Laissez Faire Capitalism Does not Limit

Contributing Writer   

     Disclaimer, Far smarter people than I have contributed more to this advocation; Ayn Rand, F.A. Hayek, Milton Friedman, Joseph Keith, Robert Nozick, etc. etc. etc. I don't aim to give some shocking new revelation as of now. I just hope to inform and perhaps persuade people that laissez faire capitalism is the only justifiable state. Government is only justified in acting when protecting the natural rights of others. More specifically; from serious and direct force, fraud and infringement of natural rights.

   Why would I say this? One argument is that it is the only alternative. Any other system cannot be justified. A man is a sovereign being. No human has a claim on a man after he is an adult. If no man has a claim on him, or can justify a claim on his life, then neither can the state. Therefore his rights are so extensive and far reaching the question is whether or not the state can do anything at all. Instead of asking what is the best method of restricting man, we should ask whether or not a man can be restricted.

   You see, I have no authority or justification on which I can claim a right or entitlement to anything of anyone. As has been thoroughly investigated in the theory of the state of nature, we see each human has natural rights to life, liberty and property. As a Christian I believe the right to life comes from God's purpose for us to live. Outside of metaphysics, I believe a right to life is still justified. A man has the right to live. Why? Because an individual is his own person and shares it with no one. Therefore he has the full resources of his body, mind and soul.

   Since I am my own person, with a natural right to live, I have the right to actions that preserve my life. These actions are almost limitless. I can act in any manner that does not infringe upon the same natural rights of any man. If my actions do not keep someone from theirs, I am at liberty to act.

   If the state is made of individuals, then the state has also no authority or justification to act unless it protects from these infringements on the natural rights of others. Hence, the reason we even agree to form a state. The greatest reason we formed a state, was to protect these very rights.

Recall the purpose of our Constitution:

• to establish Justice,
• insure domestic Tranquility,
• provide for the common defense,
• promote the general Welfare,
• and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.

   Only in a laissez faire society can these things be done without interfering with the rights of man. In a system which maintains an income tax, the rights of man are trampled on. In a system that forces a man to use the products of his labor to aid another human being, the rights of man are trampled upon. In a system where a man is told how much he must pay another, the rights of man are a joke. In a system where a man is kept from buying medicine from another country, the rights of man are laughed at. In a system where a man is forced to give his earnings to aid in another's education, the rights of man are brutalized. And this is the system we live in. Where equality as been elevated above liberty. I plead for the day man has his rights in full. Would to God,  Americans would open their eyes and see the error of our ways.

   In a laissez faire capitalist society, man is free. He is free to engage in voluntary exchange for mutual benefit without fear of having any profit from said transaction devoured by others. He is free to work all 8 hours for the benefit of his family and not the displaced and foreign values of others. He is free to choose to or not to participate in any activity he so desire. He is free to own anything he will so long as it is justly acquired. He is free to sell, produce, exchange, earn, give, keep, value, cherish, endeavor, prolong, endear, save, create, invent, share, invest and live to his full rationale intent. And the only time he may be stopped is if he commits the transgression of infringing upon the same rights of others.

   Yet in any other system a man may not keep what he earns. Our current system turns a man into a slave by coercing him to work hours of his day for others. This is the textbook definition of slave labor. The taxes a man pays on his income go to other people, ideas, values, institutions that are in direct violation of his own personhood in some cases. Most of this forced payment is not for defense and protection purposes. This man, who is forced to pay, has been made a slave. He can't give what he earns. He can't invent what he will. He can't acquire what he will. He can't produce what he will. He can't give what he will. We tax his earnings, limit his givings, license his endeavors, divide his savings, procure his property, restrict his values and so on.

   This system can't be justified. This system is evil. This system is repugnant to the individual.

   Laissez Faire Capitalism does not limit man so. It does not take from him anything he has justly acquired. Does not take from his earnings. Does not limit his production. Does not restrict his purchases or keep him from his savings. It increases choice, discretion, voluntary action, peace, stability, equity and above all liberty.

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