ACP45 Loc: Rhode Island

Authored by Doug Casey via InternationalMan.com

You’re likely aware that I’m a libertarian. But I’m actually more than a libertarian. I don’t believe in the right of the State to exist. The reason is that anything that has a monopoly of force is extremely dangerous.

As Mao Tse-tung, lately one of the world’s leading experts on government, said: “The power of the state comes out of a barrel of a gun.”

There are two possible ways for people to relate to each other, either voluntarily or coercively. And the State is pure institutionalized coercion. It’s not just unnecessary, but antithetical, for a civilized society. And that’s increasingly true as technology advances. It was never moral, but at least it was possible, in oxcart days, for bureaucrats to order things around. Today it’s ridiculous.

Everything that needs doing can and will be done by the market, by entrepreneurs who fill the needs of other people for a profit. The State is a dead hand that imposes itself on society. That belief makes me, of course, an anarchist.

People have a misconception about anarchists. That they’re these violent people, running around in black capes with little round bombs. This is nonsense. Of course there are violent anarchists. There are violent dentists. There are violent Christians. Violence, however, has nothing to do with anarchism. Anarchism is simply a belief that a ruler isn’t necessary, that society organizes itself, that individuals own themselves, and the State is actually counterproductive.

It’s always been a battle between the individual and the collective. I’m on the side of the individual.

I simply don’t believe anyone has a right to initiate aggression against anyone else. Is that an unreasonable belief?

Let me put it this way. Since government is institutionalized coercion—a very dangerous thing—it should do nothing but protect people in its bailiwick from physical coercion.

What does that imply? It implies a police force to protect you from coercion within its boundaries, an army to protect you from coercion from outsiders, and a court system to allow you to adjudicate disputes without resorting to coercion.

I could live happily with a government that did just those things. Unfortunately the US Government is only marginally competent in providing services in those three areas. Instead, it tries to do everything else.

The argument can be made that the largest criminal entity today is not some Colombian cocaine gang, it’s the US Government. And they’re far more dangerous. They have a legal monopoly to do anything they want with you. Don’t conflate the government with America—it’s a separate entity, with its own interests, as distinct as General Motors or the Mafia. I’d rather deal with the Mafia than I would with any agency of the US Government.

Even under the worst circumstances, even if the Mafia controlled the United States, I can’t believe Tony Soprano or Al Capone would try to steal 40% of people’s income from them every year. They couldn’t get away with it. But—perhaps because we’re said to be a democracy—the US Government is able to masquerade as “We the People.” That’s an anachronism, at best. The US has mutated into a domestic multicultural empire. The average person has been propagandized into believing that it’s patriotic to do as he’s told. “We have to obey libraries of regulations, and I’m happy to pay my taxes. It’s the price we pay for civilization.” No, that’s just the opposite of the fact. Those things are a sign that civilization is degrading, that the society is becoming less individually responsible, and has to be held together by force.

It’s all about control. Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. The type of people that gravitate to government like to control other people. Contrary to what we’re told to think, that’s why you get the worst people—not the best—who want to get into government.

What about v****g? Can that change and improve things? Unlikely. I can give you five reasons why you should not v**e in an e******n (see this article). See if you agree.

Hark back to the ’60s when they said, “Suppose they gave a war and nobody came?” But let’s take it further: Suppose they gave a tax and nobody paid? Suppose they gave an e******n and nobody v**ed? What that would do is delegitimize government. I applaud the fact that only half of Americans v**e. If that number dropped to 25%, 10%, then 0%, perhaps everybody would look around and say, “Wait a minute, none of us believe in this evil charade. I don’t like Tweedledee from the left wing of the Demopublican Party any more than I like Tweedledum from its right wing…”

Remember you don’t get the best and the brightest going into government. There are two kinds of people. You’ve got people that like to control physical reality—things. And people that like to control other people. That second group, those who like to lord it over their fellows, are drawn to government and politics.

Some might ask: “Aren’t you loyal to America?” and “How can you say these terrible things?” My response is, “Of course I’m loyal to America, but America is an idea, it’s not a place. At least not any longer…”

America was once unique among the world’s countries. Unfortunately that’s no longer the case. The idea is still unique, but the country no longer is.

I’ll go further than that. It’s said that you’re supposed to be loyal to your fellow Americans. Well, here’s a revelation. I have less in common with my average fellow American than I do with friends of mine in the Congo, or Argentina, or China. The reason is that I share values with my friends; we look at the world the same way, have the same worldview. But what do I have in common with my fellow Americans who live in the trailer parks, barrios, and ghettos? Or even Hollywood, Washington, and Manhattan? Everyone has to be judged as an individual, but probably very little besides residing in the same political jurisdiction. Most of them—about 50% of the US—are welfare recipients, and therefore an active threat. So I have more personal loyalty to the guys in the Congo than I do to most of my fellow Americans. The fact we carry US passports is simply an accident of birth.

