Should the government coercively sanction business owners who, out of apparent religious conviction, refuse to serve particular customers? While such behavior is repugnant, the refusal to serve someone because of his or her race, ethnicity, or sexual orientation is nevertheless an exercise of self-ownership and freedom of nonassociation.
Tag: prison
Why Don’t You Steal?
Editor’s Pick. Written by Wendy McElroy. As a starting point, I assume readers do not engage in the initiation of force, including theft. You may refrain from doing so because of a moral code or from a respect for rights. But, at least for me, the admonition not to steal isn’t written in stone. I…
Just War, Conflation, Systemic Anarchy
Send him mail. “Finding the Challenges” is an original column appearing every other Wednesday at Everything-Voluntary.com, by Verbal Vol. Verbal is a software engineer, college professor, corporate information officer, life long student, farmer, libertarian, literarian, student of computer science and self-ordering phenomena. Archived columns can be found here. FTC-only RSS feed available here. I never…
On Food Labeling
A seemingly benign statist regulation is the requirement to describe on the labels of food what the ingredients are. Of course, every statist regulation is anything but benign, backed by the the threat of theft, imprisonment, and ultimately death that they are, but food labeling is desirable, it seems, by almost everybody in society. In…
Words Poorly Used #19 — Minarchy
I cannot say it better than Amanda Billyrock (‘This is the last argument I will direct toward self-professed “minarchists”.‘). I will not try, but I will add a few observations that she has inspired in me. If one’s idea of freedom is attached to the idea that the state must cease, then one will forever…
The Ethics of Torture
NOTE: This blog post contains mild spoilers for the 2013 Hugh Jackman movie “Prisoners.” An intriguing movie on many levels, “Prisoners” sets up a very thought-provoking scenario in which the father of a kidnapped girl has extremely strong evidence that a particular suspect is guilty of or at least involved in the kidnapping. The evidence…
The Invisible Wall
Send him mail. “Food for Thought” is an original column appearing every other Tuesday at Everything-Voluntary.com, by Norman Imberman. Norman is a retired podiatrist who loves playing piano, writing music, lawn bowling, bridge, reading, classical music, going to movies, plays, concerts and traveling. He is not a member of any social network, nor does he…
Crime and Punishment in a Free Society
Would a free society be a crime-free society? We have good reason to anticipate it. Don’t accuse me of utopianism. I don’t foresee a future of new human beings who consistently respect the rights of others. Rather, I’m drawing attention to the distinction between crime and tort — between offenses against the state (or society) and offenses against individual persons or their justly held property.
The Villains Win Again
The situation that unfolded Saturday night in Idaho’s Treasure Valley sounds like it was authored by a Hollywood scriptwriter. A 45-year-old woman driving home in her minivan suddenly finds herself being pursued by a group of heavily-armed men intent on kidnapping her and imprisoning her in a cage. Desperate to protect herself from these violent…
Top Winnie, Around Town, The Ring
Send him mail. “Finding the Challenges” is an original column appearing every other Wednesday at Everything-Voluntary.com, by Verbal Vol. Verbal is a software engineer, college professor, corporate information officer, life long student, farmer, libertarian, literarian, student of computer science and self-ordering phenomena. Archived columns can be found here. FTC-only RSS feed available here. In this…