The ZAP Philosopher Speaks
I made a small update to my JMaze applet. The players are now corporeal, i.e. you may not move through another player unless he is a "ghost". You CAN shoot a ghost.
William Stone III at The Libertarian Enterprise - Keynote Speech To The Interstate Conference On Race Relations II - given last Wednesday, January 22. A good explication of the Zero Agression Principle. [tle]
The Pythagorean theorem has 24 words. The Lord's prayer has 66 words. The 10 Commandments has 179 words.
The Federal Government regulations on the sale of cabbage has 26,911 words.
This should explain immediately why government can't be counted on to solve even simple problems, much less anything as complicated as race relations.
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Suppose a person with a lot of eumelanin in his skin is walking down the sidewalk. A person with more phenomelanin in his skin approaches, and as he passes, shoves the individual with eumelanin off of the sidewalk and into the gutter. He tells the person, "How dare you walk on the same sidewalk as me! You eumelanin in your skin, so you're filthy! People like you aren't fit to walk on the same sidewalk as those of us with phenomelanin!"
Well, the person with eumelanin is going to be understandably upset. He steps back on the sidewalk, gives the guy with phenomelanin a pop in the jaw for good measure, and says, "I don't care what you happen to think about eumelanin, but you better not go shoving people around!"
So here's an example of two uses of force, one an initiation and one a response to that initiation. The initiation of force occurred when the guy with phenomelanin shoved the guy with eumelanin. As it was an initiation of force, it was immoral. The retaliation -- popping the guy in the jaw -- was not immoral since it was force used in response to initiated force.
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The difference between libertarians and every other political philosophy on Earth is that we believe that the Zero Aggression Principle applies equally to every human being. There are no exceptions, not even for Presidents, Congressmen, Senators, Governors, State Legislators, Mayors, or City Councilmen. When we say "No human being has the right to initiate force," we mean no human being. Under any circumstances.
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In contrast to the big-L Libertarians, small-l libertarians like myself see the re-institution of Constitutional America as only a step. We believe that once people have experienced the benefits of having government out of their lives for a while, it will become readily apparent that they don't actually need what few services are remaining. We then have a long-term goal of removing from government any authority that allows it to initiate force. In some of these goals, we are joined by our Constitutionalist faction. For example:
The repeal of the 16th Amendment. The 16th Amendment to the Constitution authorized the direct taxation of individual incomes by the Federal Government. This is an initiation of force, since taxation is simply theft that happens to be sponsored by government as opposed to a thug on the street. Indeed, the only real difference between a thief and a tax collector is that the thief doesn't audit you after he robs you.
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To reiterate: no human being has the right -- under any circumstances -- to initiate force against another human being, nor to advocate or delegate its initiation. Those who act consistently with this principle are libertarians, whether they know it or not. Those who fail to act consistently with it are not libertarians, regardless of what they may claim.
L. Neil Smith at The Libertarian Enterprise - Conscripting Our Future - Neil starts with the tale of how medical advancement has kept him alive over the years, then warns how government is increasingly endangering science. [tle]
But the point, as far as it concerns anybody else, is this. In the 70s, somebody -- I think it was Durk Pearson and Sandy Shaw -- told us that for each year we manage to make it through, science is extending our lifespans by two years. Not only do I believe it, I'm proof of it. But this splendid process is by no means automatic. It stands on three legs: sufficient wealth to power it; adequate communication between scientists and physicians; and the freedom to do that science without interference.
The bad news is that all three are under attack as I write this. The wealth that powers human life extension may not be there much longer. It's about to be taxed away from the individuals who created it, to pay for insane military adventurism in the Middle East and elsewhere. The Bush-Clinton-Bush Administrations' stupid policies have already plunged this country into something that would be called a depression if economists were still allowed to use that word. And they are about to kill the last golden goose by regulating and taxing the Internet.
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Whatever the case, here we all are, right back at the Age of the Inquisition. The politicians, parasites every one, have conscripted our future in order to fight their war -- a war to corner the market on an obsolete commodity, petroleum. They're muzzling the scientists and engineers who would likely have produced that future. And now they're joggling their elbows, telling them what they may and may not investigate.
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The only way to fight back is to go on as we've been doing -- but with a better understanding of what's at stake. Government's power to steal what it wants at gunpoint must be abolished. We must strive to make that the "slavery" issue of the 21st century. And before that, we need a new amendment separating science -- especially medicine -- and State.
Joel Simon at The Libertarian Enterprise - If You're Not Atlas, Are You Still Allowed To Shrug? - Mr. Simon discovers, on being offered a job documenting a system to scan airline luggage, that he's got some balls to go with his principles. Bravo, Mr. Simon! [tle]
Thomas C Greene at The Register - DoD offering admin privileges on .mil Web sites - trolling for "terrorists"? Hehe. Slashdot discussion here. runofthe.mil? [smith2004]
Fox News - British Police: Stop Committing Crimes, If You Please - the bobbies are sending notes to crooks asking them to stop. Talk about the "letter of the law"... [rachel]
The Libertarian Enterprise - Letter from John the Bastard - a good reply to the idiot who's been saying over the last few weeks that using drugs is somehow a violation of the ZAP. [tle]
