tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post6155438802416116322..comments2024-03-19T07:48:54.021-06:00Comments on Gus Van Horn: Mugging the Boot CampsGus Van Hornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05126749051688217781noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-84238348716760139212014-02-03T10:35:16.362-06:002014-02-03T10:35:16.362-06:00C.,
Thanks for the quotes. You're right to po...C.,<br /><br />Thanks for the quotes. You're right to point out that what is going on is actually worse than a mugging, and not just because the government is supposed to <i>prevent</i> such occurrences.<br /><br />GusGus Van Hornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05126749051688217781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-35387198596362400482014-02-03T08:59:05.777-06:002014-02-03T08:59:05.777-06:00Hi Gus,
I tracked down that fragment and while my...Hi Gus,<br /><br />I tracked down that fragment and while my version is more succinct (and could very well have been how Mike Rokyo conveyed it) the original belongs to Lysander Spooner.<br /><br /><i>But this theory of our government is wholly different from the practical fact. The fact is that the government, like a highwayman, says to a man: Your money, or your life. And many, if not most, taxes are paid under the compulsion of that threat.<br /><br />The government does not, indeed, waylay a man in a lonely place, spring upon him from the road side, and, holding a pistol to his head, proceed to rifle his pockets. But the robbery is none the less a robbery on that account; and it is far more dastardly and shameful.<br /><br />The highwayman takes solely upon himself the responsibility, danger, and crime of his own act. He does not pretend that he has any rightful claim to your money, or that he intends to use it for your own benefit. He does not pretend to be anything but a robber. He has not acquired impudence enough to profess to be merely a “protector,” and that he takes men’s money against their will, merely to enable him to “protect” those infatuated travellers, who feel perfectly able to protect themselves, or do not appreciate his peculiar system of protection. He is too sensible a man to make such professions as these. Furthermore, having taken your money, he leaves you, as you wish him to do. He does not persist in following you on the road, against your will; assuming to be your rightful “sovereign,” on account of the “protection” he affords you. He does not keep “protecting” you, by commanding you to bow down and serve him; by requiring you to do this, and forbidding you to do that; by robbing you of more money as often as he finds it for his interest or pleasure to do so; and by branding you as a rebel, a traitor, and an enemy to your country, and shooting you down without mercy, if you dispute his authority, or resist his demands. He is too much of a gentleman to be guilty of such impostures, and insults, and villanies as these. In short, he does not, in addition to robbing you, attempt to make you either his dupe or his slave. </i><br /><br />c. andrewAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-17138057231744757012014-02-03T08:39:59.213-06:002014-02-03T08:39:59.213-06:00Hi Gus,
Note how they (the California State Paras...Hi Gus,<br /><br />Note how they (the California State Parasites) phrase their language so that it looks like those freely interacting adults are somehow the criminals. And a significant majority of what passes for an American citizen will fall for the rhetoric. <br /><br />Your comparison to muggers is apt. But the state actors are actually worse. I don't know if it was Mencken or Rokyo (or Mencken via Rokyo!) that said <i>"at least a highwayman has the decency to leave you alone after the act. Unlike the gov't functionary who continues to ride alongside, jawing endlessly about how he had done it for your own good."</i><br /><br />c. andrewAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com