Tuesday, July 17, 2007
"You Can't Just Make Up Your Own Rules!"
Why not? Who says? The people who "just made up" the current mess of rules, that's who. The arbitrary rules that are imposed on us, as opposed to the real rules like "don't murder" and "don't steal", were made up by someone, somewhere. Making up rules isn't necessarily a bad thing; judge that by the results and unintended consequences of the made-up rule. The ZAP is a rule that has been made up, but instead of stifling human life, it liberates us to be free from coercion. It keeps the prohibitions against real crime, while showing why counterfeit "laws" have no moral basis. The danger to the autoriturds is that the ZAP punches holes in the mala prohibita "laws" that they depend upon for their monopoly on power. It shows the festering fraudulence that fills them and their institutions. For that reason, if for no other, all libertarians and true anarchists the world over should promote the ZAP far and wide, inserting it into every discussion of law and punishment, government, and morality.
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I prefer to talk about the universality principle, or non-aggression. I think ZAP is an oversimplification of a lot of issues, but I suppose it's a good enough approximation.
ReplyDeleteEducate me on the "universality principle".
ReplyDeleteThe universality principle says that any proposed moral or political principle must apply to all people, in all places and all times, or it is only a personal opinion or a power grab.
ReplyDeleteFor instance, if you say that "extortion is bad," then it must also be true for the ruling class, otherwise all you're doing is give the power to some people and not others to extort. That means that to be consistent you must also denounce taxation.
And the flip-side of this is, if you claim that taxation is justified, then you must approve of all equivalent forms of action as done by anyone else. Otherwise, once again, you are not proposing a moral principle, but rather a personal opinion or a power grab.
BTW, I've tagged you with the "eight random things about you" meme here:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RFX34qJSMg
OK. Eight random things about me:
ReplyDelete1. I hate getting wet.
2. I really like hats (not caps)!
3. I once tried to tattoo myself using charcoal, spit, and a bone sliver. I made a tiny dot on my wrist.
4. I like to fondle guns or play with other objects while I watch TV.
5. I like the way skunks smell.
6. Grey hairs on my head bother me less than grey whiskers on my chin.
7. I was once known as "Chicken Little" in school.
8. I am a packrat wen it comes to sentimental objects.
Haha, you gotta post it on your blog! No fair tucking it in the comments. And then you gotta tag someone. ;)
ReplyDelete