Militia

The word militia, from Latin, primarily means "defense service", an activity, although English idiom often has a word for an activity used secondarily to mean those who engage in the activity, or the occasion, place, or result of the activity. This can cause some confusion among modern readers, but with a little thought one can find many words in English like that. In linguistics words used with different related meanings are called polysemes, and when an activity comes to be used to refer to those who engage in it, an actronym.

To get the proper sense of it, substitute the phrase "defense service" for "militia" wherever it occurs in the U.S. Constitution.

A society is the result of beings joining in a contract, called the social contract, in which they agree not to prey on one another, and usually, to defend one another. Although we usually speak of the social contract for human societies, it is not just humans who form societies. Most mammals and birds are social to some degree. It is largely, but not entirely, the result of their genes to find ways to cooperate and protect one another.

As with any contract, it creates a duty, and the duty of mutual defense is the militia duty. Whenever anyone defends a member of his society, including when he defends himself, that is militia. Most of the things most of us do every day are a kind of militia, although we usually only use the word when it is defense against violence. However, the complete concept is more comprehensive than that.

This site is devoted to the concept and practice of militia. The focus is on the United States, but we will also be presenting material on militia in other countries as well, as well as in each state.