From Check Your Premises we get What is self-defense? Part 2. I think this is an important issue for us all to consider. You can read the previous discussion by following his links.
As I said in his comments, I don't usually consider verbal threats to be very serious, even if it is possible for the threatener to follow through. I have had several people make threats towards me during my life, but have yet to have someone really try to carry the threat out. Perhaps it is because I made it clear that I would defend myself if they tried. Perhaps it is because they cooled off or decided I wasn't worth the effort. Whichever, it means I have not been backed into a corner yet.
I realize that the state is a different critter: it threatens by its very existence, and it does carry out the threats against selected victims. Therefore, I think self-defensive actions are justified, if not always wise. I think it is usually easy to escape notice by the state, but I don't expect or demand anyone to live their life as a scurrying rodent hiding from a predator. I guess this is another case of wishy-washy "do what you like": confront, scurry, scheme, "gulch", or strike back. What is right for me may not be right for you in your current circumstance.
I do think that government is irredeemably evil, but I refuse to live my life worrying about what its agents or enforcers think about me. Government: disgusting, morally vacant, harmful to life and liberty, and never to be trusted with even the smallest power, but still almost completely irrelevant. Until something changes, I don't feel intimidated by them and I hope it stays that way.
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No need to feel intimidated. Realistically, their mistake is overconfidence, like the Death Star. They don't see a small one man ship as a genuine threat. And rest assured if something were to ever drastically change in such a direction, you'd see the great majority of the population following suit and being led down the rabbit hole, but you can be sure that there would be plenty of closeted dissenting individuals who would toughen up pretty quickly too. The ability to defend ones self is vital.
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