Of all 36 ways to get out of trouble, the best way is...to leave. — Chinese proverb
The wrongdoing of an isolated act of aggression by an individual is easily identifiable. However, when carried out systematically by an organized group in power, it may be masked with a semblance of morality.
To reduce resistance, aggressions are justified as means to achieve a supposed greater good.
The more they "love" these abstractions (world, community, nature, etc…), the more they hate real individual human beings. — Nick Szabo
The urge to save humanity is almost always only a false-face for the urge to rule it. — H.L. Mencken
No goal justifies the infringement of rights. Respect for individuals and their freedom is always the highest good.
First, do not harm.
Socialism abolishes private property by putting the means of production under state control. Communism represents its purest form. The difference between socialism and communism is a matter of degree, not kind.
In this light, the State can resemble a sophisticated mafia—justifying systemic theft as virtue.
Socialism increases political inequality by concentrating power in the hands of a bureaucratic elite. This necessarily undermines rights and property through centralized coercion.
Socialism is often described as aiming for wealth equality. But systems must be judged by what they do, not what they claim.
Historical examples (e.g., USSR, Maoist China, Venezuela) show massive misallocation, poverty, and inequality between ruling elites and the population.
What belongs to everybody belongs to nobody — or rather to the few who claim it in the name of “everybody”.
Systems that begin as “real socialism” often end up rebranded as “not real socialism.”
“Social” is used politically to justify coercive structures that only work in small, voluntary communities. When imposed by force, it becomes anti-social.
"We and we alone have the best social welfare measures." — Joseph Goebbels (1944)
If “social” means voluntary cooperation, socialism is its opposite: enforced obedience.
Appeals to wealth equality are often veiled attempts to justify envy and state theft. These ignore how markets grow wealth through voluntary cooperation.
There is all the difference in the world between treating people equally and attempting to make them equal. — Friedrich Hayek
Only equality before the law is just. Attempts to equalize outcomes imply treating people unequally.
A society that puts equality ahead of freedom will end up with neither. — Milton Friedman
From the fact that people are different, it follows that equal treatment results in unequal outcomes. — Friedrich Hayek
If siblings raised in the same home don’t turn out equally, why expect equal outcomes from strangers? — Thomas Sowell
Diversity is natural and must be met with tolerance, not coercion.
Aggressors corrupt the concept of Law by creating legal systems that legitimize injustice. Law becomes a tool for domination instead of justice.
Lex injusta non est lex (An unjust law is not a law). — St. Augustine
True justice is simple: violating rights is wrong. Excessive regulation often signals legal corruption.
Justice must be blind, applying equally to all. Legislation often creates privileges that violate this principle.
One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. — Martin Luther King Jr.
There is no “rule of law,” only rule by people. Laws are made and enforced by those in power, and they rarely harm themselves.
"Power comes from the muzzle of a gun." — Mao Zedong
War is mass murder. It feeds the state by expanding its power through fear and control.
War justifies surveillance, censorship, taxation, and civil liberty erosion.
Aggression against private property undermines development by disrupting price signals and disincentivizing innovation.
The price system enables people with partial knowledge to coordinate resources. — F.A. Hayek
Interventions redistribute wealth unfairly and often backfire, worsening the problems they claim to solve.
Price ceilings create shortages and degrade quality. Price floors create surpluses and hurt the weakest providers—e.g., minimum wage laws increase unemployment.
Fair prices are only those freely agreed upon by both parties.
Protectionism restricts trade to favor selected businesses. It blocks cooperation and distorts incentives.
Competition is the ultimate form of cooperation. — Antonio Escohotado
When goods don’t cross borders, soldiers will. — Frédéric Bastiat
Mercantilism is protectionism against foreign trade, harming both consumers and producers.
Protectionism in peace does what war does by force. — Henry George
Also known as corporatism, it gives unfair advantages to politically connected businesses, leading to monopolies and corruption.
IP laws turn ideas into monopolies, blocking competition and slowing innovation. Knowledge is abundant, not scarce—it should be shared.
Prohibiting “vice” services leads to black markets and real crime. Voluntary exchanges should not be criminalized.
Not everything immoral should be illegal.
Interventions create problems that justify more interventions. Over time, people may believe services can’t exist without state control.
“Who supplies bread in London?” — a Soviet planner, amazed by market coordination. — Christian Niemietz
Taxation is coercion. If theft is taking property without consent, then income tax is legalized extortion.
Filing taxes is preparing your house for burglars.
There are always voluntary alternatives to every state function.