I hate the whole “voluntary exchange” thing. Like really, taxes are the only example of a non voluntary exchange? I can think of at least one more 🤔 ::: spoiler spoiler
Like maybe you’re dying of thirst in the desert.
:::
It works okay for non essentials, but with how many essentials people need, it breaks down so quickly. Rent, transportation, food, healthcare, utilities, you just have no choice on.
if you charged too much for water while I was dying in the desert, I would simply save my dollars in an interest bearing account and die from dehydration. in enough time, the trust of my dessicated husk would be able to buy your water factory and send private security forces to decapitate you.
Core to libertarianism is the idea that consent is a sort of ritual, rather than a real concept with any depth. A contract formally stating agreement is all that’s required to authorize anything in their minds, regardless of the terms or whether it was coerced through unequal power or under the threat of violence or death. And once that formal ritual of agreement is made, they believe it’s irrevocable as well.
It’s at once cynically predatory and completely idealistic to an absolutely childish degree. There’s a reason libertarianism and fascism are right beside each other, differentiated only by whether the libertine treat lad has been scratched yet or not.
And once that formal ritual of agreement is made, they believe it’s irrevocable as well.
Which is hilarious because the businesses they fetishize engage in strategic defaults on debts all the time.
There’s a reason libertarianism and fascism are right beside each other, differentiated only by whether the libertine treat lad has been scratched yet or not.
It’s the same end goal, a society where democracy has been subjugated out of existence and the state has been subsumed to the private sector. The former just thinks it can be done without politics while the latter isn’t afraid to get its hands dirty.
This puts a lot of libertarian stuff I never understood into perspective. There’s that really terrible book The God of the Machine that used to be a libertarian Bible. I don’t remember much, but I recall an example of the first individualists were Christians who didn’t consent to Roman law. I never quite got how that was supposed to be libertarian, but now I get it.
It’s all magic words to them. “I do not consent” is a magic phrase that’s supposed to confer cosmic power onto them. If you don’t respect the words, then you’ve committed an act of aggression regardless of the context of the situation. This explains sovereign citizens too.
Core to libertarianism is the idea that consent is a sort of ritual, rather than a real concept with any depth. A contract formally stating agreement is all that’s required to authorize anything in their minds, regardless of the terms or whether it was coerced through unequal power or under the threat of violence or death. And once that formal ritual of agreement is made, they believe it’s irrevocable as well.
I hate the whole “voluntary exchange” thing. Like really, taxes are the only example of a non voluntary exchange? I can think of at least one more 🤔 ::: spoiler spoiler Like maybe you’re dying of thirst in the desert. :::
It works okay for non essentials, but with how many essentials people need, it breaks down so quickly. Rent, transportation, food, healthcare, utilities, you just have no choice on.
https://existentialcomics.com/philosopher/Murray_Rothbard
Existential comics covers this one.
First time seeing that, loved the last panel
if you charged too much for water while I was dying in the desert, I would simply save my dollars in an interest bearing account and die from dehydration. in enough time, the trust of my dessicated husk would be able to buy your water factory and send private security forces to decapitate you.
Once you’ve accumulated enough IOUs you can redeem them for a capitalists head at the ticket exchange.
This is the only ethical consumption under capitalism
Core to libertarianism is the idea that consent is a sort of ritual, rather than a real concept with any depth. A contract formally stating agreement is all that’s required to authorize anything in their minds, regardless of the terms or whether it was coerced through unequal power or under the threat of violence or death. And once that formal ritual of agreement is made, they believe it’s irrevocable as well.
It’s at once cynically predatory and completely idealistic to an absolutely childish degree. There’s a reason libertarianism and fascism are right beside each other, differentiated only by whether the libertine treat lad has been scratched yet or not.
The constitution? It’s bound to our lives with cosmic forces beyond our understanding.
Which is hilarious because the businesses they fetishize engage in strategic defaults on debts all the time.
It’s the same end goal, a society where democracy has been subjugated out of existence and the state has been subsumed to the private sector. The former just thinks it can be done without politics while the latter isn’t afraid to get its hands dirty.
This puts a lot of libertarian stuff I never understood into perspective. There’s that really terrible book The God of the Machine that used to be a libertarian Bible. I don’t remember much, but I recall an example of the first individualists were Christians who didn’t consent to Roman law. I never quite got how that was supposed to be libertarian, but now I get it.
It’s all magic words to them. “I do not consent” is a magic phrase that’s supposed to confer cosmic power onto them. If you don’t respect the words, then you’ve committed an act of aggression regardless of the context of the situation. This explains sovereign citizens too.
Cargo cult social relations.
A guy came to my front door and said “I have the paper that says I own this house! Give me money!”
And I said, “Are you the government?”
And he said, “No.”
So I said, “That’s fine, here is the money.”
But then another guy came by and said the same thing, and I was, like “Where does the paper that says you own the thing even come from?”
And, ladies and gentlemen, you are not even going to believe the answer.
voluntary exchange is when the government goons will kill you over food