Listening to people talking at a recent family reunion, I overheard a couple of political discussions, even though I really tried to avoid such pointless yammering. That there is widespread dissatisfaction is obvious, but it seems bizarre to me that the foundational concepts are not questioned. How much and what type of slavery might be acceptable is discussed; never whether slavery should be allowed to continue at all. I admit they don't discuss it quite that honestly, usually pretending it is a "conservative vs liberal" issue, thereby ignoring almost all of reality, but whether or not slavery is OK is what the question ultimately boils down to.
Do you recognize that you alone own yourself? Or are you content with undeservedly living the life of a slave? I ask again- Do you own yourself, or does the government own you? I will let you in on a secret: the government could never own you even if you tried to sell yourself to it. Government has nothing with which to purchase you, since government can't legitimately own anything. And, if it did try, you would be admitting that you own yourself in order to legitimately sell yourself to the state.
If you own yourself, why would you let any government assert control over your life? Why would you let a government deny you the proper tools for self defense? Why would you let any government dictate what you eat, drink, or smoke? Why would you ask any government for permission to do things that are your right to do simply because you exist? There is no reason, and most assuredly no silly "social contract" that says you implicitly agreed to do so.
As long as you are harming no innocent person, no one, and certainly no government or its agents, has any authority to stop you or coerce you in any way. If they attempt to do so, they are committing an act of pure evil.
Since the entire political process is only established to let you choose what color your chains are to be, not whether they should be on you or not, some of us just smile at ourselves when we hear the clueless debating the brainwashed.
Comments
Amen! I am a sovereign individual. I own my self.
As am I. And while I acknowledge that as an intellectual truth (that is, I have reasoned through the issue and come to the conclusion that I do, in fact, have total responsibility over my choices, actions, and body) I do wonder if it is true in terms of practicality. I mean to say that if we acknowledge own individual self ownership but comply with the demands of the state because it results in fewer negative consequences (e.i having been given the "choice" of being extorted or going to prison, I have chosen to allow the state to continue its extortion on each and every paycheck I receive) are we not slaves in all practical instances?
nmsu1984- You are not a slave. You are dealing with the reality of the situation in the best way you know how in order to minimize damage to yourself. If you are raped you do not consider yourself married to the rapist. This is a similar situation.
You might explore gray- or black-market opportunities to stop that paycheck theft. It might be a good time to start dabbling in such before it becomes a matter of survival. But, there is no way to completely avoid the aggression of the state. It is too pervasive. Do what you can, and don't blame yourself for what you can't avoid. Choose your battles.
I wonder if you raving nut libertarians ever consider the irony that the internet was initially created by the government and without it you couldn't even find each other to validate your nutty ravings about how everything the government does is eeeeevil?
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