(My Clovis News Journal column for September 9, 2011. As written, not as published. Judging by facebook "shares", this one was very popular!)
The system is broken. Almost every law, particularly every new law passed in the past several decades, is not based upon right or wrong, but upon opinion or value judgments. The US imprisons, or traps in its "justice system", more people, percentage-wise, than did Stalin in the USSR, and more than China ever has.
You, yes YOU- even if you are a kindergarten teacher, a police officer, a pastor, or a quiet grandmother- commit an average of three federal felonies every day of your life. That average number will inevitably increase as more things are made illegal, and as already illegal things are made "more illegal".
It doesn't mean you are bad; it means the laws are wrong. America is suffering from law pollution. Back in a somewhat more liberty-respecting era, the Supreme Court declared that a "law" which violates the Constitution is not really a law and can't be enforced. It doesn't even need to be repealed. Any law which violates Natural Law is even less legitimate; it is counterfeit, even if it is "Constitutional". Yet, look how many people now believe you must obey a counterfeit "law" until it is repealed.
This doesn't mean the situation is hopeless, unless we keep doing the same dumb things that led us to this point. When you find yourself standing in a hole, it's not time to use a different shovel, it's time to stop digging.
The solution is at hand and is demonstrated by how we each normally live our lives. Freedom of association. Respect for other people's property. Self defense. Mind your own business. Embrace voluntaryism (note to editor: spell check doesn't like the word "voluntaryism", but that is the correct spelling) and make decisions by unanimous consent. Pay for what you use, don't use what you are not willing to pay for, don't force anyone to pay for, or participate in, anything they'd rather not. Consider how a group orders a pizza- those who want it, and are willing to pay for it, decide which toppings to get, and those who can't compromise on toppings can't be forced to pay for a pizza they do not want.
If you are only paying for what you want, just like everyone else is, it won't even matter if those things cost more. You'll still come out ahead, since you will be paying for so many fewer things in total. And those things no one wants bad enough to pay for would go away. It's simple and it works.
You, yes YOU- even if you are a kindergarten teacher, a police officer, a pastor, or a quiet grandmother- commit an average of three federal felonies every day of your life. That average number will inevitably increase as more things are made illegal, and as already illegal things are made "more illegal".
It doesn't mean you are bad; it means the laws are wrong. America is suffering from law pollution. Back in a somewhat more liberty-respecting era, the Supreme Court declared that a "law" which violates the Constitution is not really a law and can't be enforced. It doesn't even need to be repealed. Any law which violates Natural Law is even less legitimate; it is counterfeit, even if it is "Constitutional". Yet, look how many people now believe you must obey a counterfeit "law" until it is repealed.
This doesn't mean the situation is hopeless, unless we keep doing the same dumb things that led us to this point. When you find yourself standing in a hole, it's not time to use a different shovel, it's time to stop digging.
The solution is at hand and is demonstrated by how we each normally live our lives. Freedom of association. Respect for other people's property. Self defense. Mind your own business. Embrace voluntaryism (note to editor: spell check doesn't like the word "voluntaryism", but that is the correct spelling) and make decisions by unanimous consent. Pay for what you use, don't use what you are not willing to pay for, don't force anyone to pay for, or participate in, anything they'd rather not. Consider how a group orders a pizza- those who want it, and are willing to pay for it, decide which toppings to get, and those who can't compromise on toppings can't be forced to pay for a pizza they do not want.
If you are only paying for what you want, just like everyone else is, it won't even matter if those things cost more. You'll still come out ahead, since you will be paying for so many fewer things in total. And those things no one wants bad enough to pay for would go away. It's simple and it works.
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