Special to L. Neil Smith’s The Libertarian Enterprise

(Events have overtaken my article, to some unknown degree…)

I was reading about the aftermath of the riots and looting in Kenosha. There was one quote there:

“…we didn’t do anything to anybody. Why did we deserve it?”

This rioting has been going on for months now. Surely, anyone with a downtown shop in just about any town, has been thinking about this, right? There are no surprises here, other than the particular date and time the Soros-funded mob assembles in your town to go on a rampage.

Not only are there no surprises; there is also general knowledge of how to stop them: by acting like the “Rooftop Koreans” in the LA riots.

So, did they deserve it? No. But they sure were negligent in their preparations (if any). And they sure provided no good example for the next set of shop owners slated to be looted by the mob.

Saying they did not deserve it, is a bit like saying a dead-drunk, half-naked woman in a bar did not deserved to be raped in the parking lot. Nobody deserves that; but we are still responsible for our own conduct (or lack thereof). Prudence is an old, but still useful virtue.

Imagine the Kenosha shop owners put together a vigilance committee—the very thing designed for this kind of situation, where established institutions fail to respond—or worse, they respond on the wrong side!

One thing “Vigilant Kenoshans” could do, is write something like the following letter to the mayor and chief of police:

This should help to focus the minds in city government wonderfully.

Of course, “Vigilant Kenoshans” will have to position lookouts, and put together a quick reaction force, to deal with the fast-moving threat. Maybe even some intelligence-gathering should be done—after all, the mob leaders do have to contact their flunkies, which communication can be intercepted. But that sort of thing is not especially difficult to do.