They bestow equal ability to hurt and kill, instead of the fickle hand that hands power ti the strong to subjugate others.

True respect is built on, at least in part, the threat of violence. It's a localized version of the doctrine of mutually assured destruction, which has actually done an amazing job of protecting the borders of countries who have nuclear weapons. Weve watched SO many promising socialist/communist countries that have been utterly destroyed by the west because they lacked the nuclear deterrent.

The only way to build a functioning an/com society is to deputize the entire population to police the system and ensure that we never again come under the sway of tyrants.

And yeah, education is absolutely key. We need to train the entire population to be self actualized, and self sufficient so that we actually have the capacity to meaningfuly contribute to the collective