Obamney vs Robama: Statism, Sociopathy and Human Prosperity

By Michael Suede
Oct. 23, 2012

Dear Democrats, what if I was to propose a “political” system that could accomplish the following:

drastically lower tuition costs
drastically lower medical care costs
eliminate foreign wars and foreign military bases
drastically reduce “defense” spending
end the drug war entirely
eliminate crony capitalism entirely
eliminate the accumulation of wealth by the top 1%
greatly increase the conservation of resources
and finally, bring a huge amount of manufacturing jobs back to the U.S.

Republicans, what if I was to propose a “political” system that could accomplish the following:

allow any private land owner to engage in energy exploration on his own land
eliminate the IRS and tax systems completely
create a massive expansion of small businesses and general entrepreneurship
drastically reduce the number of people receiving handouts
eliminate inflation entirely
eliminate the national debt entirely
create internationally competitive businesses
prevent the use of public funds from going toward abortions
do away with the use of public funds to promote anti-religious viewpoints
and finally, allow for complete consumer choice in education

Now ask yourself if the things you disagree with on either of those lists are worth giving up the things you do agree with. Indeed, such a system does exist. It’s called voluntarism, although I prefer to call it anarchy.

In the absence of political coercion, total social and economic freedom creates incredible levels of material wealth and prosperity. This is a fact that has been proven over and over again throughout history. It’s easy to see that the worst human conditions are always precipitated by violence, generally either by religious sects or state actors. The bottom line being that those who seek to impose their world view onto others through the use of violence/coercion create a worse state of being for everyone involved, including themselves.

Just step back and view our society as a space alien might view it. If you’ve never run into human civilization before, what’s the first thing to jump out at you? The entire planet is covered with these entirely arbitrary violent ruling classes of humans who call themselves states. They draw imaginary lines on land, and then rob the people who happen to be living in the territories that they control. And they do it all while claiming it's for their citizens own good! I’d wager any intergalactic space-faring race would be mortified.

It takes an incredible lack of empathy to believe that the use of coercion against people who have harmed no one, people who have threatened no one, people who have damaged no property and people who have stolen no property can lead to superior states of being. From my perspective, America has some real problems with materialism, morality and vainglory. What I find humorous about this, is that everyone thinks it’s the other side that has the “problems.”

People in our modern culture innately believe they are entitled to impose their moral view of the world on to everyone else around them. ”I will MAKE you support healthcare for the elderly!”, ”I will FORCE you to pay for a war against drug users!”, “I will IMPOSE my rules about how and where you can run your business!” Such thought patterns are typically described by psychologists as being sociopathic. The DSM-IV-TR definition of sociopathy fits these beliefs quite nicely, “…a pervasive pattern of disregard for, and violation of, the rights of others that begins in childhood or early adolescence and continues into adulthood.”

I like Jefferson’s definition of a right, ”Of liberty I would say that, in the whole plenitude of its extent, it is unobstructed action according to our will. But rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add ‘within the limits of the law,’ because law is often but the tyrant’s will, and always so when it violates the right of an individual.” Jefferson saw “rights” as being freedoms of action. We have a “right” to do whatever we want, as long as whatever it is we are doing isn’t hurting anyone else or damaging their property. This is the essence of voluntarism, and it is at the core of human prosperity.
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Michael Suede runs the website LibertarianNews.org.