The Defenders of Freedom

In the United States, there are many protected classes of people. One of the largest protected classes is the military. If one says anything negative about the military, there are a dozen people lined up to defend them. We are told that they are the "defenders of freedom" and that our rights would not exist without the military. But, is that really the case? What is the military? The military is the violent arm of the government. In the same way that police enforce the will of the government at home, the military enforces the will of the government abroad. »

There Is No Such Thing As A Vote Against

Every year or two, Americans come together to take part in the state's favorite sacrament: voting. There are candidates (often at least two) representing the major parties in the US, and the voters cast a vote for one of them. But, while one votes on a relatively regular basis, it is much more rare for one to actually be excited about or want to support the candidate they are voting for. So, if it is rare that one actually has a candidate which they want to support, then who are they voting for during all those election cycles in-between? A »

Voluntaryist and Constitutionalist Arguments Compared

Let's face it, the non-aggression principle (NAP) is not that difficult to understand. The NAP simply states that because you own your body, it is wrong for another to violate your person (your life) or your property (the fruit of your labor). One has to wonder who would actually disagree with that. Who is actually out there advocating for slavery and theft (apart from the slave owners and thieves)? Who is declaring, "I believe my person and property should be violated!" People generally don't advocate for those because people instinctually understand the NAP to be a valid principle for life. »

The Anarchist Roots of Modern Libertarianism

There is a decades-old conversation within the libertarian movement which you might or might not be familiar with. The conversation is one between minarchists and anarchists. They often go by different names, but the sides are pretty clear. Minarchists are those who believe that the state should exist, but in an extremely small and limited form. Minarchists believe the only role of the state should be the "protection of individuals from aggression, theft, breach of contract, and fraud." Some, mainly Constitutionalists, would also add limited infrastructure (roads, etc.), money, and Intellectual Property protection to the list. This basically means that »

Morality In a Voluntary Society

I often hear people attack the concept of a voluntary society on the basis of morality. Their idea is that a voluntary society would never work because there would be no basis for morality. This might make sense in a vaccuum, but when you turn the question back toward the minarchist or statist, the absurdity of it becomes clear. Where Does Morality Come From In A Statist/Minarchist Society? If you ask 1000 people if murder is wrong because government says it is, they will most likely all say, "Certainly not!" We all know that murder is wrong because it »