Eric Peters, a prolific libertarian writer and auto fanatic (or is it “freak?), had some words regarding governments and true libertarians that are worth thinking about a bit.
“And that is why libertarians oppose what the government – and those who defend its legalized criminality – style “taxes,” which is a word used by government to camouflage what is understood by almost everyone to mean robbery, when it is performed by someone not affiliated with the government. Libertarians oppose all forms of robbery because they do not see that anyone has a right to take anyone else’s money. They do not argue over the supposed merit of what is done with the money taken from other people . . . because the money was taken from other people. It does not matter – to the person from whom the money was taken – that it was used to fund something considered by those who took it to be meritorious. What matters – to the person who was robbed – is that he was robbed.“
We here at TPOL add a strong “Amen” to Eric’s words. Especially this next part:
“The usual response here is that without such robbery, important works such as “national defense” (and of course, the schools) would go “unfunded.” Ordinary robbers never use such terminology.
They are too honest.”
So, why do we here at The Price of Liberty (and many other free-market anarchist and paleolibertarian writers and sites} write so much about the way government wastefully spends the money they steal?
It is educational.
Remember that 95-97% of all Americans are NOT even Minarchists, let alone true lovers of liberty who advocate the separation of society and state, of everything in creation and government. Yes, probably 95% of those who read the commentaries on TPOL – and perhaps even those who read Eric’s commentaries, or AntiWar.com or FEE.org – are lovers of liberty, even if not the Advocates’ (for Self-Government) 100%-100% libertarians. But we research and ponder and speak and write primarily to provide ideas – ammo – for lovers of liberty when we are reaching out to those who are not.
We really don’t know precisely what we say that will turn a statist into a liberty-lover. So we tend to say a lot about liberty and its benefits. And about government and all its disadvantages, downsides, and nastiness. And we repeat those memes frequently. In as many fora as we possibly can,
To use another comparison: we are planting seeds of liberty. Like Johnny Appleseed back in the early 1800s, we know that not every seed we plant will grow into a productive apple tree. Indeed, it might only be one in a hundred, or one in a thousand. But some will sprout and grow and survive and live to produce thousands of apples and millions of appleseeds! Or in our case, seeds of liberty: of self-government, of freedom of conscience and action, of personal responsibility and the power to make our own decisions about everything in life.
Follower of Christ Jesus (a christian), Pahasapan (resident of the Black Hills), Westerner, Lover of Liberty, Free-Market Anarchist, Engineer, Army Officer, Husband, Father, Historian, Writer, Evangelist. Successor to Lady Susan (Mama Liberty) at TPOL.
The Price of Liberty 
The trouble with taxes and government spending
Eric Peters, a prolific libertarian writer and auto fanatic (or is it “freak?), had some words regarding governments and true libertarians that are worth thinking about a bit.
“And that is why libertarians oppose what the government – and those who defend its legalized criminality – style “taxes,” which is a word used by government to camouflage what is understood by almost everyone to mean robbery, when it is performed by someone not affiliated with the government. Libertarians oppose all forms of robbery because they do not see that anyone has a right to take anyone else’s money. They do not argue over the supposed merit of what is done with the money taken from other people . . . because the money was taken from other people. It does not matter – to the person from whom the money was taken – that it was used to fund something considered by those who took it to be meritorious. What matters – to the person who was robbed – is that he was robbed.“
We here at TPOL add a strong “Amen” to Eric’s words. Especially this next part:
“The usual response here is that without such robbery, important works such as “national defense” (and of course, the schools) would go “unfunded.” Ordinary robbers never use such terminology.
They are too honest.”
So, why do we here at The Price of Liberty (and many other free-market anarchist and paleolibertarian writers and sites} write so much about the way government wastefully spends the money they steal?
It is educational.
Remember that 95-97% of all Americans are NOT even Minarchists, let alone true lovers of liberty who advocate the separation of society and state, of everything in creation and government. Yes, probably 95% of those who read the commentaries on TPOL – and perhaps even those who read Eric’s commentaries, or AntiWar.com or FEE.org – are lovers of liberty, even if not the Advocates’ (for Self-Government) 100%-100% libertarians. But we research and ponder and speak and write primarily to provide ideas – ammo – for lovers of liberty when we are reaching out to those who are not.
We really don’t know precisely what we say that will turn a statist into a liberty-lover. So we tend to say a lot about liberty and its benefits. And about government and all its disadvantages, downsides, and nastiness. And we repeat those memes frequently. In as many fora as we possibly can,
To use another comparison: we are planting seeds of liberty. Like Johnny Appleseed back in the early 1800s, we know that not every seed we plant will grow into a productive apple tree. Indeed, it might only be one in a hundred, or one in a thousand. But some will sprout and grow and survive and live to produce thousands of apples and millions of appleseeds! Or in our case, seeds of liberty: of self-government, of freedom of conscience and action, of personal responsibility and the power to make our own decisions about everything in life.
So, we talk and write a lot!
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About TPOL Nathan
Follower of Christ Jesus (a christian), Pahasapan (resident of the Black Hills), Westerner, Lover of Liberty, Free-Market Anarchist, Engineer, Army Officer, Husband, Father, Historian, Writer, Evangelist. Successor to Lady Susan (Mama Liberty) at TPOL.