The Danger Of Good Intentions

Let us begin with a blunt premise: good intentions count for nothing.

Consider the Holy Inquisition.  The intentions behind it - or claimed at any rate - were to rid the world of heresy and to serve as last ditch efforts to save the souls of heretics.  And so, the reasoning went, that trussing such heretics up like Thanksgiving turkeys upon a stake atop a huge pile of kindling and lighting it ablaze served the greater good by removing said heretics from God's half-acre and possibly inducing them to admit their sins, repent, acknowledge Jesus as their Savior, and be brought back into the bosom of the Lord.  After all, the heretic was bound for eternal hellfire in the case of his failure to come clean before God, and more importantly, God's vicars on earth, so what's a few minutes more of actual, verifiable burning flesh in the hope of last second salvation?

We can be generous enough to assume for argument's sake that these were the genuine intentions of those who ordered and applied those horrific flames to the living flesh of their fellow human beings, rather than for the expropriation of their vast land holdings and other treasures.  And from there we can immediately come to the conclusion that their good intentions counted for absolutely nothing whatsoever.  Certainly it can be said on behalf of the countless poor souls who found themselves the guests of honor at such events that those intentions proved cold comfort, at best.

It makes no whit of difference what one's intentions might be in the event that they cause the unjustifiable violation of the rights of another.  We all hold equal rights to life.  Barring the commission of some truly heinous criminal act, we retain that right - that valid claim.  No man holds the least authority to violate that claim, whether by reduction or destruction, again all else equal.  Johnny may validly violate the common claim to life if he does so in response to Jimmy's attempt to murder him.  Short of that, no.

The putative intentions of all known forms of forced collectivism, such as communism and socialism, count for nothing at all in the face of the results they have universally produced: poverty, disease, privation, death, and endless misery.  It makes no matter to the man who disappears into the bowels of Lubyanka prison or a Chinese reeducation camp, that the intentions of those systems are the "greatest good for the greatest number".  What are those intentions to the millions of Ukrainians starved to death by Stalin's cadres?  How about all the fine intentions of perfect equality of the North Korean "government"?  Do they mean anything to the people who live in abject misery and fear?  What of the ostensibly good intentions of the typical American lefties, who are no better than rank communists?

How about all those Americans who rot in prison cells for slinging cannabis?  After all, are not the intentions behind the Rockefeller drug statutes not pure?  We have the "right" to thank for that, showing there is blame aplenty to go around.

And what about those poor slobs who had the temerity to defend their very lives against destruction at the hands of violent criminals, and who ended up in prison?  The local statutes that effectively ban the defense of one life for the sake of that of another are born of the best of intentions, are they not?  We see plenty of this worldwide, including in the United States.  In the UK, self-defense beyond calling the police, is considered felonious and will see anyone engaging in such acts into a cell.

How about the New York City Sullivan law, ostensibly intended to protect innocent people from violence?  Not only has it failed miserably, New York City actually enhanced the ability of criminals to succeed at their rotten craft by denying their law-abiding residents the ability to defend themselves against such attacks.  Once again we see how the putative good intentions of legislators count for less than nothing because not only do they fail to fulfill those intentions, the statutes in question actually bring about greater harms, their authors and enforcers immune from all adverse consequences of their lousy, irresponsible, and in fact felonious impositions.

Good intentions that are used as justification for the violation of the rights of free men, and over whom no man walking on the earth validly possesses such authority, should serve as the reddest of flags to all lovers and respecters of liberty.  They should signal to all good men that the time is upon them to rise and put all such justified acts to unequivocal ends.

The time of blind obedience to false authority and tolerance of the violation of proper human rights must now come to its final and eternal close.  It is high time that free men begin acting as such, rather than as subjects to the whim and caprice of those of their fellows who claim by word and deed such non-existent authority to abuse, disparage, violate, and even murder those to whom they have sworn oaths of good faith and competent service.  How else will things ever improve?  It will never happen by trusting those who are the perpetrators of the most and worst crimes: the people of "government".

The choice is ours.  It always has been.

Until next time, please accept my best wishes.