Those who find that thought offensive likely suffer from a psychological aberration called “nationalism”; in serious cases it may become “jingoism.” The authorities and the general public prefer to call it “patriotism.” It’s understandable, though. Everyone, including the North Koreans, tends to identify with the place they were born. But these things should be fairly low on any list of virtues. Nationalism is the belief that my country is the best country in the world just because I happen to have been born there. It’s most virulent during wars and e******ns. And it’s very scary. It’s like watching a bunch of chimpanzees hooting and panting at another tribe of chimpanzees across the watering hole. I have no interest in being a part of the charade—although that’s dangerous.

And getting more dangerous as the State grows more powerful. The growth of the State is actually destroying society. Over the last 100 years the State has grown at an exponential rate, and it’s the enemy of the individual. I see no reason why this trend, which has been in motion and accelerating for so long, is going to stop. And certainly no reason why it’s going to reverse.

It’s like a giant snowball that’s been rolling downhill from the top of the mountain. It could have been stopped early in its descent, but now the thing is a behemoth. If you stand in its way you’ll get crushed. It will stop only when it smashes the village at the bottom of the valley.

This makes me quite pessimistic about the future of freedom in the US. As I said, it’s been in a downtrend for many decades. But the events of September 11, 2001, turbocharged the acceleration of the loss of liberty in the US. At some point either foreign or domestic enemies will cause another 9/11, either real or imagined. It’s predictable; that’s what sociopaths, which I discussed earlier, do.

When there is another 9/11—and we will have another one—they’re going to lock down this country like one of their numerous new prisons. I was afraid that the shooting deaths and injuries of several hundred people in Las Vegas on October 1st might be it. But, strangely, the news cycle has driven on, leaving scores of serious unanswered questions in its wake. And about zero public concern.

It’s going to become very unpleasant in the US at some point soon. It seems to me the inevitable is becoming imminent.

Weasel Loc: In the Great State Of Indiana!!

I see your point.
I am a staunch conservative!
I could live with the changes you speak of
Let's see if we together could stop the onslaught of Democrats in the upcoming Mid-Terms.
I could v**e Independent as a conservative-liberatarian mix
BUT not Democratic-Liberatarian
Go Trumptarian. Go Trump

MatthewlovesAyn Loc: Ohio

I went to internationalman.com (where the article originated) and one of the first ads on the page was for a second passport. It's sounding more and more like a good idea. I can't believe it will be too long before there is a libertarian nation, much like New Hampshire is calling for Libertarians to move there (or Libertarians are).

I h**e the thought that our government was involved in 9/11 (I just find it hard to believe) as conspiracy theories have suggested, but I must admit the incident has thrown us into a decades long cycle of war and and government thuggishness. So was it serendipity for the gubmint, or did they do it?

As far as the looming unpleasantness goes, it shows some hypocrisy on the left (imagine that). When Obama was in office, many of us like minded people (?) thought they were gonna take our guns. The proof is in gun sales. The left has no such idea now that Trump is in office. They know the government is on the way to less abominable behavior, or they would be stocking up on guns and ammo. They don't think we're going to do to them what they have planned for us. Think again.

woodguru

Civil unrest is being ramped up harder under this president than it was under Obama (just a continuation and escalation).

You want to see a hidden tell of which party fears it's people? The GOP seems to think they need never before seen security details. They aren't worried about peaceful liberals who h**e guns and don't bring them to town halls and protests. They are worried about their base coming unhinged when they figure out how they've been played. Dems still attend their town halls, where regardless of how unhappy people are they stay relatively civil.

Gun sales didn't prove a thing that the right ever figured out. My local gunstore owner was going out of business when Obama won. Gun sales surged and he was laughing all the way to the bank, he literally told me he needed Obama to win another e******n because it was great for gun sales, it saved him. He thought people were i***ts thinking Obama wanted to take their guns.

Our guns are safe, unhinged people with guns are not. Unless social unrest unhinges the right, Trump being impeached could do that, yes it could.

And yes I h**e that 9/11 was something in the works for the whole time the investigation into missing Pentagon funds was taking place. A bit too much coincidence on all people involved and all documents gone in one flash. 200 people and over a million documents supporting findings is too much to disappear from multiple unrelated sites and locations. Very hard to believe, but not impossible.

MatthewlovesAyn Loc: Ohio

You are not preaching to the choir here. The "peaceful" people of the left are no such thing. The big government thugs they seem to favor are the ones who do things like Ruby Ridge, Waco, Tiananmen square, The USSR, etc.. When someone from our side doesn't like something we withhold our money. This is typical behavior from your side: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-I4rI0tMgE

I've read numerous of your posts and I must say your civility in your response to my post was admirable but atypical. When Hillary was in town, there were no bicycle rack throwing protests. Just the opposite was true when the Donald came through, or Ben Shapiro, or Lauren Southern, or Ann Coulter, et.al..

