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by Scott Swain
 Some believe "the ends justify the means" to be the best philosophy to guide us when we create social systems. Karl Marx based most, if not all, of his philosophy on this idea. He saw humanity as flawed and wanted to fix us. From his perspective, being "equal" was not just about equal opportunity; it was about equal outcome. Simple example: If any person is having a better life than another person, it is justifiable to take from the first person in order to bring the suffering one up to the "privileged" person's level.
This kind of rationale is seductive to most anyone who has challenges in their life. It is even more seductive to rulers seeking justification to have power over others and profit themselves and their friends greatly from that power, while simultaneously decrying power and profit to be "bad," effectively fortifying their position. It is a basis for most, if not all, Non-Voluntary Government.
On the other hand: A growing number believe stealing and killing are wrong, no matter the justification, except for self defense. We call ourselves Voluntaryists, Anarchists, Agorists, Libertarians, etc. We believe Voluntary Governance is the most compassionate and sustainable path.
"What about the disadvantaged?" the pro Non-Voluntary Government advocate will cry out. "Surely it is OK to take from those who obviously have more." And so they will justify their theft and call it compassion. When other Voluntaryists argue that it is not fair to steal and if central social planners would stop trying to force "generosity," people would help each other voluntarily, the "ends justify means" people will say, "No, people are just too greedy and selfish. Too many old, diseased, handicapped, and poor will suffer or die if we left their care up to Voluntarism." Let's look at a parent who wants their child to grow up to be generous. Which of the following scenarios would result in a child growing up to be a person who often chooses to give from the heart? (a) "Share your toys!" Parent forces the child to share. (b) Parent chooses to be an example of generosity to their child and hopes for the best.
The Voluntaryist will say that building any system upon a foundation of coercion has created a culture and economy that is:
- corrupt; - unfair; - worships violence-as-solution;
- unsustainable; and
- rewards behavior that contributes to failure.
The Voluntaryist does not seek to change humanity nor to force anyone to do anything. We believe all human traits are human and thus, acceptable. This does not mean we condone destructive behavior. We believe in natural consequences and the protective use of force to deal with destructive behavior. In fact, our very belief that it is natural for man to want power gives us a more realistic perspective on how to create systems well prepared to deal with the inevitable attempts at using power over others. This is why we advocate for freedom from ruler-ship; because handing power over others to fallible humans is a recipe for abuse. And to those who believe we need "ultimate watchers to keep people in line," who do you propose to watch the watchers?
Voluntaryists also believe in freedom of association. This means two people choosing to talk to each other, love each other, trade with each other, etc., without interference. If harm is reported then yes, interference may be warranted. "How do we deal with violence in a Voluntary Government region?" See https://clearsayarchive.com/law_without_government.html.
Our rulers are fomenting a class war. Many on both "sides" - all of which are humans - of this class war are missing something very important: the real culprit is not a specific class like "the leaching dependent poor" or "the greedy power-hungry rich". The real culprit is the parasitic ruling class who steal from the poor via inflation, steal from the rest via taxes, toss crumbs to keep the poor dependent, wage wars to further fatten the pockets of the giganta-corps who control them, mind wash and drug our children to believe we need the ruling class and must obey them, influence media to reinforce our religious-like faith in a need for rulers, call those who disagree "terrorists," and create more excuses (laws) every day to put human beings in cages.
What can you do?
- Stop watching mainstream "news".
- Diversify your news by reading/watching: http://www.mises.org, http://america.aljazeera.com/, http://reason.com/, https://www.youtube.com/user/girlwriteswhat, https://www.youtube.com/user/stefbot, https://www.youtube.com/user/praxgirl, https://www.youtube.com/user/TomWoodsTV, https://www.youtube.com/user/DaynaLeighMartin and https://www.youtube.com/user/LarkenRose
- Read books on opposing viewpoints. Example: Read the Communist Manifesto by Engels and Everything Voluntary by Skyler J. Collins and Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt and Nonviolent Communication by Marshall Rosenberg. And if you want to obtain a deeper understanding of free markets and Anarchy/Voluntaryism, read Bastiat, Mises, and Rothbard for starters. #voluntaryism #freedom #independence #libertarian #voluntarism #agorism #anarchy #anarchocapitalism #ancap #ronpaul #karlmarx #marx #marxism #endsjustifymeans #freedomofassociation #liberation #principles #empowerment #nvc #nonviolentcommunication #nonaggressionprinciple #nap #coercion #compassion #empathy
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