The Three Modes of Exchange -- Part Two

In a previous post, I talked about the two ways to voluntarily part with your property, charitable giving and free-trade. In this post, I am going to explore the more common method: theft.

No matter how “justifiable” the need or cause, taking something from someone else against their will is wrong. It is theft.

In fact, government, by it’s nature is an organization whose very existence is wholly sustained by involuntary coercion. Government produces nothing. It can only take and redistribute resources. For instance, no government has ever “produced jobs”.

The only job a government can “create” comes into existence by taking resources from it’s citizens and redistributing them (inefficiently) to other sources. Redistribution is not the same as creation. In fact, this by it’s very nature implies that something else had to be sacrificed in order to bring it into being. In economics, this is known as opportunity cost.

Now let’s examine how government “pays” for what it “creates”: taxation.

Taxation is theft. This is the most obvious form of involuntary coercion. Don’t believe me? Don’t pay your taxes and let’s see what happens to you.

Now some people would say taxes are a good thing. After all, they pay for schools and roads and libraries and parks. I frequently even hear people say, “I am glad to pay taxes for such things.” Good for you. That does not change the fact that this form of exchange is involuntary.

We often get sidetracked with “what” government is spending our money on. Maybe a new light rail system is a good thing, maybe it is not. It doesn’t matter. The real question should be, “who decides?” Your money and/or property is taken from you involuntarily to pay for whatever program is the latest whim.

Which brings me to the “rule of mobs”.

If my neighbor has something I want, I would never think of just walking over to his house and taking it. For some reason though, we find it okay to do so in other ways. For instance, let’s consider someone who doesn’t want to pay for their own healthcare. They can convince a “majority” to vote for it, thus passing legislation requiring you to pay for it.

Just because the majority wants your property to pay for “their” just cause does not change the fact that the action they are committing is theft.

We now live in a society where the mob rules. If the mob wants to send your sons and daughters to Iraq, the mob does so. If the mob wants to make you pay for it’s pet projects, the mob makes it so. In this kind of society, you have no property rights. Your property belongs to whoever is in the majority.

Ultimately, a truly free society can only exist where everyone respects the rights of every individual, where a person is seen as responsible for themselves and where their personal property is respected. A society where coercive force is randomly accepted is neither free nor just.

Do we want a society ruled by the whims of whatever group is in the majority? Or do we want a society that recognizes -- regardless of what group is in the majority -- all men are created equal, that they are all endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights? Ownership of oneself and one’s own property is at the core of protecting the rights of all.