Posts by David Blizzard

What About The Roads?

Hearing “What about the roads?” is like nails on a chalk board to most anarchists. Almost every statist and many newcomers to voluntaryism ask this question, and rightfully so, but it just seems to go on and on regardless of how well it is answered. Some of the best replies have been repeated and ignored to the point of exhaustion. I want to address this from another perspective. I ask you this, “Why are we still hooked on cars, petroleum, trucking, and war over oil?”

Because of “THE ROADS”.

Whenever I think of the interstate highways in America, I have to wonder how advanced and convenient our lives could have been if we didn’t have this massive undertaking by the government to build roads. Everywhere. I think about what Walt Disney did in Orlando, Florida in 1971.

Imagine if 3 developers in West Palm Beach each built a 5,000 unit retirement community and there were not already government owned roads that provided access to shopping. How would this be resolved? I am not a brilliant entrepreneur and I can imagine a number of things that might happen. These 3 developers might collaborate with a shopping mall that has everything from furniture to groceries. They might develop a monorail system (or something even better) that makes continuous trips in a circular pattern to all 4 locations. Think about it; why would a retired person or couple want to live in a community that didn’t offer this service? They would never have to worry about their ability to drive, owning a car, parking a car, auto maintenance, insurance, fuel costs, etc.

Why would there be collaboration on the monorail and possibly no fee to ride? For the developers this seems like a no brainer. The town homes or condos become more valuable because of this service. For the shopping mall/plaza, which would be a new breed of shopping, you could increase rent to store owners because who doesn’t want a monopoly on 20k+ new customers, immediately?

From here I see a build out where the shopping plaza becomes a hub to other monorail and transportation systems. Each new connection brings more customers and more value to the store owners. You can see this thing growing already and I’m not even smart. Hand this off to some of the brightest minds out there and watch how fast it grows, and all of the maintenance and upgrades are taken care of with no thought required by the consumer.

If this sounds so easy then why hasn’t it been done already? Because the cost in the form of bribes, fees, and payments to use government “owned” land makes it impossible. We have unfair business practice when government has a monopoly on roads and claims all of the land. And I do mean all of the land. Stop paying your property taxes and watch how fast they take ownership of your property (on paper, because they already own it).

Can you imagine some rapid developments in transportation if the government just got the hell out of the way? Imagine how many roads would disappear because nobody thought they were worth maintaining if the costs were no longer hidden in and paid for by taxes. Imagine if maintenance of roads required conscious contributions. How valuable would the roads be to you then? Would you be more interested in better, cheaper, and faster alternatives?

Think about the abuse in government as it is. Bidding can be hijacked and favors given. Even at the local level counties will claim they took the higher bid because they “think” that contractor will do a better job. You never know when this is true or just a payback for campaign contributions, a friend of a politician, or a bribe. Government charges you taxes in numerous ways claiming it’s for roads and now you are starting to see them lease the roads out to companies so they can charge you to drive on the roads you already paid for, according to them, through taxation.

So stop asking me “What about the roads?” because I’m asking you “What have we missed out on because of the roads? Why do we continue to hold ourselves back by increasing funding for the roads?”

Posted by David Blizzard on April 30, 2012

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Workers Rights – Regulating Employers

Workers’ rights is just more regulation by the government that interferes with the advancement of society. “NO WAY!” you exclaim. “What about sexual harassment?”

Arguing these points at this level, personal, is really a waste of time. The trouble is deep and almost always related to government. If there were no government then people would do a number of things different than what they do now. Now they ask for payouts that are decided by government systems (judgments or settlements) or they beg “The State” for MORE laws. Even worse, the government sues the employer for multiple “violations” and the affected employees get NOTHING! Many times the decisions that are made to settle or give-up are based on the ridiculous cost of the government owned legal system rather than truth. A cost that would surely be different in a stateless society. You know, a system where a business model has to be profitable to succeed, unlike government.

Let’s not overlook the cost of being owned by the government. Many people cannot afford to quit a bad job. This problem alone could change without government and that would certainly have an effect on bad employers.

In a free society, one without a government, you would see more dispute resolution options. Employee unions might be more like a combination of credit union, mediation, and insurance. They would hold both employees and employers to higher standards.

But wait, you still can’t really have a valid debate while government exists because there wouldn’t be any corporations without “The State”. The employer(s) would be personally responsible for providing a harassment-free working environment. Once you remove the non-existence of personal responsibility that business owners get with a corporate shield then you would see better relationships between the employer and the employee. If an employer was personally responsible for his companies actions then he would find that his cost of insurance and his cost to do business with a union would go up if he fails to provide a safe and harassment free work environment. Without a corporate shield this would affect every business owners personal wallet and reputation.

