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Why The Idea of Government Is Overrated

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On September 11th, 2001, the government failed in it’s one primary job… to keep it’s citizens safe. Then, it used it’s massive failure as justification to grow it’s budget, it’s military, it’s surveillance systems and it’s desire to profit from war. 20 years later, almost to the day, the President of the United States announced his intentions to use the tools and force of this expanded government on millions of peaceful, non-aggressive citizens to force them to receive a vaccine. With such a blatant attempt to trample upon individual rights, it is time to ask: Do we even really need government in the first place? Can a society have law without a government?

Economist Bruce L Benson asked this question in his book “The Enterprise of Law: Justice Without the State.” Others, including Lysander Spooner, Murray Rothbard, and Benjamin Tucker have all explored the concept to one degree or another. Believe it or not, most of the rules we choose to follow in our day to day lives are not rules generated by the state. Rules and laws are simply a matter of behaving in ways that people agree upon. They can come from many places other than the government. Contracts, mutual insurance arrangements, individuals voluntarily interacting, all of these developed through various communities over time. We may also call them norms or customs. The point is that they come from many places, not just the government.

The customs that individuals adopt pre-date authoritarian government rule. We can go back in history and find examples in tribal societies where things were just “how things were done” with no central authority figure mandating the behavior. People somehow got along, they interacted, they traded. It was voluntary. We see a small example of this in modern everyday behavior. People wait in line at the grocery store. They don’t cut in front of other people, if they do it is very rare, they get dirty looks, and other people in the line might speak up and shame the person. The simple peer pressure of others enforces a “law” that says “don’t cut in line.” All of this happens without the state. Without the use of force. Another example happens every time people voluntarily join into a pick-up game of basketball. Certain rules (laws) are agreed upon. “Call your own fouls, are we playing half court or full court? Make it take it…” If the rules are not followed, the game breaks down, does not become as enjoyable for everyone, and perhaps people choose to go play on another court.

How might this work in application to much more serious issues, such as theft , or even murder? How can these much more serious crimes be deterred without the state? For an answer we must go back in history to a time before the law of Kings, or to what Benson has referred to as “Royal Law.” Prior to Royal law there were mutually agreed upon customs. One such custom was the idea that every free individual had what was considered a “piece.” This meant that the individual had property rights. The individual would have rights to things like their homes, their farmland, their livestock, and other belongings. The custom and the expectation was that everyone recognized one another’s property and respected each other’s individual rights to the ownership of the property.

Just as in today’s day and age of police state surveillance, there were people back then who did not respect these customs or “laws.” Benson explains that these situations were dealt with by communities of free men who formed what can best be described as mutual insurance arrangements. They were called the “tithing” or the “hundred,” essentially they were agreements to cooperate with regards to certain issues. If someone’s cow strayed off their land, the individual could call upon his neighbors, the “tithing” to help him find it. If he was robbed, he could call on his neighbors to pursue the robber. Those in the tithing had agreed upon obligations such as maintaining roads and pathways in the community. This system relied on frequent interactions and reciprocity by all in the community.

If there was a dispute as to whether or not they had captured the right criminal, there was a court system of sorts in those days. The court was not backed up by a King or any government, the court system worked at the “hundred” level. It was made up of representatives of each tithing and they would act as judge and jury. If the offender was found guilty, they might be made to pay restitution. If the offender was unable to make restitution, the tithing would pay it for them and then the offender would be in debt to his tithing (friends and neighbors).

If the individual did not accept the court’s judgement, he would be considered an “outlaw” and would no longer be protected by his community. All of his property would be free game to anyone who wanted it. When you stop to think about it, this isn’t too different from the RICO and asset seizure practices of today’s law enforcement. But I digress.

