Origins of today's militia (1 Viewer)

[liberal1]

To me, the formation of a militia is based on two things, conspiracy or paranoia, and troubling economic times. Now take it back to the 18th century. You're a colonist, Britain is imposing somewhat imposing laws (the Stamp Act, Coercive Acts, Proclamation of 1763 etc.) and life isn't going to well. Some of these colonists see this as a plan initiated by the King and Parliament and thus, decide to take it upon themselves to protect their rights.

Now, once WWII ended, the U.S. and Soviet Union are no longer buddies, and Communism is spreading. The U.S. government(especially Republicans) see this Communism as a virus that is going to completely take over our democratic nation. Black people aren't too happy because they still don't have basic civil rights, and the liberals are fussing up a storm because Republicans are spreading all types of propaganda (from a conservative point of view, you're protecting American rights) Once this is taken into account, some very right-wing minded people see this as a conspiracy by the Communists to invade the U.S. Now, you think that Communists have infiltrated the government and it seems the only way out is to take matters into your own hands. From a liberal point of view, the republicans are trying to take away your privacy and for black people, though they have some non-violent protests, aren't getting rights fast enough. As a result, some semi-militia organizations like the Black Panthers form.

Either try to disprove what I state, or add some more info, thanks.

 

[M14 Shooter]

I thnk you're arguing what bring people to revolution, not the origin of the militia.

 

[LeftyHenry]

Most militia today can be for very different reasons then that of what you state. There are Marxist militia in Africa that are extreme reformers. The Iraqi rejectionists are fighting because extreme of hate of America. Militias are usually extreme ways to get change to fight back. They usually happen in corrupt places where political change is impossible

 

[Vandeervecken]

This whole topic depends on how you define militia. I use the US Code definition myself.

 

[HighSpeed]

In response to your title only, it all started with the tribal Germans, even before the Roman days. Many countries, including the U.S., the military is desgined after the German military system, started by the Germans way back in time.