Episode 070 is the first part of a conversation on 19th century individualist Lysander Spooner’s approach to natural law, natural justice, natural rights, natural liberty, and natural society.
Tag: crime
There’s No Such Thing as Legalized Crime
I wish it would go without saying, but many a libertarian decry practices like taxation and civil asset forfeiture as “legalized theft.” Et cetera, Et cetera. It is only “legalized” if the laws allowing it actually applied to anyone, that they are anything more than opinions scribbled on parchment, paper, or computer screens.
Is Taxation Theft? Yes and No
Whether the government-based practice of taxation is theft depends on whether said government has jurisdiction over those they tax. Whether said government has jurisdiction over those they tax depends on whether said government’s laws outlining jurisdiction apply to anyone.
The Back Story 011 – Taxation is Theft (3m)
The Back Story 011 explains why the practice of taxation by governments is tantamount to stealing from others.
Taxation is Theft! So… Tax the Government?
How long would it take, do you think, for government to learn to be more efficient (it has no incentive to do so currently, after all), or at least learn to spend money with more discretion and purpose?
Political Means and Economic Means
There are two fundamentally opposed means whereby man…is impelled to obtain the necessary means for satisfying his desires. These are work and robbery, one’s own labor and the forcible appropriation of the labor of others… I propose… to call one’s own labor and the equivalent exchange of one’s own labor for the labor of others, the “economic means”… while the unrequited appropriation of the labor of others will be called the “political means.”
Against War: Standards
The drone strikes in the Middle East, and the Tomahawk missile strikes in Syria, are cases in point. A drone strike is not a sniper bullet, killing a particular guilty person; it lays waste to that person’s home, to their neighbors, to the people across the street who may be trying to help the wounded and dying. It is an atrocity; it should be loudly denounced as a war crime, not praised. Nor can we be certain of the quality of the evidence which led to the strike in the first place.
Scared or Tricked into Cheering for Evil
One nice thing about people having actual principles is that fear-mongering, propaganda, false flag stunts, and other manipulative bullshit, doesn’t work on them.
An Extraordinarily Evil “Citizen”
The real “bad idea” here is giving people the political opportunity to meddle in the lives of others, and punish them when they don’t cooperate with their own violation. No good group would condone such evil.
Militaries Exist to Create Enemies
Authoritarian empires need enemies, need conflict, need violence, in order to have an excuse to exist. The purpose of “government” militaries is not to defeat enemies, but to create them.