This system, also referred to as “the man price system” was common practice in most communities. Participants included the common man, the wealthy, and even the poorest people of society. Eventually Kings arose in England. Their origin was not born of a need to make and enforce laws, but they arose for the purposes of fighting wars .Kings started out as warlords and they would eventually claim divine right or some other mandate that empowered them to lead armies. Since wars cost money, the Kings looked for ways to fund their armies. This evolved into restitution for a crime being rendered to the KIng (government) rather than to the victim. This is why today, if a drunk driver hits your car, the drunk driver pays any fines (restitution) to the government and not you. You have to rely on insurance.

Eventually the King’s system of fines resulted in citizens being seen as sources of revenue and this led to a rise in harassment by law enforcement and a reduction in individual freedoms. Over time the system of restitution broke down and was replaced with the rise of the prison system. First prisoners were sent to colonies, such as America and mainly Australia, and eventually they were put in prisons. All of this at a greater cost to the taxpayer as is the case in our modern times.

As our country increasingly becomes a totalitarian police state in service of the prison industry, it might be time for an exploration of restitution practices, private mediation, and other voluntary negotiations. For example, if a security camera in front of my house catches my neighbor’s teenage son smashing my windshield. It is entirely possible that upon showing this evidence to my neighbor, he offers to compensate me for the damage times two if I agree not to press charges. Things like this happen all of the time, but should probably happen more often. What if this type of an approach could be formalized and more frequent? Perhaps America would not have the highest per capita incarceration rate in the world.

The state can only acquire income through the use of force and physical coercion through taxation and it has a monopoly on the defense of individual rights (the military, police, and the courts). As an attractive alternative, private, non-state entities can provide for the protection of individual rights, History has shown that asking the state to secure individual rights is akin to asking the fox to guard the hen house. One can be opposed to the state without being opposed to police protection, courts, the printing of money, mail delivery, and roads and highways. One can oppose all forms of physical coercion, threats, aggression, and the use of force against others and still advocate for the same services the government has a monopoly over. These services can be provided more efficiently through voluntary cooperation and contract by free people operating in a free market.

A system of voluntary exchange to replace the current system of government backed monopolistic force would not necessarily be a utopia. Like anything else it would have its drawbacks and challenges, but participation in such a system would not be the result of submission at the point of a government gun. The rise of private motor vehicle registration services as an alternative to visiting the Department of Motor Vehicles is one small example, dealing with the former is a much more friendly and efficient experience than dealing with the latter. Finally, take the past 20 years as an example. In the name of “Keeping us safe” and “defending our liberties” the government has sent us off to fight in unending foreign wars to no avail, spied on us and invaded our privacy, and now they are forcing us to be injected with a strange genetic therapy. At this point, would exploring an alternative anchored in peace and non-aggression be such a bad idea?

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Defund the US-Hating United Nations

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When I was a boy, we worshipped the United Nations. I remember taking the subway with my fourth-grade class from Brooklyn into Manhattan, where we observed the countries of the world as they carried out the lofty founding purpose of the UN: to maintain peace and foster cooperation between nations. My classmates and I admired the lucky bureaucrats who worked in the beautiful glass building on the East River.

Segue to 2023: the UN has betrayed its original goals. In reaction, the US should defund the UN and kick them out of town. Let them set up shop in Teheran and see how they like it. There are many reasons in support of what I am suggesting, but for now let’s stick to the two biggies: (1) The UN has become a pawn of Islamic anti-Western hatred; and (2) Self-serving UN bureaucrats are committed to a totalitarian globalist agenda that is diametrically opposed to US interests. Oh, I forgot a third reason: We can use the money.

Muslim states account for 18 of the 47 seats on the UN Human Rights Council. This Muslim bloc has been the driving force, says cnsnews.com, behind two key items on the Council’s agenda: the campaign for Islamic anti-blasphemy laws and condemnations of Israel. Now it seems they have the support of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. Pamela Geller, author of Stop the Islamization of America, said Guterres “is a tool of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, which has been running a years-long campaign against freedom of speech at the UN.”

