Send him mail. “One Voluntaryist’s Perspective” is an original weekly column appearing every Monday at Everything-Voluntary.com, by the founder and editor Skyler J. Collins. Archived columns can be found here. OVP-only RSS feed available here. This column was originally intended to give my perspective on current events, but I think I’ll modify it somewhat. I’d…
Tag: democracy
Ben Speers
“Toward Freedom” is an Everything-Voluntary.com series sharing personal stories about the journey toward freedom. Archived stories can be found here. Submit your story to the editor. A lot of people go through life without ever questioning things, but I’ve always identified with Socrates’ sentiment that the unexamined life isn’t worth living. In the realm of…
Why Democracy is Irresponsible
Guest post by Strangering. Originally posted at /r/anarcho_capitalism. Let’s define what it means to be responsible. One is considered responsible for his actions if the consequences of the actions are owned by him. For example, if one drives drunk and crashes into a tree, the damage to the car and his body is his to bear.…
Open Systems vs. Closed Systems
Guest post by Joseph Dejan. Originally published in The Voluntaryist, February 1987. To the academic question of more or less government, we may find more useful to compare the political structure with the voluntary system. To sustain life and maximize his well-being, organized human efforts are mandatory. Individually, man may survive, but complete independence requires…
The Problem of Representative Democracy
Guest post by Chris Bassil. This week will mark the first presidential debate between the incumbent Barack Obama and his challenger, Mitt Romney. Although the two are certain to discuss a number of hot-button issues, major media outlets have begun to suggest that the debate will serve mostly as an evaluation of the candidates themselves.…
Fifty Shades of Government
Guest post by Jeffrey Tucker. Government is a chameleon, pleased to wear any cultural or ideological cloak to blend in with its social and cultural surroundings. In a wrangling, struggling, grasping, dog-eat-dog democracy like ours, there are fifty shades of government, each suitable for a particular time and place, each adapted to purposes of the…
Voluntaryism is for Everyone
Guest post by MarketAnarchy.com. You already believe in voluntary interactions; I’d be willing to bet that 95% of your life, or more, is made of purely voluntary interactions. You probably talk to other people peacefully, you trade voluntarily, and you get whatever it is you want from life without forcing other people to obey you…
The State is a Tragedy of the Commons
Guest post by Michael Suede. Some of you may already be familiar with the economic law called “the tragedy of the commons,” but for those of you who are not, I shall explain it. The tragedy of the commons refers to a dilemma arising from the situation in which multiple individuals, acting independently and rationally…
Chapter 13 – Planning vs. the Free Market
Table of ContentsPrevious – Section Three – Chapter 12 – “What is the Free Market?” by Murray N. Rothbard 13 Planning vs. the Free Market by Henry Hazlitt When we discuss “economic planning,” we must be clear concerning what it is we are talking about. The real question being raised is not: plan or no…
Chapter 10 – Secular Theocracy
Table of ContentsPrevious – Section Two – Chapter 9 – “For Conscience’s Sake” by Carl Watner 10 Secular Theocracy by David J. Theroux Part 1 We live in an increasingly secularized world of massive and pervasive nation states in which traditional religion, especially Christianity, is ruled unwelcome and even a real danger on the basis…