Tag: You’re Doing it Right

North Dakota Looking to End Property Taxes

I’m rather torn when it comes to deciding which is more evil between property taxes and income taxes. While income taxes are a direct theft of your labor, property taxes make it impossible for one to actually own property. When a locality implements a property tax they are turning you from a property owner to a property renter, and failing to pay the rent will lead you to losing your property. This is incredibly insidious when you apply it to a homeowner who falls on hard times. Being unemployed sucks but owning a home would at least ensure you have someplace to sleep. That is unless you fail to pay your property tax and your kicked out onto the street with no job.

Thankfully North Dakota is looking at ending property taxes in its state:

Since Californians shrank their property taxes more than three decades ago by passing Proposition 13, people around the nation have echoed their dismay over such levies, putting forth plans to even them, simplify them, cap them, slash them. In an election here on Tuesday, residents of North Dakota will consider a measure that reaches far beyond any of that — one that abolishes the property tax entirely.

I hope this goes through because it would be a step towards absolute property rights. The state shouldn’t be able to take your property because you are unable, or merely unwilling, to pay an extortion fee.

Rovio Looking to Abandon Finland over High Taxes

Rovio is the latest successful company that is looking to flee the country it started in over high taxation:

THE FINNISH company that created the hugely successful Angry Birds mobile phone game is considering moving its headquarters to Ireland, chief executive Mikael Hed has said.

[…]

The corporation tax rate in Finland is 24.5 per cent, while Ireland’s rate is 12.5 per cent. Most of the world’s fast-growing technology companies, such as Google and Facebook, have set up European headquarter operations in Dublin so as to benefit from Ireland’s low corporation tax rate.

When victims of theft get sick of being stolen from they have a habit of leaving. Why suffer the loss of 24.5% of your wealth when you can simply move to Ireland and only suffer the loss of 12.5% of your wealth? This is why a state can’t tax itself out of debt or into prosperity. Eventually the state runs out of stuff to steal and that ends the party.

When You Pay the State for Protection the Last Thing You Get is Protection

Many people, even minarchists, believe one of the duties of the state is to protect its people. Of course they never seem to accomplish this goal even though we keep being force to pay them. For individuals this means we have to pay the state for “protection” and purchase a means of self-defense to actually protect ourselves. For shipping companies this means they have to build a defensive fleet on top of paying the state its demanded “protection” money:

Shipping insurance companies are taking the fight against piracy into their own hands.

With plans to deploy a “private navy” in the Gulf of Aden — where Somali piracy is rampant — the Convoy Escort Program (CEP) hopes to have a fleet of 18 ships protecting merchant vessels by December, reports David Black at The National.

The $70 million private program is headed by international shipping insurer company Jardine Lloyd Thompson.
“The CEP is planning to buy seven 150-foot fast patrol boats, understood to be ex-Swedish Navy, and has already earmarked 11 former offshore supply vessels for purchase and conversion,” details Black

People often ask how one could afford defense if there was no state and this story demonstrates how. Insurance companies, having to pay out claims on lost ships, are keenly interested in protecting the ships it insures. As the problem with Somali piracy grows the insurance companies have reacted by developing a fleet of its own to protect its clients’ ships.

Every service the state provides can be done so by private entities. Unlike the state, private entities provide their services only to those who wish to acquire them through voluntary trade.

Don’t Kill Me, Bro

Obama has a fancy little kill list where he can put the names of people he doesn’t like and they will be struck down by a drone whenever a pilot gets around to it. Considering Obama has ordered the deaths of two American citizens it’s apparent that there needs to be some kind of protection, perhaps a Do Not Kill list:

The New York Times reports that President Obama has created an official “kill list” that he uses to personally order the assassination of American citizens. Considering that the government already has a “Do Not Call” list and a “No Fly” list, we hereby request that the White House create a “Do Not Kill” list in which American citizens can sign up to avoid being put on the president’s “kill list” and therefore avoid being executed without indictment, judge, jury, trial or due process of law.

Go sign the petition. Yes, it will be entirely ignored but it would be hilarious to read the White House’s response to it.

Going Armed Becoming More Popular with Women in India

Woman are the fastest growing demographics for firearm sales in the United States and more are getting their carry permits every day. It’s nice to see the United States doesn’t hold a monopoly on armed women, women in India are arming themselves as well:

When Dr Harveen Kaur Sidhu travels from her home in an upmarket neighbourhood of the north-western Indian city of Chandigarh, she always slips her lightweight .22 revolver in her bag. The gun is a new purchase – Sidhu got her licence only a year ago – but now the 33-year-old dentist won’t travel without it.

“I don’t have faith in the police to protect me. There are so many attacks on women these days. It’s everybody’s right to defend themselves. I think all women who are vulnerable should be carrying guns,” Sidhu said. She is not alone. A growing number of well-off, educated Indian women are turning to firearms for protection.