Guterres has cited “Islamophobia” as the reason for increasing terrorism around the world. “One of the things that fuel terrorism,” said Guterres, “is the expression in some parts of the world of Islamophobic feelings and Islamophobic policies and Islamophobic hate speeches.” WorldNetDaily argued that, “Guterres just gave a free pass to Islamic extremists to commit acts of terror throughout the world.” It’s a lot like blaming the victim, says Phillip Haney, author of See Something Say Nothing. “He’s giving them an out. If they’re not required to take any responsibility for their terrorism and can simply blame the Islamophobic Western world,” says Haney, “it’s only going to get worse.”

John Guandolo, a former FBI counter-terrorism expert, said Islamophobia is the term Muslim leaders use to identify people who are guilty of the Islamic blasphemy laws. “This gives us the cherry on top of the argument for shutting down the United Nations and sending them back to their respective countries,” Guandolo said. “It is an anti-American organization which is littered with spies and haters of liberty and justice.”

“Guterres is doing the bidding of Islamic jihadists and is advancing Islamic conquest by silencing truthful speech about Islam,” former Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann told WND. “No other religion enjoys such protection from criticism,” Bachmann said. “Ironically, no other religion in current times has advanced more violence, carnage and bloodshed than Islam and yet Islam’s gatekeepers demand their religion not be criticized. We need to recognize this is nothing more than a well-designed strategy to achieve Islamic conquest and the UN Secretary General is now the jihadist’s advocate.”

The other reason to dump the UN is the globalist agenda adopted by the left-wing bureaucrats on the banks of the East River. “The tin pot dictators at the UN are only interested in redistribution of wealth, population control, the buildup of megacities, and global governance under the UN aegis,” says canadafreepress.com. UN globalists are pushing for open borders, penalties to stop global warming, and the destruction of capitalism.

The hysteria about global warming, said Senator James Inhofe, has been fueled by the UN’s desire for global control. Global climate change policies, said Inhofe, would give the UN its own funding source and make it unaccountable to member nations. “The climate scare is not driven by climate scientists,” agreed British political commentator Christopher Monckton. “It’s not driven by any adverse circumstances in the world’s weather. It is driven by a totalitarian political ideology.” This ideology, said Monckton, is fostered by the unelected bureaucrats at the UN and EU. Ottmar Edenhofer, German economist and UN official, admitted that global warming is a fiction created to camouflage the real intent of the UN—to redistribute the world’s resources under the control of a totalitarian world government.

“One has to free oneself from the illusion that international climate policy is environmental policy,” argues Edenhofer. “Climate policy has almost nothing to do anymore with environmental protection. The next world climate summit is actually an economy summit during which the distribution of the world’s resources will be negotiated.”

Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of the UN’s Framework Convention on Climate Change and the driving force behind the 2015 Paris Agreement, admitted that the goal of environmental activists is not to save the world from ecological calamity but to destroy capitalism. As reported in Investor’s Business Daily, Figueres said, “This is the first time in the history of mankind that we are setting ourselves the task of intentionally, within a defined period of time, to change the economic development model that has been reigning for at least 150 years, since the Industrial Revolution.” In case you don’t understand what that means, UN bureaucrats—under the guise of responding to climate change—want to take what you have and give it to people in the less developed parts of the world.

 

Fox News reports that the US contributes approximately $8 billion per year to the United Nations and its affiliated organizations. Look at what we are getting in return—not a very good deal. Imagine how we could put that money to better use. Build a wall? End poverty? Rebuild the military? Instead of doing what its founders intended, the UN has turned into an attack dog against the US and its ally, Israel. Let’s get rid of it.

 

Ed Brodow (www.edbrodowpolitics.com) is a conservative political commentator and author of ten books including the No. 1 Amazon best seller, THE WAR ON WHITES: How Hating White People Became the New National Sport.

