You are a TYRANT !
……. and so am I.
a : an absolute ruler
unrestrained by law or constitution
b : a usurper of sovereignty
Who among us would
say that he is against Liberty and in favor of Tyranny? Well, raise your hand because I am
certain that your notion of Liberty, like mine, was very distorted by your
upbringing/education. For most of
my life I believed that Liberty abounded in America. Of course, it happened to be Liberty as defined by ME in my
little world …… but not necessarily for people raised outside of government-educated,
conservative, God-fearing, America-loving West Texas in the 1960s.
Below you will find
some examples of tyranny, with simple reasons why they are so. Keep in mind that the only legitimate
function of any law is to protect you and your possessions from others. But, if you are like I am, then you
have been a proponent of some of these at some point in your life. Prepare for
your toes to be stomped ……
In
no particular order, and as they apply to adults
------
+
Hate speech laws – In lawsuits, one has to clearly show damage. Hurt feelings don’t qualify as
such. If you don’t protect freedom
of speech for positions which are offensive to you, then you don’t really
believe in that freedom.
+
Forced vaccinations – It is your body, or your child’s. My body was given to me by God
Almighty Himself, not the government or any other entity. So I will choose what to put into it.
+
Non-smoking codes for restaurants/bars -- Who owns the property? Businesses exist to make money, not to
provide a service to the community.
Therefore, since it is their investment and risk, why can government
tell them how to treat their customers?
The moment we begin to view a private business as a service provider
rather than a commercial venture, then we can assume every kind of control is
legitimate.
+ Prohibition
of alcohol or drugs -- Do you own your body? If you have the right to tell someone (for his own good, of
course), that he may not ingest a certain drug, then by extension you also have
the right to prohibit him from ingesting donuts, French fries, etc.
+
No Gambling laws -- It is my money(property). If I can’t waste it on gambling, why not prohibit other
wasteful activities like fireworks or sporting events or amusement parks?
+ Government
Welfare – Forcefully confiscating one’s property in order to give it to
another, whether for the poor, the sick, the hungry, the homeless, children, or
the unemployed, is theft. I can’t take your money just because I
want to give it to a poor person, so why can the government?
+
No prostitution laws – Why can’t consenting adults do what they choose with
their bodies or money? Did
somebody call the cops to complain?
+ Polygamy
Laws – Again, where is the victim?
Since when is the government chartered to be in the business of
interpersonal relationships?
+ Flag
burning laws – Just as tyrannical as Hate Speech laws. So you say, “yes, but, men died for
that flag …….”. Rights don’t allow
for “buts”.
+ Gun
registration/ Permits/ Licensing – Self protection from tyranny(in any form) is
a RIGHT. Period. Free men own weapons, slaves do not.
+ Marriage
licensing – I need the government’s permission to marry whomever I love? Seriously?
+ Driver’s
Licensing – Please define “Freedom” without the right to travel (not to be
confused with obeying the rules/regulations of the road).
+ FEMA
– This is welfare. The rancher
that is deathly afraid of floods and built on a hill in Montana is forced to
subsidize the homeowner living on the banks of the Mississippi when the river
rises …….
+ Agriculture
subsidies or price guarantees – More welfare, even if it is justified as being
in the national interest. It is
taking property from people in order to promote the government’s favored
industry.
+ Anti-discrimination
laws – If I own the business and the jobs, why not dispose of them as I
please? If the choices are bad, I
will go out of business. Also, why
can’t I rent or sell to whomever I choose? Another assault on property rights. As John Adams said- “ The moment the idea is admitted into
society that property is not as sacred as the laws of God, and that there is
not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny
commence.”
+ Helmet/Seatbelt
laws – Why not helmet laws for ice skating, watching a baseball game,
running/walking on pavement, etc.?
How about simply banning all behavior that government deems dangerous? Again, whose body is it?
+ Minimum
wage laws – Freedom to contract is inherent in Liberty. My labor is my property.
+ Use
of force to change the form of government in other countries – If the Chinese
decided to establish a monarchy in the U.S., many of us would become
“insurgents”.
+ Handicap
parking laws – Businesses exist to make money, not to provide a service to the
community. When we begin to view
them as “essential service providers”, then we can assume we deserve total
control of them. That is fascism.
+ Foreign
Aid for the world’s poor – See “Government welfare” above.
+ Did I rattle your cage?
This list is
definitely incomplete and the explanations can, obviously, be expanded. The principles behind property rights
and personal Liberty leave no room for our favorite exceptions. “I believe in strong property rights,
but …….” STOP RIGHT THERE! Saying
“but” almost always means that you don’t get it. When one crosses the line of absolute property rights or
absolute personal Liberties, tyranny begins. The question arises “Can I, as an individual, compel that
person or business to do a certain thing?” If not, then what is right about using the force of
government to compel? Then by
extension, using government to accomplish what you, as an individual, don’t
have the right to do makes you no less a tyrant.
As Frederic Bastiat
clearly shows in The Law, protecting
you and your possessions from the forceful abuses of them by others is the
beginning and end of the justification for any
law in civilized society. The
validity of all laws emanates from that simple concept. All laws that do not specifically
enforce this concept, by definition, work against it.
We all seem to have
our own favorite flavor of tyranny.
Politically, the Democrats like to use the force of government to make
charity compulsory, to rectify perceived “injustice”, or otherwise impart their
idea of Utopia upon society. The
Republicans prefer; their own “compassionate conservatism”(a “diet” form of the
above), to legislate personal morality, and to grease the tracks for corporate
America. Neither seems to have a
problem with using our military, the CIA, bribery, and other forms of coercion,
to impose our will on the rest of the world, in the name of “freedom and
democracy”.
Analyze the laws and
statutes around you with a simple test.
Does
it:
(a) Steal property for charity
or comfort?
(b)Steal Freedom “for your own good”?
or
(c)Protect you
and your stuff from me?
The point here is
that we must all learn to see through clear eyes. If I can recognize the tyranny in trying to impose my
morality or notions of philanthropy on others, then I will be better able to
recognize the tyranny in our government and politicians. If your writer has been persuasive,
then you will cease and desist in your tyrannical ways. But don’t stop there! Work to reform the tyrants around
you. When enough of us can make
this personal, then we will naturally work to restore government to its proper
function as defined by our Constitution and Natural Law.