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Sunday, August 14, 2011
An Aura of Moral Legitimacy
Category: People PowerFrom voluntaryist.com:
Voluntaryists are advocates of non-political, non-violent strategies to achieve a free society. We reject electoral politics, in theory and in practice, as incompatible with libertarian principles. Governments must cloak their actions in an aura of moral legitimacy in order to sustain their power, and political methods invariably strengthen that legitimacy. Voluntaryists seek instead to delegitimize the State through education, and we advocate withdrawal of the cooperation and tacit consent on which State power ultimately depends.
In my discussions in other threads, SchoolBoy has made me realize the importance of this idea. In an effort to help spread the word, I thought it would be a good idea to post it here in the Political Discussions group because in order for education to get more people to reject electoral politics, it has to be directed to people who do not reject electoral politics.
How can I “reject electoral politics” and support Ron Paul or the Tea Party at the same time? My support for them is based on the fact that both Ron Paul and the Tea Party provide opportunities for people to learn why voluntaryism is really the way to go. All the other parties and political groups tend to suggest that “the masses” are stupid and have to be forced to behave properly. It’s malarky.
Here are some examples of the “Aura of Moral Legitimacy” our federal government has used as a cloak, and if you’d like to add some, that would be great!
The central bank was created in order to stabilize prices
The FDA protects us from bad food
The Department of Education helps make children smarter
The Iraq War was waged in order to spread democracy
The 9/11 attackers attacked us because we have freedom
Free people will become vicious and mean if they aren’t threatened into being good
So what can we do about it if we reject electoral politics? Oh, ok, so I have to add one more to the list:
Your moral responsibility to help the country go in the right direction should be fulfilled by voting
Actually, I think the best thing we can do is for each of us to find his or her own moral compass through education about peace, freedom, and compassion, and then follow it and encourage others to do so as well. Jury duty is where our power lies. Check out the Fully Informed Jury Association and start judging the laws as well as the defendants. Some people commit crimes in order to make the world a better place, and if you’re on a jury, it’s your responsibility to recognize when that is the case and repudiate the law that criminalized the defendant’s behavior.
When you agree that the federal government’s damage to our country is proportional to the taxes it collects, you may wish to learn about the Tax Honesty movement. Tom Cryer points out that before you stop contributing to this destruction by simply following the letter of the tax laws instead of doing whatever the IRS tells you, you should be prepared to lose and go to prison, because the IRS can do that (see the transcript of Dr. Phil Roberts’ trial). But if you ever get on a jury in a federal tax case, you’ll have an opportunity to explain things to your fellow jurors and help stop the destruction.
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