Tag: Authority

1421: Lysander Spooner – Government and the Robber

The robber does not pretend to be anything but a robber. Furthermore, having taken your money, he leaves you, as you wish him to do. He does not persist in following you on the road, against your will; assuming to be your rightful "sovereign," on account of the "protection" he affords you.

He does not keep "protecting" you, by commanding you to bow down and serve him; by requiring you to do this, and forbidding you to do that; by robbing you of more money as often as he finds it for his interest or pleasure to do so; and by branding you as a rebel, a traitor, and an enemy to your country, and shooting you down without mercy, if you dispute his authority, or resist his demands. —Lysander Spooner

The robber does not pretend to be anything but a robber. Furthermore, having taken your money, he leaves you, as you wish him to do. He does not persist in following you on the road, against your will; assuming to be your rightful “sovereign,” on account of the “protection” he affords you.

He does not keep “protecting” you, by commanding you to bow down and serve him; by requiring you to do this, and forbidding you to do that; by robbing you of more money as often as he finds it for his interest or pleasure to do so; and by branding you as a rebel, a traitor, and an enemy to your country, and shooting you down without mercy, if you dispute his authority, or resist his demands. —Lysander Spooner

1363: Antony Davies – Spontaneous Order

In Nicaragua where sign language didn’t exist, in 1981, a new school for the deaf opened. Fifty deaf students enrolled during the school’s first year, and a curious thing happened: they developed their own version of sign language. No one taught them this; they simply began assigning signs and gestures to the things in their environment, and slowly a language emerged, complete with verb tenses and the like, to rival any other language. Spontaneous orders are systems that develop organically. They aren’t designed by a coercive authority. They emerge through countless human interactions undertaken over time. —Antony Davies, James R. Harrigan

In Nicaragua where sign language didn’t exist, in 1981, a new school for the deaf opened. Fifty deaf students enrolled during the school’s first year, and a curious thing happened: they developed their own version of sign language. No one taught them this; they simply began assigning signs and gestures to the things in their environment, and slowly a language emerged, complete with verb tenses and the like, to rival any other language. Spontaneous orders are systems that develop organically. They aren’t designed by a coercive authority. They emerge through countless human interactions undertaken over time. —Antony Davies, James R. Harrigan

1348: Mary Ruwart – We Are Responsible

We defer to authority figures because they are supposed to know more than we do. If a mistake is made, it's easy to lay the blame at their feet. Ultimately, however, we are responsible for choosing the authority figure we defer to. Choosing to defer to one who urges aggression against others still puts the responsibility on us. —Dr. Mary J. Ruwart, Healing Our World

We defer to authority figures because they are supposed to know more than we do. If a mistake is made, it’s easy to lay the blame at their feet. Ultimately, however, we are responsible for choosing the authority figure we defer to. Choosing to defer to one who urges aggression against others still puts the responsibility on us. —Dr. Mary J. Ruwart, Healing Our World

1303: Robert Weir – The Whip Itself

The practical problem is we have, historically, been so beaten down by the state, from kings and emperors, presidents and bureaucrats, that we now accept the lash of compulsion, so long as we can preserve the illusion that the whip was constructed with our consultation. Our debate is cordoned off into a small rhetorical space, where we discuss who is allowed to wield the whip this year or next year. We line up to vote for someone who will whip us less, and our adversaries more, but we never question the whip itself. —Robert Weir (WhyNotLibertarianism.com)

1290: Ludwig von Mises – The Essential Feature of Government

The funds that a government spends for whatever purposes are levied by taxation. And taxes are paid because the taxpayers are afraid of offering resistance to the tax gatherers. They know that any disobedience or resistance is hopeless. As long as this is the state of affairs, the government is able to collect the money that it wants to spend. Government is in the last resort the employment of armed men, of policemen, gendarmes, soldiers, prison guards, and hangmen. The essential feature of government is the enforcement of its decrees by beating, killing, and imprisoning. Those who are asking for more government interference are asking ultimately for more compulsion and less freedom. —Ludwig von Mises

1285: Lysander Spooner – If Money Can Be Taken by Government

If any man's money can be taken by a so-called government, without his own personal consent, all his other rights are taken with it; for with his money the government can, and will, hire soldiers to stand over him, compel him to submit to its arbitrary will, and kill him if he resists. —Lysander Spooner

If any man’s money can be taken by a so-called government, without his own personal consent, all his other rights are taken with it; for with his money the government can, and will, hire soldiers to stand over him, compel him to submit to its arbitrary will, and kill him if he resists. —Lysander Spooner

1217: Bob Murphy – You’re Not Helping

You don't help a depressed economy by giving control of its resources to politicians. —Bob Murphy

You don’t help a depressed economy by giving control of its resources to politicians. —Bob Murphy

1139: Raylene Lightheart – Here’s to the Trouble Makers!

Here’s to the trouble makers! Here’s to the jury nullifiers, the rebel scum, those who won’t rest until they see justice and unfettered freedom! —Raylene Lightheart

1125: Michael Rectenwald – Totalitarian Moral Arrogance & Lack of Humility

W1125: Michael Rectenwald - Totalitarian Moral Arrogance — The primary characteristic of totalitarian ideologues is essentially moral arrogance, a complete lack of moral humility, and the certain conviction that they themselves are justice incarnate. They thus believe that they are completely justified to exert their will to achieve their desired ends 'by any means necessary'. Such ideologues rejoiced when God was declared 'dead', as such, because now they could assume the authority of God for themselves. —Michael Rectenwald (Springtime for Snowflakes)

The primary characteristic of totalitarian ideologues is essentially moral arrogance, a complete lack of moral humility, and the certain conviction that they themselves are justice incarnate. They thus believe that they are completely justified to exert their will to achieve their desired ends 'by any means necessary'. Such ideologues rejoiced when God was declared 'dead', as such, because now they could assume the authority of God for themselves. —Michael Rectenwald (Springtime for Snowflakes)

The primary characteristic of totalitarian ideologues is essentially moral arrogance, a complete lack of moral humility, and the certain conviction that they themselves are justice incarnate. They thus believe that they are completely justified to exert their will to achieve their desired ends ‘by any means necessary’. Such ideologues rejoiced when God was declared ‘dead’, as such, because now they could assume the authority of God for themselves. —Michael Rectenwald (Springtime for Snowflakes)

1112: Larken Rose – Belief in Authority

I'm not scared of the Maos and the Stalins and the Hitlers. I'm scared of the thousands of millions of people that hallucinate them to be "authority", and so do their bidding, and pay for their empires, and carry out their orders. I don't care if there's one looney with a stupid moustache. He's not a threat if the people do not believe in "authority". —Larken Rose

I’m not scared of the Maos and the Stalins and the Hitlers. I’m scared of the thousands of millions of people that hallucinate them to be “authority”, and so do their bidding, and pay for their empires, and carry out their orders. I don’t care if there’s one looney with a stupid moustache. He’s not a threat if the people do not believe in “authority”. —Larken Rose