When you include war and state-sponsored killings (often termed **"democide"**) over the last 100 years (1924–2024), the statistics flip completely. On a global scale, you have historically been **significantly more likely to be killed by a government** than by a private citizen.
While individual homicides are a constant, "background" risk, government-led violence occurs in massive, concentrated spikes (wars, purges, and genocides) that dwarf the total output of individual murderers.
### 1. Global Comparison (Last Century)
Based on data from researchers like R.J. Rummel (*Death by Government*) and historical databases like the *Conflict Data Program*, here is how the two compare globally for the 20th and early 21st centuries:
| Category | Estimated Deaths (1924–2024) | Primary Cause |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| **Killed by Governments** | **200 million – 260 million** | War (battle deaths), Genocides, Famines caused by policy, Purges. |
| **Killed by Citizens** | **40 million – 55 million** | Individual homicides, gang violence, "private" crime. |
* **The Ratio:** Globally, for every 1 person killed by a private citizen in the last century, approximately **4 to 6 people** were killed by a government.
* **Democide vs. Battle:** Interestingly, "democide" (a government killing its own citizens or those under its control) has historically been even deadlier than "battle deaths" (soldiers killing each other in war). Rummel estimated that democide alone killed roughly **6 times more people** than died in actual combat during the 20th century.
### 2. The United States Context
The U.S. case is distinct because the vast majority of its state-sanctioned killings occur abroad during wars, while citizen homicides occur domestically.
* **Deaths by Citizens (Domestic):** From 1924 to 2024, there were roughly **1.5 to 1.8 million** homicides committed by private citizens in the United States.
* **Deaths by Government (Police + War):**
* **Domestic (Police):** In the last 100 years, U.S. law enforcement has killed an estimated **70,000 to 100,000** people.
* **International (War):** If you include people killed by the U.S. military in wars (World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, etc.), the number rises into the **millions**. Conservative estimates for civilian and combatant deaths caused by U.S. forces in just the Vietnam and Korean wars exceed **2 million**.
* **The Result:** If you define "killed by government" as any death caused by state agents (military or police), the **U.S. government has killed more people than U.S. citizens have murdered** over the last century, primarily due to large-scale international conflicts.
### 3. Why is the Government more "Lethal"?
If we look at the **per-capita** likelihood of an individual killing someone, the disparity is astronomical.
* **Small Population, High Lethality:** Governments are composed of a very small percentage of the total human population (politicians, soldiers, and police).
* **Organization:** Private citizens usually kill individually or in small groups (gangs). Governments possess **organized lethality**: they have the legal authority to use force, industrial-scale weaponry (bombs, artillery), and the ability to control food supplies (leading to man-made famines).
* **History's "Megamurderers":** The 100-year window includes the Soviet Union under Stalin, the People's Republic of China under Mao, and Nazi Germany. These three regimes alone accounted for over **100 million** deaths—a figure that all the world’s individual murderers combined have never come close to reaching in recorded history.
### Summary
If you look at a single year in a peaceful country, you are almost always more likely to be killed by a citizen. But if you look at **history over the long term**, the greatest threat to human life has statistically been **the state**. In the words of R.J. Rummel: *"Power kills; absolute Power kills absolutely."*
