Pro-Liberty News and Opinion | Libertarian Voluntaryist

It is time, once again, that all of the respectable citizens are required to fill out and file their tax forms with Mother America.  And, to give all of you loyal readers the proper motivation, I would like to point you in the direction of my article on indentured servitude.  It becomes more relevant every year.

Harry Browne, the former Libertarian Party presidential candidate, is no longer with us, but his ideas often prove to be timeless. Take, for example, an article he wrote on December 31, 1998 title “A Libertarian’s New Years Resolutions” which contains advice that all libertarians and anarchists alike can learn from. Read it on the website of the Advocates For Self-Government.

The term Anarchy has been used since the French Revolution to describe a society with no government. This is the most basic definition of Anarchy. The word, however, is much misunderstood, as most individuals seem to equate it with violence and chaos. Real Anarchists (not the kind you see in movies, but the ones that exist in the real world) are actually opposed to violence and chaos. This, in fact, is where their resistance to the state actually stems from, as they believe that governments are amongst the worst perpetuators of violence, oppression, and chaos in the world.

One specific place that Anarchists often see fault in government is through their oppression of the people they rule over. In fact, the Declaration of Independence of the United States declares that, “…to secure these rights, government are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” Anarchists, however, will argue that there is never true consent of the governed. In any form of government there will always be a percentage of the population, no matter how small, that disagrees with the actions of the government, and those individuals will always be oppressed.

Individualist Anarchists also believe in the absolute sovereignty of the individual. This means that every person should have complete and unlimited control over his or her own self. If a person wants to use a drug, they should be allowed to. If a person wants to speak their mind, then they should be allowed to. The individual is king over himself. Anarchists believe that any restraint on this sovereignty is evil, but if a government places that restraint, then it is an absolute evil. This is because governments can act under the veil of legitimacy. This line of thinking leads Anarchists to the conclusion that individualism and the state are utterly irreconcilable.

Anarchists also favor economic freedom meaning that the state should not have any influence in the economy. This is because they see political power and wealth as inseparable. When a government is formed, much of the countries wealth is funneled to the political elite and their direct supporters and influences. Anarchists believe that when there is a state apparatus in place a majority of the people, likely the middle-class and lower-class, are exploited. There is also a minority of people that both exploit and are exploited. There is, however, one class of people that are the rich political elites that do nothing but exploit the rest of the population. The elite status and the wealth were obtained through politics and the government, which therefore makes the state evil in their inherent oppression of the majority of the population.

Anarchists are not inherently violent individuals, despite their reputation, and they do not aim to bring chaos to the world. The end goal of Anarchism is the abolishment of the state, but supporters of the philosophy do not believe that this will lead to chaos. On the contrary, they believe that governments all over the world create violence, oppression, exploitation, and chaos everywhere they are formed. This, according to Anarchists, is achieved through wars, taxes, suppression of personal freedoms, suppression of economic freedoms, and many other immoral acts of the state. Therefore, a society without the influence of governing bodies that have a “legal monopoly over the use force,” as Anarcho-Capitalist Murray Rothbard puts it, could not have a worse outcome than what already exists.

For more information on the subject written by yours truly check out Rational Anarchy:  A Brief Definition

Mom Arrested for truant student

Liberals are upset with Obama.

Amsterdam cracks down!

Child Porn Conviction For Watching Cartoon Porn.

Check out the story here:

Britain is considering a ban on “happy hour” discounts at bars and restaurants to curb drinking, a spokesman said Saturday, as health advocates warned that a rise in liver-related deaths among young people may signal a future epidemic.

So they think this will curb drinking?  Probably not.  People will just have to spend more money on alcohol now, which could be devastating in tough economic times.

Among Other Things:

[The] Council also agreed Tuesday to a series of packaging-reduction bylaws.

They include:

- A five-cent charge for every plastic bag customers use from a grocery or retail store starting in June;

- A ban on biodegradable and compostable plastic bags.

- A ban on retail bags with rope handles or metal grommets by the end of next year.

- A request the retailers also provide shoppers with alternatives to having the pay for a plastic bag, whether by providing cardboard boxes or paper sacks for shoppers.

Talk about micro-management. Who knows what kind of long-term repercussions there will be in the retail industry.

So it looks like the court system has bakced down and let Ian “Freeman” Bernard, of Free Talk Live fame, out of prison.

I wonder if this had anything to do with it?