The Big Debate: Voluntaryism vs. Constitutional Republicanism – Etienne vs. Sam Bushman

Is “government” moral? Can voluntaryism protect life, liberty and property vs. other organized crime “governments”?

At FreedomFest in Memphis, TN, I had the opportunity to debate syndicated radio talk show host Sam Bushman on Voluntaryism Vs. Constitutional Republicanism.

I am surprised at how infrequently I get to debate this issue, and you can understand why by how fast I have Sam on the ropes on the issue of the immorality and illegitimacy of “government.”

The dirty little secret of “government” is that there is no legitimate, logical, moral way to have a “government.” Period. There is simply no way for one group of men to legitimately and logically acquire rights that others don’t have and morally get the ability to extort money and make up rules for others. It has been the biggest scam of all time!

Sam is forced to concede that his pseudo- religious belief in having a “government” is going to require stealing from others. Sam is forced to make the same collectivist argument that communists make: Sam believes that having a “government” is so important to preserving greater liberty that he is OK with stealing from others and using violence against them.

Sam wants an omelet and is quite willing to break a few eggs.

Pro-Tip: If your ideas for organizing society require stealing from others or forcing peaceful people to do things against their will at the point of a gun, then that is how you know they are bad ideas.

One of Sam’s arguments is that anarchy (No Rulers) has not survived long, and it doesn’t exist today, so we must force everyone into subjugation under a “government” or another “government” will come along and force us into subjugation under it and the new “government” will be more tyrannical than the “government” that is running us now.

Here is why he is wrong:

1. Anarchy (REAL Freedom) is the default position. Man is born free, but everywhere we are in chains. Anarchy isn’t something that we should “try”… “Government” is the experiment that has failed! The Consitution hasn’t been able to limit government at all. It has failed to protect even the basic natural law rights specified in the Bill of Rights. We must abandon “government” and have a peaceful and orderly transition back to free markets and REAL freedom!
2. There have been many historical examples where civilizations flourished without a “government.” The best example is the Irish, who flourished for, according to Muray Rothbard, over 1,000 years (from ~600AD until their invasion by the English in 1650 AD), but Mark Stoval estimates that the period that the Irish flourished without “government” might be as long a 9,000 years because he sees no evidence that the Irish had any government before 600AD. So civilization without “government” is possible.

3. The success of “government” (large-scale organized crime) in the 20th/21st century in conquering and subjugating weaker states doesn’t mean that we should aspire to “government.” The solution to stopping larger, more efficient crime syndicates is to Expose the illegitimacy and criminality of “government” to the cannon fodder and tax-slaves of the Chinese and the Russians. – The Chinese and Russians don’t want to get suckered into a system that is against their interests any more than we do. My prediction: Once the scam of “government” is exposed widely in the West to where a large-scale “Laboratory-of-Liberty” (New Hampshire?) develops and proves that you can have harmony and prosperity without “government,” that knowledge is going to spread rapidly, and you will see the Chinese, Russians, English, Israelis and others abandon their “governments” as well… because no one likes to get chumped… and the magicians can only pull off their tricks until the majority of the audience figures out the “big game!”

Voluntaryism – The Only Logical & Moral Choice for Self-Organizing Societies!

I like to call Voluntaryism the only “ISM” that is fair for everyone. No one gets the “ring of power” because there isn’t a ring of power! No one has rights that others don’t. No one is exempt from morality… Not even “government”! The only political option that keeps you on the right side of the 10 Commandments, Natural Law, The Golden Rule, Karma and the Good Lord!

About the Author:

Etienne de la Boetie2 is the founder of the Art of Liberty Foundation and the author of “Government” – The Biggest Scam in History, that is exposing the illegitimacy and criminality of “Government” while promoting solutions like the Free State Project, among others featured in the book.  He was signer #50 in the Free State Project and has been one of the effort’s most prolific representatives promoting the project on blogs, vlogs, podcasts, and radio shows worldwide.

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