i mean, why would you?

unless you are friends or something. but we are assuming just acquaintances , far on the other side of town, or the valley or something.

is the problem that the attacked group doesnt have a state military to defend them, or whats the angle?

its just two groups in an an-cap world.

a conflict has arisen to the point of armed disagreement.

its far enough removed that you don't know the origin point

no idea who the actual aggressor is

just that you see it happening

so basically a gang conflict?

or two rival families

maybe some honor thing

but more or less

you have no reason to assume it will spread

not to you anyway

it's just regular crime, you can have defense firms and private police

right, but you have no reason to get involved

do you?

well do the victims need help with defense or not?

who is the victim?

you don't know them well enough

the people getting killed

from the conflict

its an armed conflict, people are getting shot at from both sides

you don't know which side attacked first

maybe one side opened up from their property and the other is trying to end it

all you know is two groups started fighting, and one side starts to lose.

they still have not directly threatened you

the violence is contained for the most part to these two neighboring properties

it depends entirely on the context, if they have private policing established, if they both have defense agencies there is dispute resolution agencies and arbitration

what is private policing?

or have they decided not be involved in those things and chosen to live out in the wasteland on their own

who is paying for private policing?

I would assume private police would work like ambulance

you could have crowdfunding, or you could have membership fees, or any funding method you could possibly think of that doesnt involve coercion

you get a bill at the end

so, what if they didn't feel like they needed the police

So pure volunteerism

then they should have the freedom to live with that choice and deal with the consequences

their neighbors might pay for the police, but these 2 groups felt strong enough they didn't need it

so, you let them fight it out then

it kind of reminds me of antia and far right groups come dressed ready for a fight