Article by Cal Nogov on July 29, 2016
I read a rant from a handicapped man the other day about anarcho-capitalism. He was ranting against the idea that private charity would take care of poor and disadvantaged people like himself. That this, uncertainty, was unacceptable. He further ranted about how he couldn’t get a job because people discriminated against him because of his disability even though it’s against the law to do so and it would be worse without government.
So now I’ve got to be the dick to pick on the handicapped guy and tell him some harsh realities.
I’m not going to leave your rant unchallenged just because you’re handicapped.
It is not the goal of anarcho-capitalism to make sure everyone is taken care of. The goal of anarcho-capitalism is freedom. Freedom is not a means to an end such as taking care of the poor or even general prosperity. Freedom itself is the ends. After that, the chips fall where they may.
Anarcho-capitalists often speak of how charity will take care of people because of our study of economics and history. We see how free markets and free people are more prosperous. And that prosperous people are generous. Once people’s basic needs are met and they become more prosperous they tend to help people around them. Is this a guarantee that everyone will be taken care of? No. It’s only more likely than the empty promises of government.
The “social safety net” and “the welfare state” are empty promises. The bigger governments grow the worse off are the citizens. The U.S. Government just keeps growing and growing. I don’t know if you’ve taken a look around lately, but there are a lot of homeless people and beggars around. A lot of general poverty. U.S. cities like Detroit who had huge overbearing governments and welfare state policies now look like bombed out war zones. We see this in other countries as well. The bigger the government the worse off the people. So we know this is the root cause.
Beyond the historical and observational realities, let me paint you a picture of what you sound like when you make these kind of arguments.
// It’s 1830 and I’m a white man with three young daughters who are handicapped. I also own ten nigger slaves. If it wasn’t for my slaves I just don’t know if my daughters can be taken care of. I just don’t know if I can take care of them myself or if anyone else would help me. Therefore I’m going to justify enslaving and owning these people to be certain my daughters are taken care of. //
Yes I’m comparing government to slavery, and yes this is what you sound like. The governments of the world have the entire world enslaved. All governments write legislation for their citizens to obey. I’m not talking about laws against theft and violence. I’m talking about arbitrary rule making by politicians. If you break one of these rules, the government sends its enforcers, the police, to come and administer punishment (assault, kidnapping, jail, murder). All governments also impose taxes on their citizens. Taxes are the taking of property by force, the things I personally have worked for. Just like the slave master who forces his slaves to work for the master’s benefit. Fail to pay this extortion and here come the police goon squad to administer punishment.
This is the sorry state of humanity today. Some governments are nicer to their citizens than others. This is like saying some slave masters are nicer to their slaves. Whether a government is nice or wicked to its citizens makes no difference. It’s still slavery and slavery is evil.
There is goodness in the world. The leading edge of that goodness is the anarcho-capitalist voluntaryists trying to slice through the evil that has encompassed the planet.
About your not being able to get a job. Don’t you realize it is the government that is the biggest obstacle. All the governments regulations and taxes about employing people makes it very difficult for employers to hire. Employers are afraid to get sued. They’re afraid they can’t get rid of problem employees. Anti-discrimination legislation and similar are an attempt to compensate for the problems they’ve already caused with previous legislation. Government’s involvement into employment is a tangled web of disastrous policy on top of disastrous policy.
Regarding your disability. Do you think you have a monopoly on tragedy? I’ve had a ton of tragedy in my life. Everyone reading this has had tragedy in their life. Everybody on the planet has tragedy in their life. Some more, some less. That is the nature of life. This is why god is so popular. The idea of god comforts people. It makes them feel like there is meaning to their lives. That the tragedy of this life has some greater purpose. I’m not suggesting that you “find god”. I’m an atheist. I find meaning in life by building and creating things and being a freedom activist. These are my higher purposes.
Maybe the tragedy in your life is worse than mine. Maybe it isn’t. Should I feel guilty if it is? I won’t. Your solution is to enslave people to alleviate your tragedy, to make other people’s life more tragic so that your life might be less tragic. This is the path of villainy. My solution is to try to free people.
You can contemplate what I’ve said here or you can dismiss me as a dick that says mean things. The latter is what the general peasantry does to ease their consciences and avoid thinking any uncomfortable thoughts.