Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Thiago VS Coelho
“The argumentum ad baculum — appeal to force — is, in plain terms, an attempt to secure assent not by evidence but by threat. As one line of analysis puts it even more starkly, ad baculum often isn’t really an argument at all; it’s a tactic offered instead of argument to shut the exchange down. That is not an occasional vice of the state. It is the state’s operating system. … when the state ‘argues,’ its syllogism is always lurking in the background: Do X (pay, register, comply, cease, confess, submit), or else.” (03/13/26)
https://mises.org/mises-wire/states-favorite-fallacy-cudgel-suit