why only libertarians consistently oppose crime
first, before i go into this topic, i want to clarify something. being a libertarian has nothing to do with any political party, even the "Libertarian" one. it is nothing more than the advocacy of the philosophy of libertarianism being explained here. it is not a "political philosophy" per se, but simply the opposition to the initiation of force in human relationships.
in the last post i mentioned that "...when the idea (of the initiation of force) becomes more abstract, the non-libertarian may not recognize the initiation of force for what it is...". this is why libertarians often get caught up in the political sphere.
all humans share the same basic genetic makeup, we are all conceived in the same way and we all have the same basic nature. from this it follows that we all have the same rights. namely, the right to our own person or property. no one, on account of their being human, has the right to the person or property of others. in terms of rights, we are all equal. generally, when confronted with this idea, the non-libertarian will find it easy to agree. at the same time, however, they will, often unknowingly, exempt the largest group of force-initiating individuals from this fact. as stated above, libertarianism is opposed to the initiation of force from all human relationships. but this group of individuals in particular initiate force far more than all other independent criminals or crime syndicates put together. it is this commonly exempted group that attracts so much attention from libertarians.
this group of individuals are members of an organization commonly known as "government".
how about some more helpful definitions:
crime: the violation of the rights of others
subjugation: to force someone into subservience
theft: the confiscation of, forceful taking of or otherwise non-consensual redistribution of an individual's property.
murder: knowingly engaging in actions that cause the non-consensual death of another.
in order to operate or expand, governments engage in activities known as taxation, war and regulation - both social and economic - through statutory (or government-conceived) law. all of these activities are compulsory, requiring the initiation of force against non-aggressive people.
taxation, or the confiscation of an individual's property (in this case, most often money), is carried out by the threat of the use of force through fines, jail, or in extreme cases, death. because, as explained above, no one has the right to the property of another person, taxation must be considered theft. as it would be if any non-governmental individual attempted to tax others, it is a crime (regardless of the dictates of statutory law).
war, an activity commonly employed by governments in order to expand territory, involves the individuals of government taxing (stealing from) citizens in order to knowingly engaging in actions that typically cause the deaths of innocent civilians. if a non-governmental individual attempted to increase his territory by such means, it would be considered theft in order to fund murder. because those employed by governments are nothing more than humans, with the same rights as any other human, war must also be considered crime.
governments also engage in various forms of regulation. these regulations may be social or economic, but they all require the use of force in order to bend some individuals to the will of those in government. a non-governmental individual engaging in such activities would be considered a criminal subjugator. because all humans have the same rights, governments are also committing criminal acts by involuntary regulation.
by now, it should be clear that government is the largest and most pervasive of all criminal syndicates. once past the platitudes and propaganda governments use to legitimize themselves, the logic behind their actions is undeniably incriminating.
in the next post, i'll talk about the free market and why libertarians universally accept it as the foundation of human freedom and prosperity.
in the last post i mentioned that "...when the idea (of the initiation of force) becomes more abstract, the non-libertarian may not recognize the initiation of force for what it is...". this is why libertarians often get caught up in the political sphere.
all humans share the same basic genetic makeup, we are all conceived in the same way and we all have the same basic nature. from this it follows that we all have the same rights. namely, the right to our own person or property. no one, on account of their being human, has the right to the person or property of others. in terms of rights, we are all equal. generally, when confronted with this idea, the non-libertarian will find it easy to agree. at the same time, however, they will, often unknowingly, exempt the largest group of force-initiating individuals from this fact. as stated above, libertarianism is opposed to the initiation of force from all human relationships. but this group of individuals in particular initiate force far more than all other independent criminals or crime syndicates put together. it is this commonly exempted group that attracts so much attention from libertarians.
this group of individuals are members of an organization commonly known as "government".
how about some more helpful definitions:
crime: the violation of the rights of others
subjugation: to force someone into subservience
theft: the confiscation of, forceful taking of or otherwise non-consensual redistribution of an individual's property.
murder: knowingly engaging in actions that cause the non-consensual death of another.
in order to operate or expand, governments engage in activities known as taxation, war and regulation - both social and economic - through statutory (or government-conceived) law. all of these activities are compulsory, requiring the initiation of force against non-aggressive people.
taxation, or the confiscation of an individual's property (in this case, most often money), is carried out by the threat of the use of force through fines, jail, or in extreme cases, death. because, as explained above, no one has the right to the property of another person, taxation must be considered theft. as it would be if any non-governmental individual attempted to tax others, it is a crime (regardless of the dictates of statutory law).
war, an activity commonly employed by governments in order to expand territory, involves the individuals of government taxing (stealing from) citizens in order to knowingly engaging in actions that typically cause the deaths of innocent civilians. if a non-governmental individual attempted to increase his territory by such means, it would be considered theft in order to fund murder. because those employed by governments are nothing more than humans, with the same rights as any other human, war must also be considered crime.
governments also engage in various forms of regulation. these regulations may be social or economic, but they all require the use of force in order to bend some individuals to the will of those in government. a non-governmental individual engaging in such activities would be considered a criminal subjugator. because all humans have the same rights, governments are also committing criminal acts by involuntary regulation.
by now, it should be clear that government is the largest and most pervasive of all criminal syndicates. once past the platitudes and propaganda governments use to legitimize themselves, the logic behind their actions is undeniably incriminating.
in the next post, i'll talk about the free market and why libertarians universally accept it as the foundation of human freedom and prosperity.
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