One of my best friends growing up went into academia and recently retired. It seems he spent the next 2 years on Facebook ranting about Trump, calling the vilest names imaginable. I read all the creepy incivility and after reaching a boiling point I posted this in reply to one of his rants: If you can't answer a man's arguments, all is not lost; you can still call him vile names. Elbert Hubbard. For this I was unfriended. Fine. He ended a nearly 6 decade friendship. My point is: The left has no argument and when they do, this is how they behave.

I we were to meet you in a bar and strike up a conversation, and I found out who you were, I wouldn't argue, fight, call names or remain in your presence. Simple as that.

woodguru

It already is, since the e******n I have seen mexicans or people who could be confused for Muslims (two were Sikh Indians who have been here long enough to raise families) being verbally accosted by people who are best described as worthless pieces of crap. I live in a rural mountain community that is hard right. It has large numbers of the hardest right as in skinheads and radically r****t.

One incident that really brought the danger home of where we are headed was in a restaurant that is owned by an Indian couple that has run it for 40 years. They are well liked by everyone but the r****t h**ers, and even they would come in for the excellent wood fired pizza they made. They also had an excellent se******n of Indian food, and the woman spent her day off preparing things for the week.

I'm in there getting a pizza and there were two big younger twenty something guys giving the woman crap about packing her bags and going home, it was their country now that Trump had won. I got to where I'd heard enough and told them to knock it off. They were coming at me when she said her husband had already called the police, and that was when we heard sirens. They turned and one told me they would see me again, and they beat feet. The woman said that the h**e crap was getting worse than it had ever been, and they were retiring. She told me the building was owned by them and would provide them an income, and their house was paid for, so it was time.

We saw their high school kids and their friends there all the time, and these people had raised great kids who had very nice friends. Unlike the country hard right wingers who raise worthless thugs who attack b****s, Mexicans, and anyone who looks Muslim.

I have told people abusing other people to knock it the hell off half a dozen times in the last year. After the incident in the restaurant I went across the street and paid them at the gun store for the concealed weapon permit training and have a permit now. And I will keep on telling ass hats who can't keep their mouth shut to knock it off that what they are doing is illegal. I am getting too old to fight big young thugs, if I tell them to knock it off and they attack me they will die. A hit to the stomach or neck could k**l me because of existing problems, but that is not going to make me refuse to stand up for someone who is being abused. I'm not the type to pull a gun and not use it. I have competed in an array of pistol speed events and have nothing but the best in a number of carry suitable guns.

This r****t crap is unacceptable to me and it needs to stop.

This is what this country has come to.

If you met me in a bar you would find me to be civil, and I refuse to engage with those who are wound a little too tightly. I am able to have conversations with people who can discuss issues without getting heated about it. As soon as a person gets heated it's time to change the subject, there is no point in pushing it.

I was telling a bunch of guys (all right wingers) h*****g out at the corner garage about the Indian couple and what had happened, they were all pissed off and said they'd have told them to knock it off too.

waltmoreno

What we are witnessing is the establishment under attack like never before. Trump, the true outsider who never held public office before being elected to POTUS has caused such consternation in the establishment that they're unsure of how to deal with him. So far everything they've tried has failed. All the mainstream media, all the Democrats, and even lots of RINOs were united against him but he still whipped their asses. Mueller and his thugs are just another extension of the establishment's "insurance policy" to oust this outsider who is shaking things up like no other candidate would ever do.
And the thing about it is that fence straddlers who witness the absolute incessant, non-stop attacks on Trump can only wonder about the blatantly obvious dual systems of justice between establishment figures and non-establishment folks. How, for example, Hillary received kid glove treatment for clearly felonious conduct while Trump's attorney's home, office, and even hotel room is raided by the FBI. Hillary's lawyers were given immunity, allowed to be present while Hillary was interrogated (not under oath) and were allowed to cull through her unsecured emails and allowed to decide which ones should be turned over to the authorities. Talk about a double standard! What a joke!!!
I didn't initially support Trump. But the one effect of the unceasing, relentless attacks on him has made me a staunch Trump supporter. No other politician would have been able to withstand such attacks and still produce great results overall. The establishment isn't used to be challenged so much and would love to go back to the previous status quo. T***p w*n't allow that to happen and that's why he was elected.

itsmyjob

Talk, talk, talk not one thing going on to rectify the situation.

ACP45 Loc: Rhode Island

There are right wing assholes, and there are left wing assholes. Thankfully, most everyone else is somewhere in between. I also believe that it is best to avoid those that are unable to engage in a civil conversation. I enjoy a frank exchange of ideas, especially if they differ from mine. It serves as a good check to one's moral compass.

king hall Loc: Tucson,AZ.

ACP45 you keep good company. I've previously interviewed Mr. Casey (on air) and the number of positive response calls...through the ceiling.