The same thing would happen with employee reliability and responsibility. If you have a history of filing unsubstantiated claims, poor performance, poor attendance, then your starting pay and the pool of companies that want to hire you would be compromised. Your cost to be a member of a union would probably go up. Unions might be required to pay for employee failure and they might receive compensation for employer failures. The sky is the limit in a free society. You can’t really predict the solutions that would be offered in a society you have never seen in action.

“What about minimum wage?” you ask. Please! Who are you to tell someone that they can’t offer a job at a certain wage and even worse, who are you to tell someone they CAN’T work for less than a certain hourly wage. Get a grip on your role in society, please! Make no mistake, there are systems at work today that create circumstances which allow employers to take advantage of labor. That is beyond the scope of this post and in my opinion the entire “work week” concept is archaic and rooted in slavery. That said, I still would have no right to interfere with a voluntary interaction.

Government rules and regulations are nothing more than a road block to the advancement of society. Unfortunately, real debate and new ideas rarely happen because people have a difficult time discussing society from the perspective of zero government. It’s all they know, and they were most likely raised in an institution provided by a government–an institution that promotes its owner, “The State”. Think about it, the government has not provided a solution that works. We have nothing to lose and time has run out on trying to “fix” government.

Posted by David Blizzard on March 11, 2012

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Rinsing Off Your Brain

Have you been brainwashed? How fast did you just respond NO! Just like an alcoholic or a drug addict first we need to admit we have been brainwashed. Everyone has really. Marketers, parents, news channels, churches, and governments all use various degrees of brain washing and we all have fallen for some. The worst thing today is the control over television broadcasting, religion, and public education.

What can you do to help yourself? Avoid the repetitive illogical drones from all of the above. If you aren’t ready to break away from religion then you might want to try to reduce your exposure and start making your own decisions. I’m not telling you to denounce religion or stop believing in your chosen God, but stop letting others tell you what to think about your God and your own personal values and decisions. You know right from wrong.

Political parties are just the same, there is too much control and manipulation placed on you when you belong to a political party. This is no different than rooting for a football or baseball team when you have no personal relationship with any of the players, coaches, or management. It’s illogical. Why don’t you enjoy exceptional athleticism from both team’s players? Why do you cheer “your team” when they make a great play and you boo, hiss, and moan when the other team makes a great play. This is illogical.

How do you know you have been brainwashed? When someone makes a comment or statement you don’t agree with do you analyze it or do you blurt out an immediate response? Chances are you almost always have a prepared response for anything religious or political. To make things worse, after you blurt out your stored response you start thinking of ways to justify it. This is a sign that you might not be thinking for yourself.

What can you do to reprogram your mind? Bite your tongue. Use logic, reason, and in some cases science to dissect the statement and then draw conclusions that are based on reason and logic. Many times you will realize that you don’t really have enough information to form a reasonable opinion about something. Start asking yourself how you had an immediate answer for something you didn’t understand. It can be painful but it will be rewarding in the end. Once someone has power over your time, your religion, or your political ideology then they can tell you what to believe about politics, war, food, products, love, etc, and this is the real problem with giving someone that much power. Take back ownership of you. Start thinking for yourself and start living free.

Posted by David Blizzard on December 17, 2011

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Your Government is a Mafia – Understanding a Statist Society

Wait! Don’t go away! This is the truth that can set you free. At least stick around and use reason and logic to defend your love and trust of “The State”.

In this article “The State” refers to governing forces that create law, enforce law, provide public services and demand repayment of said services. This includes all federal, state, county and local government agencies and departments.

The day you are born and take your first breath outside your mother’s womb, you are deemed to be bound by a contract. This contract between you and “The State” is nothing less than enslavement. It doesn’t matter where you are born, imaginary lines have been drawn all over the globe like a spastic painter puts color to a canvas. Your role as a slave and the price you will pay is determined by the imaginary lines you are born within.

If you are already questioning this information, then you have probably been lied to your entire life. People you have loved, respected, defended, and looked up to like your parents, your grandparents, your teachers, your employers, your professors, and your government have not told you the truth. They either believed the lies themselves, or if they didn’t, then they were too weak, cowardly, ashamed, or selfish to tell the truth. You probably can’t save them, but you can save yourself, your children, and your grandchildren. Just admit and tell the truth.

