A person named Jared emailed me out of the blue about a week ago with the following letter. It contains a request for feedback followed by an argument that the Non-Aggression Principle as made popular by Murray Rothbard was self-negating on the grounds that the creation of private property is an act of aggression. What ensued were several letters back and forth in which we both flesh out the other’s argument and offer our critique. In the end we understood each other better, but alas no consensus was reach.
Tag: constitution
What A Constitution Is And Is Not
What is a constitution? People talk about and hear about this word when debating politics or watching mainstream media. It is common knowledge that the United States is host to the U.S. Constitution and that it is the “supreme law of the land.” But what does it mean?
The Pendulum of American Extremes
The American Political sport is a unique beast. Something wholly original on the world stage. No, I’m not talking about “The American Experiment” in constitutional republics. That experiment has failed to produce lasting results, although it was a worthy try. No, what I mean is that unlike the rest of the western world, American politics grows more and more extreme at an increasing rate – a rate that should be alarming to most rational and peaceful people.
Advice from Cops: Don’t Talk to Cops
Almost every time I speak at a college or law school campus, there are one or two audience members whose mother or father is a police officer or a prosecutor. I always ask them: What did your parents tell you about dealing with the police? Every one of them, without exception, has told me the same thing: My parents in law enforcement taught me years ago that I should never talk to the police, or agree to let them interview me about anything, or let them search my car or my apartment or my backpack without a warrant. You need to stop for a minute, and let that sink in.
Why Anarchy?
In the few years since deciding the label “anarchist” most accurately represented my own political philosophy, I’ve learned of other, powerful, confirmatory and congruent philosophies as well, that have helped to grow my own anarchism further outside the political realm. In other words, I may have started as a political anarchist, but ultimately, my own brand of anarchy has stretched beyond solely politics.
Tacit Submission
Do you and I willingly give up our freedom and property for the benefits of living in these United States? Do we tacitly consent to oppression by not moving to another country? Do we tacitly consent to the authority of our governments by not rebelling, by not throwing the tea into Boston harbor? John Locke and many today say “yes”; we tacitly accept the State by paying our taxes, by receiving its benefits (such as property protection!), and by not emigrating. They say we acquiesce in an implicit contract in which we give up freedom or accept compulsion in exchange for other things that we value. This view is dead wrong.
The Political Cycle
A couple years ago, back when I was in the limited government phase of my political belief progression, I wrote down a very brief outline of what I believed to be the cycle of politics in most nations throughout history. Today I rewrote that outline based on voluntaryist principles.
What Does Democracy Look Like, Actually?
Occupy Wall Street’s resurrection of the old chant — “this is what democracy looks like!” — rings new in the ears of some, but raises old worries in the minds of others: Fear of tyranny of the majority. Fear of the crowd’s imposition of its will on the minority merely because “there are more of us than there are of them.” Fear that “democracy” may come down to two wolves and a sheep voting on what’s for dinner. Such fears are not unreasonable. “The will of the majority” is a common excuse for forcing things onto others.
Be More Antifragile
One of the major points of the book is that by designing all the danger out of things, trying to make the randomness and volatility go away and keep things smooth and “safe”, you make the danger worse. It’s inevitable and natural. Completely unavoidable. Just like how anti-gun “laws” actually increase the risks they claim to want to solve. The people who embrace these ideas may have good intentions, but they are idiots.
What Anarchy Means to Me
Whilst most governments remain monopolistic “States”, I would prefer for them to be as small as possible in order to maximise my element of choice. In an anarcho-capitalist society, however, where communities would effectively have complete freedom to choose which regime to live under, and where every regime would have been perfected by fierce market competition to provide the best possible quality of life, the results might surprise even the most brilliant economists.