Coercion
External pressure that overrides or replaces an agent's intentions or decisions, such as taking what they own or forcing them to act without agreement. Coercion against an intact boundary breaks the Golden Rule and creates victims. It is wrong unless it acts within a Forfeiture -- as proportionate punishment for harm already done, or as the minimum force needed to halt an ongoing or immediately credible crossing, as in self-defense.
Frequently asked
Is all government action coercion?
Any government action backed by force against people who did not consent is coercion by this definition. The question is whether it meets the one exception: proportionate response to real harm already done. Enforcing a law against murder does; compelling someone to fund a project they oppose does not. The test is always: is there a real victim whose boundary was crossed?
What about a parent stopping a child from running into traffic?
A child who cannot yet form full intentions and consent is under guardianship — temporary, minimal authority held in trust until the child gains agency. The parent acts as a caretaker, not an authority. The test is whether the action serves the child’s developing agency or exploits their dependence. Pulling them out of traffic preserves the life that will one day choose for itself; putting them to work in a factory exploits them. Guardianship ends where agency begins.