You have probably heard all of your life that you have a contract with “The State”. How did you sign this contract as a newborn? How did your parents allow your rights and labor to be sold to “The State”? Didn’t they love you? How can your government borrow money on your ability to work and then make you pay those loans back?

It may not be your parents’ fault that you were born a slave, but they are complicit if they did not tell you that you were born into slavery and ownership. If they did not tell you how you can fight for your freedom and right of self ownership, then they were against you having freedom. If they told you that you can pray or vote your way out of slavery, then they LIED!

Think logically about the following scenario and try to use reason and logic before you draw any conclusions:

Sales Tax
Let’s say you grow up and decide you want to sell fruits and vegetables to people in your community. You find a farm and an orchard that will sell you produce at wholesale pricing. You decide to make your first purchase but a man JUMPS out of the bushes and tells you that you can’t buy wholesale unless you have a Sales Tax ID Number. You ask why and he replies, “Because everyone that exercises their right to buy goods and services from YOU owes ‘The State’ money and you will need to collect it for them.”

Lessons:
1) You are forced to be a part of this system or you will be refused the right of trade.
2) You become a collection agent for this mafia.
3) You will not be paid any wages for being a collection agent
4) The menacing man is an agent for this mafia and will do you harm because they pay him to.

You fear this man and his power so you get a Tax ID Number. Along with this number comes a long list of rules and regulations you must follow as a part of this contract you were forced to accept.

Income Tax
You have been selling your produce for a few months now and working for “The State” as a collection agency as provided by the contract you were forced into. The menacing man shows up at your door and demands to see your financial records. You ask why, and the man goes on about how you exercised your right to sell goods and services for more than you paid for them so you owe “The State” income tax. First the man demands $500 in fines because you don’t have a Tax Payer ID Number. He gives you a piece of paper with your very own Tax Payer ID number on it and more rules you are obligated to follow.

The man looks at your books and determines that you sold $10,000 worth of produce for $12,000 and demands a payment of $400 for income tax plus $600 in interest and penalties for not paying on time.

You tell him he is mad and you refuse to pay. He grabs you by the throat, throws you to the ground and drags you off to a cage where you spend 3 months of your life. During this time your parents, relatives, and friends visit and tell you that you should have paid your share.

You decide paying these taxes is not such a bad thing after all and you VOLUNTEER to pay the income tax from this day forward.

Employers Forced to Comply and Steal
Your business is surviving so far because you raised the price of your produce to help cover the taxes, but now you have competition because of your higher prices. You know the only way to survive now is if you can sell in quantity, so you decide to hire employees.

Fearing more time in jail and penalties, you call “The State” and ask what you need to do to comply with regulations on being an employer. They are very polite and thank you for calling before hiring, and then the agent reminds you of the severe penalties you could have faced had you not received your Employer ID Number first.

You receive your Employer ID Number and a book of rules and regulations you must follow or face more jail time, or possibly injury, or death. In the book, it makes you an agent of this mafia once again.

1) You must collect income tax from your employees’ pay and send it to “The State”
2) You must collect Social Security payments for the mafia
3) You must match the Social Security Payments out of your own funds and send it to the mafia too.
4) You must make sure your employees have a Tax Payer ID number so they can comply too

Theft and Terrorist Threats
Where did this right to force both collection duties and payment of taxes come from? Why don’t you have a choice? It’s simple, you are a slave and the threat of force, violence, and death are the foundation of these taxes and collection obligations. It’s nothing less than terrorism and you give in to it every day.

Conclusion
If you can’t work without giving “The State” a cut, then you are not free. If you can’t trade with another individual or business without giving “The State” a cut, then you are not free. The government mafia demands a cut of transactions that they neither provide goods or services for. When they do claim to provide a collateral service during a mutually beneficial transaction, it is a forced service, not voluntary. If a government wants to provide services, then you must be able to opt-out of those services or pay for those services as needed, or you are not free. This works between individuals and businesses, so it should be the same for “The State”-run mafia, but they continue to use force to sell their goods and services.

There are plenty of other areas that we could discuss, like property tax, which denies a person the right to home ownership, but you only need sales tax and income tax examples to see the real criminal activity at work and to recognize that you are not FREE.

Continuing Education
Beautiful Freedom by Stefan Molyneux

The State is Not Great: How Government Poisons Everything by Jacob Spinney

Read: What would you do if you were the state?

Posted by David Blizzard on December 4, 2011

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What About The Roads?

Workers Rights – Regulating Employers

Rinsing Off Your Brain

Your Government is a Mafia – Understanding a Statist Society

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