Guest post by Robert P. Murphy. As this October issue [of the Lara-Murphy Report] will be published just before the presidential election, and especially because our interview this month with Murray Sabrin touches on the subject, I thought it appropriate to share my general thoughts on the so-called “political process.” To cut to the chase:…
Category: Editor’s Picks
Non-Voting as an Act of Secession
Guest post by Hans Sherrer. Originally published in The Voluntaryist, 3rd Quarter, 2002. In 1776, the Declaration of Independence made it plain that in America, “Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, – That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive…, it is the Right of the…
Economic vs. Moral Arguments for Liberty
Skyler J. Collins explains the importance of economics and economic arguments for liberty, versus only moral or ethical arguments. He had to swallow the former before accepting the latter.
What Virtues Do People Need in Order to Be Free?
Guest post by Ben Speers. When attempting to form a free society, the absence of the state is only one piece of the puzzle. People must possess certain attributes if they are to take advantage of the potential benefits of voluntaryism. I have outlined six principles below that I believe to be necessary to the…
The Ethics of Voting
Guest post by George H. Smith. The purpose of this essay is to explore the moral implications of libertarians (especially anarchists) holding political office, running for political office, or assisting those who do — primarily through the vote. The ethics of voting cannot be divorced from the key question of what one is voting for.…
What If Your Child Crosses the Line?
Guest post by Laura Markham. “I don’t understand why you say not to punish transgressions. I get the concept of the bigger the transgression, the greater the child’s need is, but what if they really cross a line? Yesterday my 3-yr-old threw a book because he got mad. It hit my husband in the eye…
Intellectual Property Is Childish
Guest post by Isaac Morehouse. When children play with Legos, violence sometimes ensues. “He knocked down my tower!” “Only because she built it to look exactly like the one I made, and that’s not fair. I made mine first!” All the parents I’ve ever met handle this situation by pointing out to the aggressor that…
Is Voting an Act of Violence?
Guest post by Carl Watner. Originally published in The Voluntaryist, April 2000. Hans Sherrer, a subscriber to The Voluntaryist, sent me an essay entitled “Voting Is An Act of Violence,” which began with the statement “Voting is the most violent act someone can commit in his lifetime.” How true is this? First, let us define our…
Can Voluntaryism Fix the Machine?
Guest post by Alex R. Knight, III. The much vaunted libertarian journalist and commentator H.L. Mencken once wrote: “I believe that all government is evil, and that trying to improve it is largely a waste of time.” I don’t consider it a stretch at all to say that this is how any voluntaryist worthy of…
Wrong is Wrong
Guest post by Kent McManigal. If the government passed a law tomorrow that declared that rape was now “legal,” how many of us would immediately go out to commit one?Read the full thing »