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Dear Subscriber,
Frank is a carjacker. But unlike most, he's a swell guy. You see, he doesn't
steal cars. If you pay him a few bucks, he'll change your car's oil for you.
He's also good with tune-ups and filter changes. He's a good, honest guy, and
charges very reasonable prices for quality work.
What do you think of Frank so far? Well, you might be thinking, "If he doesn't
steal cars, why do you call him a carjacker?"
Good question.
Now that you've met Frank, I would also like to introduce you to a local
government. But it's not your usual bunch of control freak politicians and their
hired guns. No, these guys never violate anyone's individual rights. In fact,
all they do is defend people's rights. If you choose to pay for their services,
they can do investigations, arbitration, track down and capture thieves and
murderers, and so on. They don't rob you, or boss you around (unless you're
robbing or assaulting someone else), or do anything
else obnoxious or oppressive.
What do you think of them so far? Well, if you thought about it for a while, you
might think to ask, "Why do you call them 'government'?"
Good question.
The Declaration of Independence says that governments are formed to defend the
rights of individuals. With all due respect to Thomas Jefferson, that's a load
of bullpoop. You might as well say that carjackers are instituted among men to
help them keep their cars running well. If someone doesn't steal cars, he's not
a carjacker, and if a certain group of people does nothing more than defend
individual rights, they are NOT a "government."
What would a purely defensive organization look like? Well, it wouldn't "tax"
you, for starters. Nor would it pretend to have any rights that YOU don't have,
like the right to tell you what you can eat, drink, smoke, watch, say, produce,
sell, build, etc. And since we ALL have the right to defend ourselves and
others, it would need no constitution, no legislation, no elections, and no
political process at all to do what it does: defending individual rights. It
also would have no right to forcibly deter competing defense organizations, so
it would have no monopoly. There could be (and probably would be) dozens of such
organizations competing for your business. It would have no rights that YOU
don't have, so it's commands wouldn't be "law" any more than your commands are.
It's agents would have no "authority" that you don't have. It would not be above
you in any way, shape or form, and you would be under no obligation to treat its
agents any differently than you treat anyone else.
Does that sound like "government" to you? Such an organization is no more
"government" than the above-mentioned Frank is a carjacker. If it doesn't claim
the right to rule you, at least in a limited way, it's NOT GOVERNMENT.
What the Constitution describes, on the other hand, IS a "government," and is
NOT a purely defensive organization. It pretends to have the right to "tax," for
example. Would you like me to come and "defend your rights" by forcing you to
give me some money? The contradiction should be obvious, despite the nonsensical
civics propaganda we've all been fed.
You can either have an organization that just defends individual rights, OR you
can have a "government." By definition, the two are mutually exclusive. If it
has the right to rule, control, and rob me--even in a limited manner--then it's
not my DEFENDER. I almost feel silly pointing that out, since it's so patently
obvious, but since we've all been trained to believe the ridiculous, the truth
needs to be said. The Constitution is a document which pretended to bestow upon
Congress rights that you and I DON'T HAVE. So to pretend that the system
described therein is merely one for protecting individual rights is utterly
absurd. However limited and reasonable you try to make it, "government" (by
definition) is ALWAYS a ruling class, and therefore is ALWAYS the enemy of
liberty. To pretend otherwise is to deny the obvious.
Sincerely,
--Larken Rose
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