The Goal: A Free America

When I speak of creating a free America, I mean freedom in the libertarian sense, based on the Non-Aggression Principle (NAP). The NAP states that it is always criminal to initiate the use of force against the person or property of another. Among other things, this implies that taxation, conscription, seizure of property by eminent domain, and the "war on drugs" are all criminal activities.

A free country is then one where violations of the NAP are rare and are not legitimized. People may have reasonable confidence that, as long as they do not initiate the use of force against others, none shall forcibly interfere in their own lives.

Note that simply restoring the Constitution won't give us a free America. The Constitution authorizes various criminal practices, including taxation and eminent domain. Nor can we expect any other constitution to establish and preserve our freedom. In spite of its clear wording, the U.S. Constitution failed to prevent the cancerous growth of the Federal government. Even if we managed to roll back the Federal government to within its Constitutional bounds, how long would it stay there? The Constitution is just words on paper, like the famous piece of paper that Chamberlain brought back from Munich in 1938. The Constitution has proven no more effective at halting the aggression of the Federal government than the Munich Pact was in halting Hitler's aggression.

A central tenet of the rule of law is isonomy: the law must apply to all individuals and organizations equally. All have the equal protection of the law, and all have the equal obligation to abide by the law. No person or organization holds any special, privileged legal position; none has any special immunity or exemption from the laws that apply to all others.

Monopoly government violates the principle of isonomy, and so is incompatible with the rule of law:

and so on. These activities are forbidden to all others. This privileged position claimed by monopoly government is anathema to true rule of law. It should also be clear that it violates the NAP, as this privileged position is maintained by force.

Therefore, to achieve true rule of law and lasting freedom we must break loose of monopoly government entirely. We must look to the free market and civil society for those legitimate services we now obtain from the State — including courts, law enforcement, and the evolution of law. Instead of Government we need a centerless system of governance.

With this perspective we also see that it is not necessary to overthrow the Government in order to have a free America, nor is it necessary to liberate all Americans from its grip. It is only necessary to break the Government's coercive power over those who do not wish to be its subjects. Those who are content with their chains are welcome to keep them.

It is often argued that without a monopoly government — without some supreme authority — there can be no law. But history disproves this claim; examples of societies with law but no Government include

Additional of examples of law developed and enforced without the aid of any central, supreme authority — indeed, lacking any coercive power whatsoever — include the medieval Law Merchant and 19th-century miner's courts in the American West.

Here are some links to further reading for those unfamiliar with these ideas: