If you approach a magic trick from the assumption that there is no magic, then your perspective of the trick changes and more often than not the deception becomes readily obvious. Rather than being a mystical art of unknown power, it becomes a puzzle to be solved, and you begin to see the misleading movements and the subtle slight of hand that compose the trick, rather than only the finishing prestige designed to leave you in wonder. The same applies to the idea of the state.
Tag: lying
Valuable Things Should be Free?
As of today, subscriptions to my blog are voluntary. You can pay, or spend the rest of your life in a cage (or die if you resist). But since you have that choice, or you can choose to move to North Korea instead of paying, it’s voluntary. Right? I mean, the “tax” collectors at the IRS wouldn’t lie about what “voluntary” means, would they?
Freer Trade Is Deregulation
For those who like competitive markets, the prospect of a Trump presidency has not held a great deal of promise. His love of discretionary power, his weak understanding of economics, and his long history of cronyism all suggest that the next four years will not be a good time for those of us who think that market capitalism is the best economic system for raising the overall standard of living, and especially for the least well off among us.
Nobody Owns Anything
Throughout my tenure as an anarchist one thing has always set me apart from everyone else: my beliefs around the concept of property and ownership. These are some real foundational beliefs for me, because it is based on them that I evaluate various things like “capitalism”, “socialism”, “communism”, even “economics” writ large. My beliefs on ownership are ones that I have largely kept silent about, but recently I have been feeling the need to sit down and elucidate my thoughts on the subject. So here it goes.
But Who Will Build The Libertarian Society? The Inconsistency of “Immigration Control”
A popular rationalization for “immigration control” is a coupling of the reality that the State currently “taxes” (forces/extorts) people to pay for “welfare,” roadways, etc., and the chance (which proponents claim is fact) that “immigrants” “will vote to take your freedoms away.” This carries the linguistic baggage of layer upon layer of delusion, but in the end it either boils down to the State being rightful owner of all property, or at least acting as if it were, and violently controlling everyone and their property.
Debunking Territorial/Personal Jurisdiction – Why it Doesn’t Exist
There are two arguments critics raise when trying to discredit my work regarding jurisdiction: 1) it requires no evidence to prove the claim is true; and 2) is easily proven if accused of violating the “law” within a certain territory. The first claim is so silly it should not have to even be addressed, though I still will as both are untrue.
Authority is a Myth
“Badges don’t grant extra rights.” This is the CopBlock slogan, but it’s not just a slogan, it’s the truth of the matter, and essentially the entirety of the (ethical) anarchist argument. The underlying belief is “authority,” that someone has the right to rule you.
The True Political “Spectrum”
The purported differences on the “statist” or “authoritarian” side are merely variances in propaganda and state intrusion; all states intrude in “the market” by nature/definition, so all “cross overs” into that realm (statism) are fundamentally the same in that they advocate a violent monopoly forcing itself on everyone else.
Distasteful Communities Are a Feature, Not a Bug
A criticism others have made against my political philosophy (decentralism) is that a racist, theocratic, or other problematic form of government could establish itself in a given region. However, I try to point out to people that what they call a bug is more of a mutually beneficial feature.
Mindfully Free of Wanting People to Be a Certain Way
One of the biggest sources of difficulties for every single human being is the desire for people to be a certain way. We can’t seem to help it: we want the world to be the way we want it. Unfortunately, reality always has different plans, and people behave in less-than-ideal ways. The problem isn’t other people. It’s our ideals.