

Now, that's just plain wrong. EU has no military and no police force (except maybe Frontex, but even that is far from clear-cut). The monopoly on violence remains firmly in the hands of the member states. Even coordination at the European level is not handled at the European level, but outsourced to NATO.

That said, Ben's broader point is correct: groups capable of exerting violence will, in the long run, tend to get political representation. The groups that can’t will be pushed aside and their concerns ignored.

It may not happen at once. [...]

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First published:
September 24th, 2025

Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/oHCvHH3MoEuXb7Nov/eu-and-monopoly-on-violence

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

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Images from the article:

red: full conscription, orange: partial conscription (lottery or selection), yellow: considering conscription, blue: considering voluntary service

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“EU and Monopoly on Violence” by Martin Sustrik

LessWrong (30+ Karma)