Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Wrong

Wrong is simple.

I own myself. It is wrong for anyone to violate that ownership.

How can someone violate my self-ownership? By killing me. By enslaving me. Killing is the greatest evil. Enslaving is the second greatest evil.

Slavery is taking away my choice by force or by threat of force.

If all property is owned by the king, I eat and live at his sufference. I must obey him or die. I am his slave.

I can only remain alive and free if I can trade my labors (part of me) in return for property.

If property is in the hands of many individuals, then I may be able to strike a bargain. I can cut your hair* in return for a loaf of bread, which you baked.

If the king forbids me from selling my services to others, he has enslaved me. If the king confiscates the bread which I earn from others, he has enslaved me.

If my neighbor's family decides that they will be kings, confiscating my property or otherwise enslaving me, that is wrong, too. If all use are free to confiscate or enslave, we do not make much bread. We spend lots of time defending.

So we need some means by which we protect each person from being coerced by others.

There you have it. Right and wrong.

All men [have] inalienable rights . . . life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secured these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their powers from the consent of the governed.

Note that if the government takes all my property, they have enslaved me. If they take half my property, they have half-enslaved me.

How do we fund a government to protect our rights? We can only do it through coercing each person to give up some of property in return for this protection. Hence, government is an illogical creation. The anarchists cannot get past that.

Many libertarians agree that government is a necessary evil. It is necessary, so we must have it. It is evil (coercion--partial slavery) so we should keep it small.

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*You do not want me to cut your hair.

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