It is nearly impossible to calculate the amount of harm for which the state is responsible. Sure, you can theoretically count the dollars stolen, the people kidnapped and locked in state cages, and the individuals killed directly, but what is much more difficult to grasp is the scale of the harm caused indirectly by statism.
Category: Thinking Out Loud
Worst Case Scenario: A Return to Statism
A common retort when I advocate a stateless society is that anarchy won’t last because eventually some people will attempt to impose their collective will upon others through violence and the state will be reborn. My argument is that—while my critics may be correct—anarchy (a world without rulers) should still be the goal.
Does Combating Climate Change Justify Violating Rights?
The climate change question is really at least four questions. 1.) Is climate change occurring or is it just normal fluctuations we haven’t yet recognized due to only possessing a couple centuries worth of data? 2.) If climate change is occurring, is mankind entirely or largely to blame?
Predatory States are Predatory
The state only deals with people by hurting, killing, caging, and robbing them. It wraps these actions up in hundreds of thousands of pages of demands, orders, mandates, regulations, prohibitions, licenses, and certificates; but the bureaucratic maze which supposedly allows individuals to escape unscathed is an illusion.
Capitalism for Dummies (and Socialists)
The whole notion of capitalism is that those with capital are incentivized to invest it in order to obtain a profit. If profits are outlawed or significantly reduced through confiscatory taxation, the incentive to invest is reduced or eliminated. If profit is forbidden, I have no incentive to invest rather than consume. Why would I delay gratification and take on risk to plant a field or build a factory if I don’t stand to make a profit by doing so?
The Learning Revolution versus The State
The world is in the midst of a learning revolution, yet those who wish to continue using education as a means of control do not want to acknowledge it. You can now learn more in an hour—online, for free—than you can in a full day on a college campus. Information has become superabundant and essentially free.
Coercion versus Persusasion and the Definition of Force
I was recently involved in a discussion involving the allegation that someone forced another person into making certain choices regarding their line of work. The details or identities are not important, but I would like to touch upon the subject of what constitutes force from the libertarian perspective.
Freedom of Movement is a Libertarian Virtue
“Freedom of movement” is a libertarian virtue in any location which is not privately owned or where the owner does not opt to restrict movement. Moreover, just because libertarians advocate a fully privatized society, it does not necessarily follow that every square inch of ground will be privately owned nor that every property owner will choose to deny access to visitors and travelers.
Liberty Above All Else
There are many good reasons to oppose the state, but for me, the most compelling (and most fundamental) is my belief in liberty. Liberty first. Liberty above all else. My belief in liberty does not end with advocating the abolition of the state, however; I likewise advocate the realization that all claimed authority over anyone but oneself is illegitimate.
Polar Opposites, or Two Sides of the Same Bloody Coin?
The alt-right and the ‘leftists’ (broadly speaking) see themselves as polar opposites despite embracing nearly identical tactics of dehumanizing their opponents and using violence against them. Both sides believe that peace can be achieved only after the streets run red with the blood of their enemies.