Paying attention to politics matter of self-defense

Paying attention to politics matter of self-defense

(My Clovis News Journal column for September 7, 2012)

There is so much more to life than politics. For that, I am glad.

Every day, in a variety of places, I write about libertarianism; the politics, or "anti-politics" as the case may be, of liberty. Everything I am is libertarian. That shouldn't scare you; it just means I will not steal from you and I won't use force against you unless it is in self defense, nor will I have other people do this dirty work on my behalf. If it is wrong for me to do it to you, then it is wrong for me to have other people do it to you, and those acts are still wrong even if I use euphemisms to hide the reality of what is being done. That's pretty much all there is to it.

Other than that, unless you ask, or say something outrageous, politics will never enter the conversation.

Yet, people do say outrageous things all the time, apparently without even thinking about what they are saying, expecting me to enthusiastically agree. They assume I will support using laws against people they assume I will fear or hate. They assume that just because government currently enforces a monopoly in providing certain "services" that this is the only way, or the best way, it can be done. They assume that when I oppose a particular government monopoly, I oppose that which the government is supposedly providing. In most cases, nothing could be further from the truth.

But it gets worse. Many people also twist their moral foundation until it is unrecognizable in order to excuse themselves from any responsibility for standing up for individual liberty. They avoid holding government employees accountable for their actions, which is necessary in order to make society better. It isn't my fault that people misread Romans 13 so that they can feel better about defending the indefensible, but it should embarrass them. As it will if they ever realize what they have done.

Do politics matter? In a perfect world no one would need to pay any attention to politics, since politics would be powerless to affect your life as long as you didn't steal or attack the innocent. The world is not perfect and never will be; not even if humans ever do finally create a free society. So, it remains important, for now, to understand and pay attention to politics for self defense, and refuse to support things that are wrong. The more you pay attention, the less you will consent and the more free you will be.

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Wrong is Wrong

If the government passed a law tomorrow that declared that rape was now "legal" (besides for TSA agents, that is), how many of us would immediately go out to commit one? Zero libertarians would, because it is against our principle. The Zero Aggression Principle to be precise. 

Authoritarian types, though, seem only to care about what is "legal"; not what is right. Torture, secret trials, gun "laws", drug "laws", militarized police, "taxation", property codes; all these things may be "legal", but they are still evil and wrong. No amount of "law" or enforcement will ever make wrong "right". 

The IRS claims that the income tax is "legal" because they arrest and convict people for defying it.  And get away with it.  That is the silliest justification I have ever heard. 

If I pass a "law" that says I can enter your house and take what I want, and then use the fact that I will shoot anyone who objects as my justification, does that make my actions legal or right? Of course not.  It doesn't work when The State tries it either.

Government can't be allowed to make up its own rules out of thin air, then judge whether its rules are OK, just as I can't.  An act that is wrong can not be made "not wrong" by edict.

One small step in fixing this perverted state of affairs is in completely re-thinking courts.

Judges, as long as courts are still operated by The State, should only be paid when they rule against the government- if the abuses of the past couple hundred years are to be reversed. You cannot have the "impartial judge" working for only one side as they are now.  This is a serious conflict of interest, and is generally understood to be completely wrong.

The only times the government's courts rule against the government and its wrong acts are when they are making a show of being "fair", not when they could actually make a difference. It's a case of "lose a small one that makes no real difference, so that we can later win the ones that matter".  They will never strike a crippling blow to the US police state. This must change if America is to survive and if right and wrong are to have any place in courts.

For justice to occur there needs to be a separation of court and State.  And then, The State needs to be eliminated.  It's the right thing to do.


(Updated from my archives- OCTOBER 20, 2006)


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