I just concluded an interesting conversation with someone who I assume is a vegan for ethical reasons. I’m not going to lump all ethical vegans together with this person, but I thought the conversation was instructive on the concept of “wrong.”
Category: One Voluntaryist’s Perspective
Using Mob Rule to Bypass Due Process
If you value civility and peace, and desire to avoid costly and violent conflict with other people, you would do well to respect and apply due process in situations that require it. Since I value and desire these things, I am committed to respecting due process in every way that I can. Unfortunately though, not many else are.
Let’s Get Back to Having Peace Officers, and Away from Law Enforcers
Believe it or not, I want to respect cops. Sticking to these 5 roles, they’d deserve our love, respect, and admiration. They’d rightfully be considered heros. But unfortunately, 90% of what cops do today is utterly without merit.
Stop Lying about Laws Applying
I engaged in an instructive Facebook conversation recently. I approached it Socratically at first, but ended it with some food for thought (pun intended). Here it is in full, edited for presentation. The topic is the applicability of government laws as it concerns the food vendor that was robbed by campus police recently.
Political Action Exacerbates the Problem of Hate
Politics is your neighbor and his like-minded friends rallying together to lobby for government to shift their policies in their favor. If your neighbor and his friends hate intrusive government, those policy shifts may be a good thing for those who value peace and prosperity. But if your neighbor and his friends hate people wealthier than them, or people with a different skin color, those policy shifts are sure to bring about an exacerbated level of conflict, and thus a reduction in prosperity.
Telling Pricks and Criminals to Stop is Only Half the Battle
I’d like to think that I have a cure for prickish behaviors like racism and bigotry. Does my cure do anything to the pricks in question? Not at all. Rather, my cure is for the victims: responsibility.
Progressives Have Too Much Faith and Trust in Political Power
If you’re wealthy, that’s proof positive that you are taking advantage, or exploiting, those less wealthy than you. By definition. In every case. (Never mind their next best alternative is less desirable for them.) But here’s the rub: in order to fix wealth inequality, progressives are choosing to increase power inequality. And which is the greater threat to every income class of mankind?
Government Law is a Death Penalty
“The force of law” is not just getting punched by a cop. It’s getting murdered by a cop if he deems it necessary to escalate his attack on you, and he’s been granted permission by his bosses to do exactly that. It happens daily all over the world.
Law as a Tool to Get What We Want
Imports threatening domestic production? Raise tariffs! Cheap labor threatening labor unions? Enact a minimum wage! Businessmen without scruples ripping off easy prey? Occupational licensure! Boogeyman at the front door? Increase the “defense” budget! Your neighbor is sodomizing his friend in the privacy of his home? Ban all the gays!
If You Need Violence to Enforce Your Ideas…
…your ideas are worthless. Or so goes the meme I’ve seen recently on Facebook. Actually, I’ve seen it before, in the past, and I shared it thinking it was clever. This time around, however, I had a different take.