Sunday, January 21, 2018

Christmas good holiday for outlaws

(My Eastern New Mexico News column for December 20, 2017)




Christmas is a good holiday for outlaws.

No, not for criminals. For outlaws. What? You don't know the difference?

Let me explain why outlaws are not your enemy and why Christmas is a great outlaw holiday.

The difference between an outlaw and a criminal is that the outlaw breaks bad laws, never throwing the first punch and never taking or damaging anyone else's property. Everything is through mutual consent. Criminals, on the other hand, attack the innocent and steal, vandalize, and trespass.

Who is an outlaw? The public school principal who has the assembly stand to be led in prayer at an official school function is an outlaw. So is the neighborhood drug dealer who peacefully ignores prohibition. The preacher who feeds the homeless is an outlaw in many parts of America. As is the activist who educates jurors about their responsibilities-- against the wishes of the court.

I would argue that Jesus was an outlaw, although those who desperately want to legitimize government might claim he only pushed the envelope-- going as far as he could without technically breaking any laws. Which is a very "outlaw" thing to do.

In the classic Rankin/Bass Christmas special "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town", Kris Kringle is an outlaw who violates the Burgermeister's toy prohibition.

Christmas is a wonderful excuse for "strawman purchases", where you buy something government wants to track, then give it to someone government didn't scrutinize and approve as worthy to own it.

People get sneaky around Christmas; hiding gifts, being "secret Santas", snooping under the tree.

It isn't mandatory to celebrate the holiday any specific way, or to celebrate at all. It's anarchy! That's what makes it fun, and what makes it work.

As mentioned above, some people use the holiday season as an excuse to feed the less fortunate-- without a food preparation permit or a restaurant license. And somehow, no mass poisoning occurs. Sometimes, arrests do result, though. Such arrests are an example of a much greater wrongdoing.

Author and founder of The On Line Freedom Academy (tolfa.us), Jim Davies, refers to government employees who impose and enforce these harmful laws as "kriminals". They are a special kind of criminal. Their harm may be legal, but it's neither right nor ethical.

In various times and places, even Christmas itself has been outlawed, which seems to mean only outlaws would have been the ones celebrating it.

This Christmas, if you feel so inclined, be a good outlaw, not a criminal or a kriminal. Merry Christmas and happy holidays!

-
Thank you for helping support KentforLiberty.com

Follow me on Steemit

Collective ownership



There is legitimate collective ownership, and there is illegitimate "collective ownership".

The difference is consent. Not "implied consent", which isn't a real thing, but actual consent.

If I join together with some people and we all chip in to buy a plot of land, and understand explicitly how the land will be used (or choose to not be involved in that decision), then the land is collectively owned. Great! There is Unanimous Consent; this makes this collective ownership legitimate.

However...
If I am told that because I live in a certain place, being born there, I have a share in the collective ownership of the whole region, including other people's private property, but that no one can opt out of the rules imposed on the land without moving away, this is not legitimate collective ownership. If someone I don't like, don't trust, or don't respect claims to have the "authority" to administer the land on my behalf, against my wishes, this is illegitimate. Nothing can make it legitimate without Unanimous Consent. This is a violation of property rights, not a way to express them.

-
Thank you for helping support KentforLiberty.com

Follow me on Steemit