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Military

Teaching Terrorists Everywhere that Taking Hostages Works

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Are you a conservative business person? Then check out the Red Referral Network and partner with Dinesh D’Souza by clicking the banner below: There was a time that they didn’t negotiate with kidnappers or terrorists. But obviously, things have changed, and, as one might expect, hostage taking has increased. Why? Because it works. It results in the release of convicted terrorists in custody and gets hours of media coverage for their cause.

Terrorists understand the West. Founded on Judeo-Christian values, the West puts a premium on each human life. Our respect for the individual is one of our strengths, but it clearly can cost us in facing terrorists. One cannot fault the families of anyone held hostage for fighting for their release and pleading and praying for their safe return. In the same situation, would not most of us do the same? Terrorists know that.

With the slow and steady drip of more hostages being released every day, the ceasefire continues to be extended and Israel remains constrained from their goal of eliminating Hamas from Gaza. With each passing day Israel is forced to face more restrictions in an effort to protect the innocent civilians. They are forced to deal with Hamas, give them supplies, and release dangerous captives back into Gaza.

As Hamas releases captives and the media covers the hostages’ heartwarming return home, Hamas is given the opportunity to present themselves as the “good guys,” releasing women and children to the appreciative eyes of the world. They inflate the numbers of Palestinian women and children already killed in Israel’s response. Hamas is finding that the repeated release will begin to soften the world’s view of their October 7th savagery,

While Israel is being forced to wait and watch the daily trickle of hostages being returned, they know full well that the supplies they’re bringing to Hamas will make their job to eliminate them more difficult. Weapons are being moved, fortifications are strengthened, forces are repositioned, and traps are being put in place to kill Israeli soldiers. Every day they delay their assault, their job is becoming more difficult.

The IDF and Israeli leaders are saying the right things. Getting the hostages returned is a welcome result. They know that having to release them by force would have put far more hostages and soldiers in danger. No doubt, many of the Israeli hostages now free might very well have died in the efforts to free them by force. Good has come, but at what cost to their ultimate aim?

What is rewarded gets replicated. In 2011, the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas, also known in Arabic as Wafa al-Ahrar, “Faithful to the Free,” resulted in the release of the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in exchange for 1,027 Hamas prisoners held by Israel. It took the release of a thousand terrorists to get one captured soldier. That was a deal Hamas loved. As Israel negotiates now, how many convicted terrorists will be returned to Gaza to release the remaining hostages held captive? Once again, taking hostages is paying off in the number of Hamas terrorists freed.

As the ceasefire is extended and only a few hostages are released per day, the exchange could easily take weeks. Hamas is counting on the international press and wavering Western allies to keep up the pressure on Israel. What they want is a permanent ceasefire, and if Israel caves in and agrees to this, the entire war will have been for nothing. Hamas will remain in power in Gaza, and Israel will be left with a military failure and the assurance that more attacks will continue.

Israel has promised to resume their goal of eliminating Hamas from Gaza once the hostage negotiations have been completed. But the anti-Israel media will be ready to savage Israel for even considering to resume the assault.

But resume they must! Mosab Hassan Yousef, son of a founding member of Hamas who went undercover as a spy for Israel, provides a warning the West should take to heart: “The danger is if Israel fails in their war in Gaza, which is a brutal war … it will inspire … savages [who will] blackmail superpowers and bring democracies to their knees. If Israel fails in Gaza, all will be next.”

Thankfully, Israel is used to being hated. They know what it is to go it alone if necessary. Netanyahu has promised to resume the assault and to take out Hamas leaders living in presumed safety abroad. Many of the Hamas fighters released in the hostage exchange will no doubt join the fight against Israel. Hopefully, many of them will die in their futile defense.

Terrorism must not win the day. Israel would be wise to put a time limit on when all hostages must be released. Provide a safe page for innocents until that deadline is reached. Some remaining hostages may die, but what assurance does Israel have that some hostages are not already dead. Israel must finish the job or an emboldened Hamas will be free to repeat their savage attacks. Evil must be defeated. God willing, it will be.
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