Hello. My name is Alex Libman. I am a resident of Tent City.
I am here today to tell everyone about a gang problem that we have at Tent City. There is just one gang, but they are armed and dangerous, and they have a total hegemony of power over Tent City. This gang is harassing all residents of Tent City, and many other people who live in Lakewood Township.
I've lived in Tent City since March 1st of this year, and I personally have not experienced any acts of theft or violence, except for the theft and violence that is routinely perpetrated by this gang. Whenever I am fortunate enough to find some work, like loading and unloading trucks at the Lakewood Industrial Park, this gang demands a fraction of my paycheck as protection money. Whenever I go out to buy something, this gang demands payment as well. For example, if I was to buy a pack of cigarettes, this gang wound demand tribute of at least 3 dollars.
The people involved in this gang seem to identify themselves by wearing certain gang colors. The enforcers of this gang wear blue, and have shiny pieces of gang jewelry pinned to their chests. Persons wearing those gang colors routinely harass residents of Tent City, and sometimes abduct individuals who haven't done anybody any harm and put them in a cage. They also routinely harass the supporters of Tent City, by preventing them from driving into Tent City to drop off donations, and putting their names on some sort of a vindictive "list".
In another example of their harassment, the enforcers of this gang routinely bully Lakewood residents who are trying to peacefully solicit a ride from a friendly stranger driving past them. On this gang's turf, hitchhiking seems to be a protected privilege.
This gang believes that Tent City belongs to them. Such claims are an insult to the rational principle of Property Rights, as understood by philosophers from Aristotle to Thomas Aquinas to John Locke to Thomas Jefferson to Ayn Rand; and economists like Bastiat, Mises, Hayek, and Friedman. To the best of my knowledge, this gang has no legitimate rational argument to the land upon which Tent City is situated. They didn't originally homestead this land from the wilderness by bringing it into the human economy, nor did they buy it from a legitimate owner through a voluntary sale of property. They didn't build Tent City - it was built by various homeless individuals and their supporters, over the course of approximately seven years, under the undisputed leadership of Minister Steve Brigham and the Lakewood Outreach Ministry Church. All of the gang's claims are based on nothing but violent force.
Like any other gang or mafia organization of sufficient size, they do provide some protection and other services on their turf. For example, they maintain a coercive monopoly over Waste Management, and some other services used by Tent City. They often use this monopoly as leverage, providing or denying services however they see fit. In absence of this monopoly, Tent City, with the help of its supporters, could have obtained those services from another agency - one that is operating voluntarily in a competitive free market, and is thereby incentivized to provide a better quality of service more efficiently.
This gang does many things for many people, but everything that it does is ultimately grounded in violence and theft. When it robs Peter to pay Paul, both of them are victimized and corrupted by the power that this gang obtains in the process. This gang's ultimate interest isn't in helping Paul, but in strengthening its own power, for which end it can reward its friends and punish its enemies. This gang's actions in the name of the poor create a culture of resentment and complacency, displacing a culture of voluntary charity and genuine interpersonal compassion.
The gang of which I speak is obviously "government" - at least that is the name by which it calls itself.
Nationwide, this gang steals-and-spends an average of about $62,000 dollars a year for every family that is below the "poverty line". $62,000 is about 150% of the median household income in Lakewood Township, and almost 4 times its per-capita GDP. Where does this money go? The residents of Tent City are some of the poorest people in America, but I don't know any household in Tent City that is getting anything anywhere close to $62,000 a year! (LOL!)
But I am NOT out to petition that this gang steal more on my behalf, nor am I asking for a greater share of the loot. I am not accepting anything from this gang, if I can avoid it. My only demand from them is that they stop stealing in my name - and leave me alone!
I cannot speak for other residents of Tent City, but more and more people are starting to realize every day that the Welfare State is a racket that only disempowers the poor. It reduces them to a political slogan, in whose name Trillions of dollars are stolen and misappropriated year after year!
Tent City is living proof that more can be accomplished with a voluntary nickel than with a dollar re-appropriated by this gang! If this gang gives you free crutches, it first breaks your legs!
I am not here to accuse any specific individuals or "departments", but the very idea of what "government" represents - a monopoly on force. A society that is civilized should have no need of violence, except in self-defense. A society that is rational should have no authority except for the recognition of empirically-verifiable facts. All (sane, adult) human beings should be equal in their negative Rights! All fundamental laws that govern a civilized society should be grounded in Reason, and not the whims of any person, no matter how popular or charismatic, claiming any "divine right" to tax or legislate another!
I realize that we do not live a rational society yet, and even under the best circumstances this transition would require decades, but there are many things that rational individuals can do, even today. No matter how entrenched and powerful this gang may be, each individual is still free and responsible for his or her own actions. Every individual has a choice of whether they contribute to the aggression that is routinely initiated against Tent City and its residents and supporters. Every individual has the choice - if not to help Tent City, then to simply leave Tent City alone.
Thank you for listening.
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