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IPFS News Link • Philosophy: Anarchism

THE MYTH OF GOVERNMENT

• Bob Podolsky

Overview

What I have to say today is not news. Most of it has been said before – by
prehistoric philosophers, and more recently by Lysander Spooner, Benedict de
Spinoza, Henry David Thoreau, Frederique Bastiat, John David Garcia, Robert
McGee, Larken Rose, and many others. Perhaps the greatest tragedy of human
history is the fact that the writings of these thinkers has yet to permeate and inform
the awareness of the general public. It is for this purpose that I add my voice to the
list, in hopes that I can further simplify the core message contained in what might
be called the philosophy of government, so that everyone with even half a brain can
understand it and apply it to their own lives.

In the same sense in which Isaac Newton's Laws of Motion can be thought of as
"classical", the ideas that I share in this writing are likewise "classical". Newton
didn't have adequate observational instruments to anticipate the development of
Special Relativity or Quantum Mechanics – so he couldn't even attempt to describe
the physics of very fast moving objects or very small objects. In his time, the laws
of motion that he accurately described mathematically were totally adequate for the
world he was able to observe.

In similar fashion, I'm limiting my discussion to the practical and the obvious, and
beg the forbearance of the deep thinkers who recognize that my logic is incomplete.
Were I to attempt a deeper analysis of government, I'd be writing a book rather than
an article – and it would be a very long book indeed.

To whet your appetite for what follows, here are a few conclusions that will be
explained in what follows:
• Government only exists in the mind. It has no factual existence whatever. It is
accurate to describe it as a hallucination hypnotically implanted in your mind
by those who would control you in order to plunder your wealth and render
you subservient.
• Everything else you believe about government is a lie.
? It is neither of, by, nor for "the people".
? It is not a "necessary evil". It's just evil.
? The only obligation you have to obey government is that which you impose
upon yourself.? Taxation is a form of slavery...literally.
? The concept of a tacit "social contract" was invented for the sole purpose of
manipulating and plundering you.
? The purpose of police agencies isn't to "serve and protect" you – it is to rob
and control you.
? Government "gives away" nothing that it hasn't stolen from you and others
like you.
? There is nothing that government "provides" that could not better be
provided without government. And furthermore:

• You have an absolute moral "right" to defend yourself against government –
including the right to:
? Refuse to vote,
? Ignore laws forbidding victimless "crimes",
? Evade taxes of every kind,
? Engage in ethical private contracts,
? Communicate using strong encryption,
? Travel freely anywhere on the planet,
? Sell your services without obtaining licenses or permits,
? Homestead unused land,
? Perform any ethical act without anyone's permission, permits, or licenses,
? Do anything you wish to your own body – including taking drugs, aborting
a fetus, or committing suicide,
? Inform potential jurors of their legal right to nullify unjust laws,
? Own weaponry equal to that used by law enforcers – including machine
guns, grenades, and rocket launchers, and finally:


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