Nothing Of Which To Be Proud

For decades I have been listening to people justify tyrannies such as taxation on the basis of the accomplishments they yield.  Their arguments go roughly thus: "I don't mind paying taxes because of what I get in return."  This is the basis of the "muh roadz" argument.  Such people get things they want from the tax monies that are actively robbed from everyone under the threats that ultimately lead to death for those who sufficiently resist the "state's" felonious edicts.

It cannot be credibly argued that when people come together in groups as superorganisms, they are capable of accomplishing feats that most individuals cannot.  Could a single man have build the Hoover Dam?  Could a single individual erect a skyscraper; design and build a jet airliner; supply the world with iron ore or antibiotics?  No.  And so we must give due credit to the accomplishments of superorganized groups of human beings, for without them we would not have too many of those things that make our lives easier, more prosperous, healthier, and way more enjoyable.

But may we be proud of ourselves and the accomplishments in question, given how they are obtained through robbery and threats of harm and even destruction?  I say no.  "But, but why?", you may ask, further adding your emphasis on the greatness of the city art museum and the grand monuments all over town.   The vast halls of public "services"; courthouses, legislatures, police headquarters magnificently erected in huge Carrara marble ashlars, the state Capitol with its huge dome and fine gilding all speak to the glory of the civilization!  Well yes, they do... if one considers them most superficially.

But when one delves just a mite deeper and sees the basis upon which such feats were made possible, the picture changes drastically, and at a radical level.  All of it, and I mean ever grain and penny's worth, was had through robbery by men who have issued threats of bodily harm, financial ruin, imprisonment, and even death to anyone so much as considering non-compliance with the order to fork it over.  Those in power have gone so far as to remove one's earnings through the cooperation of his employer before he ever even sees his disbursement!

Now, you may be thinking to yourself, "So what?:  This is, after all, the way things get done and we have to do it this way in order the have these things like roads, courthouses, firehouses, etc.  Besides, it's only fair, as if fairness were a valid justification for felonious assaults upon the sovereign rights of Freemen.  I would firstly respond by challenging the assumption that this is how it must be done.  To me, this mode of thinking represents a spectacular failure of creative thought, not to mention the abject misery that is that of the attitude of subservience which is required in order to hold such beliefs.

I further ask this: are these things worth having if we must rob people in order to acquire them?  Think about that long and with great care before you come to an answer - ANY answer.

Consider the analog of a man walking along the street with a briefcase containing $100 million dollars worth of bearer-bonds.  You've always wanted to be a millionaire, and so you bang him over the head and take his briefcase, possibly killing him in the process.  Congratulations, you are now a millionaire.

But have you anything for which to be proud of yourself in that regard, because you are also a thief and possibly a murderer.  Was it worth becoming a felon and moral degenerate for the sake of acquiring such wealth, regardless of how vast and "empowering"?  Was it worth relegating yourself to the hollow existence of the criminal, knowing for the rest of your life that you have done such grave wrong to another?  Would you be able to proudly relate to your family and friends the precise means by which you acquired your wealth, or would you be spinning lies that masked the truth?

Well, my dear friends, the precise same is true regarding taxation, as well as all the other things which "government" does pursuant to the so-called "greater good", "civilization", and all the other feel-good sounding, but false justifications cited for violating our just prerogatives and property rights.

Further consider that in which police routinely engage.  Take for instance the issue of traffic summonses, particularly where the issuance is committed on weak technicalities of statute in gross violation of the ostensive spirit of such edicts.  Fail to pay and a warrant will be issued for your arrest, even for a parking ticket.  If you are discovered, you will be apprehended by armed men.  Resist and they will beat you.  Resist better than they can impose, and they will gleefully escalate.  Resist enough, and they will murder you.  Imagine being murdered for a parking ticket.

The same result will come to anyone who resists the arbitrary caprice of the "state", no matter how trivially because the armed goons will be sent for you.  The more you resist, no matter how felonious the behavior of the state agents, the more severely you will be treated, once again up to and including being murdered for having the temerity and gall to so much as question Theire authority.

Do we want safe streets and civil society?  Yes.  It is reasonable to want this?  I believe it is.  But when it is had through the abuse and violation of those who seek to exercise rights that the arbitrary caprice of the "state" has declared forbidden, we once again lose all basis for being proud of what we have accomplished.

I would rather live in a free world that was more dangerous and devoid of great public works, if that dichotomy were anything better than utter falsehood, than to live in one where we were all physically safe from the low-rent street thug, but under constant threat of the high-rent government thug.  I would gladly forgo all the nice-to-have elements in life such as roads and museums and courthouses, in favor of my rightful freedom to carry on with my life as I see fit.

The price we pay for the shiny and relatively unimportant things that we have, is far and away too high, for what is a clear conscience worth?  Good "karma"?  The ability to look oneself in the mirror without shame, knowing the evil to which one has wed himself?

There is absolutely nothing of which we can be proud in all these superficially great attainments, for we have debased ourselves as thieves for the sake of having them.  In these respects, the only thing any of us should feel is burning shame, for we have robbed and abused our fellows in order to obtain those things, thus having reduced ourselves to criminals.

I would ask you to stop a long beat and give these words serious consideration.  The truth they speak is clear, complete, and eminently correct.  We hold no right or authority to commit such acts against our fellows, regardless of how powerfully we may want the things we buy with our ill-gotten booty, or may think that need justifies our means.  Countless souls have been put to death for the sake of "need".  How many more have been reduced to ruin by the same justification?  It is criminal madness to subscribe to such dangerously bankrupt beliefs, much less to act on them or even abet.  Is rightful pride and the joy it brings to a man so valueless?

Knowing now what it is you do, will you not now work to correct the error?

Be well and until next time, please accept my best wishes.