The trend is part of a broader growth of gun culture in the land once known for the non-violent principles of Mahatma Gandhi.

Stories like this put a smile on my face. Gun control advocates will obviously take that quote, twist it, and use it as irrefutable proof that I support women being attacked to push my agenda but that’s entirely false. The reason stories like this make me smile is because there are now more people out there who are armed and thus the risk involved in perpetrating violent crime has increased.

Robert Heinlein once wrote, “An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life.” Perpetrating a crime, like anything else, is done after determining the risks compared to the rewards and finding the rewards worth the risk. When a mugger robs somebody on the street that mugger had determined the act of armed robbery was worth the risk of the victim defending him or herself. When you increase the number of armed individuals you also increase the risk of perpetrating a crime. As the risks associating with perpetrating a crime increases the number of crimes committed decreases.

Another part of this story I want to address is the following:

There are estimated to be 40m guns in India, the second highest number in the world after the US. Licences are hard to obtain and most are illegal weapons, many manufactured in backstreet workshops. Ownership levels per capita remain low – three guns for every 100 people in India – but there is strong anecdotal evidence that middle-class interest in firearms is rising fast.

Many who promote gun rights are careful to clarify they only mean for law-abiding citizens. Paragraphs like the above make them squirm because they see so many people arming themselves illegally yet want to support those peoples’ actions. I’ve mostly given up tossing the “law-abiding citizen” caveat on my statements regarding gun rights. The bottom line is states often place numerous restrictions between individuals and their right of self-defense meaning the only way one can defend themselves is unlawfully. For example, the paragraph above states that a majority of firearms in India are illegally owned. Illegal by what regards? The state’s regards.

To quote Martin Luther King Jr., “One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.” Laws prohibiting individuals from exercising their right of self-defense are unjust and should not be obeyed. When a woman in India arms herself against the wishes of the state she should be cheered. According to the state she may be unlawful but according to any decent person she is performing a just act.

Score One for Private Enterprise

They said it couldn’t be done, they said we needed the state in order to achieve space flight, they were wrong:

Dragon has been built by the California firm SpaceX and is carrying half a tonne of food and other stores for the ISS astronauts.

It is the first time a private sector company has attempted to deliver freight to the station.

The high-flying laboratory’s Canadarm2 is being controlled by US spaceman Don Petit.

He grabbed the capsule at 13:56 GMT (14:56 BST). “Houston, looks like we got us a Dragon by the tail,” he radioed to Nasa mission Control in Texas.

To all of you who claimed this couldn’t be done please feel free to shut your mouth next time you get the idea that the state is the only entity that can accomplish something. Heck, if it wasn’t for the state we may have been on Mars already.

More Kids Should Defy Teachers

Once in a great while I’m amazed by the intelligence of children. Even though most are forced to attend indoctrination camps known as public schools they are often able to see through the bullshit that is being shoved down their throats:

“Stop, no, because there is no comparison,” she says. Romney, she says, is “running for president. Obama is the president.”

When the student says they’re both “just men,” the teacher continues to argue that Romney, as a candidate for president, is not to be afforded the same respect as the president.

“Listen, let me tell you something, you will not disrespect the president of the United States in this classroom,” she says.

The student replies that he’ll say what he wants.

This post serves not only to bring this awesome kid to your attention but to unveil a new award: the Christopher Burg Award for Noncompliance in the Face of False Authority. This award is bestowed by this blog to those who refuse to comply with those who hold a fasle sense of authority. One cannot win this award by mouthing off to their boss or other person whom they voluntarily agreed to work under, one can only win this award but giving a big middle finger to some prick who has decided to lord power over you without your consent.

This student stood up to his teacher and called her on her bullshit. While she demanded the student respect the president like some kind of devine king the student refused.

Along with the unveiling of this award I also want to bring up something that annoys me, the idea that you must respect somebody because of a position they hold. Many people claim you must respect the president and even if you don’t like the man you must respect the office. This isn’t true, there is no reason that I have to respect the office. Technically the president is supposed to be a civil servant, he’s suppose to respect us because we’re supposed to be his bosses. Obviously this has been turned around, the president is now saw as the one deserving of respect and we’re supposed to bow down and kiss his ring. I’m not buying that, I don’t give my respect to offices, titles, etc.; I give my respect to individuals that I feel have earned it.

I respect my father not because of the fact he’s my father but because of the fact he’s a damned good man. He managed to start his own business with basically nothing, help raise three children, and not only ensured we had food on the table but also did everything possible to make his business expand so we could all enjoy a comfortable life. He’s never once ripped a customer off or attempted to make a quick buck, he came by his money by performing honest voluntary transactions. That is deserving of my respect, merely winning a popularity contest is not. One of the few politicians I respect is Ron Paul and that’s because he advocates voluntary association, opposes war, and believes in individual liberty. Instead of using his office to gain personal wealth by dealing with cronies under the table he has opposed such political maneuvers. If he were president I would still respect him, not the office, him.

