Argumentum ad baculum

An argumentum ad baculum is an argument that goes, "Agree with me or I will take action against you, by withholding favors or otherwise punishing you." It is a fallacy of relevance. Ludwig von Mises notes, "Despots and democratic majorities are drunk with power. They must reluctantly admit that they are subject to the laws of nature. But they reject the very notion of economic law. Are they not the supreme legislators? Don't they have the power to crush every opponent? No war lord is prone to acknowledge any limits other than those imposed on him by a superior armed force. Servile scribblers are always ready to foster such complacency by expounding the appropriate doctrines. They call their garbled presumptions 'historical economics.' In fact, economic history is a long record of government policies that failed because they were designed with a bold disregard for the laws of economics."