Militia at the state and local level
Thanks, Antipitas, for the complimentary introduction. Yes, I am a published scholar, but anyone can upload a paper to
SSRN. Scholars do that to invite comments from others on a paper that is a work in progress, usually before finally submitting it to a professional, peer-reviewed journal. That and other articles are destined for law review journals or chapters in a book I am writing. For more on my scholarly credentials see my
CV.
I am much experienced in trying to activate militia at the state and local level. That is largely what the constitutional militia movement was intended to further, and it has had some success, most of it without much attention. Of course, the Minuteman Project(s) have been spectacularly successful and moving border security to the forefront of political debate, despite the usual problems with misbehaving volunteers. Sometimes militia can embarrass officials into doing better jobs (and sometimes worse, as the border fence fiascos are showing).
Part of the problem with this and other discussions is that there is a lot more militia taking place than most people realize, because they use other names for most of it. That is why I continually remind people that the word, properly used, means any
defense activity, not just conventional infantry combat operations. That is one kind of militia, at a high level of activity, but reporting a crime is militia, as is scouting, neighborhood watch, or volunteer fire departments. Even merely obeying laws is militia, at a low level of activity.
Militia in the United States has declined because the perceived threat declined, which reduced political support for the discipline that was needed to keep it going. The Swiss are to be commended for how they have sustained it, but they have had some convincing threats like Nazi Germany and the prospect for the Soviet invasion of Europe to maintain political support. They have also done a good job of weaving militia into the fabric of society and culture in a way that makes participation fun. The Swiss aren't distracted as much by things like Sunday football on TV. The national sport is shooting competitions. We in the U.S. have taken the path to social disintegration and "
bowling alone".
However, we are now confronted with new and greater threats than we have ever faced in the past. They range from public corruption to
foreign terrorists, are multiplying and growing too rapidly for public institutions to recognize or respond to them. We have allowed ourselves to become lulled into a false sense of complacency at a bad time, and the looming threats are well beyond the competence of government -- largely because, as Ronald Reagan said, more wisely than most people realized at the time, government
is the problem.
Most people are still not conscious of these threats, despite plenty of information about them in the public arena. We are not getting the kind of leadership most people want before they will choose to think about things that will disturb their comfort, and most public figures don't want to disturb the public mind for fear of things like economic depression, civil disorder, or losing elections. The result has been dereliction that is nearly treasonous in its potential impact, doing nothing and hoping disaster doesn't come on one's own watch. Our public officials, the ones who aren't corrupt or abusive, are just intent on running out the clock until their retirement, and avoiding criticism.
Part of the problem with the constitutional militia movement has been that most of the leading activists have been veterans of NCO rank, whose training for combat has not prepared them to make things like investigating public corruption a priority. Most veterans of officer rank have preferred to make their efforts in fields like law or education.
However, rather than disparaging those who have become active for failing to do even more, or doing it better, critics should ask what they could have done to make the movement more successful at reviving the constitutional militia system the Founders envisioned. (As for comments like those of Washington, the main problem with some militia was that they were green. When they got more experience they performed better, as at Saratoga or Cowpens. And the Army was nothing more than militia that had signed up for a fixed term of service, for a promised salary, and were subject to being hung for desertion if they failed to make a formation. There is nothing like a noose to focus the mind.)
In the meantime, I do what I can to try to prepare as many people as I can to meet the threats I foresee. Consider this a militia call-up.