Agorism Alive and Well in Spain

Agorism is a strategy many of us in the voluntaryist movement advocate. It’s a simple idea that many people partake in without ever realizing it. Whenever you work for “cash under the table” you’re performing an act of counter-economics as you’re disobeying the state’s decree regarding income tax. In Minnesota you perform an act of counter-economics every time you buy something online or in a state with lower sales tax and don’t pay the difference to the state. Most of us are agorists in some way or another and such practices become more common in failing economies such as Spain:

More than six months ago, a 37-year-old worker here named Juan was laid off from his job delivering and assembling furniture for customers of Ikea, joining the legions of unemployed in Spain. Or so it would seem.

Since then, Juan has continued doing more or less the same work. But instead of doing it on the payroll of Pantoja, a transport subcontractor to Ikea, he hovers around the parking lot of the megastore, luring customers of his own by offering not only to deliver their furniture but also to do “general work,” like painting and repairs, all for the bargain price of €40, or $51, a day.

“I will do anything except electricity and plumbing, where I really don’t have enough expertise to guarantee a safe and decent job,” said Juan, who did not want his full name used because he does not declare his income and did not want to run afoul of the tax authorities.

One nice benefit of not having to pay income tax is the ability to undercut those who do. If you pay income tax you must make enough money to not only survive but to also pay the state its tithe. Those who don’t report income tax don’t have to worry about the additional money that will be stolen by the state and therefore can work much cheaper and still get by.

When you consider the amount of money that goes to the state in the form of taxes, licenses, and compliance with regulations you realize a great deal of economy goes to feed the state. How much of your life is spent working for the state? What percentage of the money you spent on your computer went to the state?

When you think about it we’re not better off that then serfs of yore. Serfs were those who worked land owned by or rented from nobles. In exchange for working the land they were “granted” the privilege of protection and the use of some fields for their own subsistence. Those of us living in the United States are in a similar situation although the illusion of freedom is presented to us. Like serfs our land is owned by another entity, in our case the state. We are allowed to use the land so long as we pay rent, usually referred to as property tax. The state promises to protect us from outside enemies and criminals living within its borders (and like the nobles’ promises of protection the state never really fulfills their end of the “agreement”). If we fail to pay our tithe the state kidnaps us, holds us in cages, and steals our property under the “debt” is paid off. When we lack property to take we become bonded laborers, our wages are garnished until the “debt” is paid off.

Serfdom never went away, the nobles merely changed their title to the state and pretended to give us the ability to elect a representative government.

The serfs of yore eventually awakened to their plight and revolted against the nobles. Agorists are revolting but not by using violence. Instead the agorists analyzed the enemy and discovered its weakness, it survives only on what it can take by force. If the state has no income, if they are unable to seize wealth by force, it eventually starves and dies. Why wage a violent revolution against an entity that specializes in violence? When you challenge a specializes you are likely to lose unless you are also a specialist. While the state specializes in violence it is utterly incompetent when it comes to economics and economics is something individuals specialized in. The golden rule of a fight is to never fight fair.

Fortunately for agorists the state recruits people for our movement as it attempt to bleed the serfs dry. When the serfs no longer have anything to give they must fact facts and decide whether they’re going to continue providing to the state at the cost of their lives or keep what wealth they can scrounge and disobey the decrees of the states. Most people will follow their survival instinct and give the state a giant middle finger and it is at that point that they become agorists.

Flawless Victory

While the Ron Paul campaign has basically called the campaign off the fine liberty-minded folks decided to take over the Republican State Convention anyways:

Mitt Romney might be the Republican Party’s presumed nominee for president, but maverick candidate Ron Paul scored the bigger win Saturday at Minnesota’s state Republican Convention.

The Texas congressman’s backers seized control of the state convention, claiming 12 of 13 open delegate slots to the GOP national convention in August. The 13th slot went to U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, who failed to win it on the first ballot. Her opponent, a Paul supporter, conceded out of respect.

That’s right, we took 12 of the 13 delegate seats for the national convention. I’ve heard several stories regarding the reason the 13th seat was granted to Bachmann. It appears that her opponent didn’t hand in a political resume, which is required in the rules to get a seat. Instead of fighting this with an attempt to change the rules it was decided that Bachmann would be granted the seat as it would demonstrated “good will” to the Republican Party. You can tell I wasn’t running the show because I would have operated a scorched Earth police and went through with a rule change to get the Paul supporter the 13th seat. Either way it’s pretty good to see Minnesota, one of the strangest states when it comes to politics, pulling off another trick. We didn’t stop at the 12 delegates though, we also took most of the alternate seats:

Previously, 27 delegates were chosen. In all, 32 of Minnesota’s 40 delegates are confirmed to support Paul over Romney.

Let me also give an acknowledgment to my friend Nate Atkins:

“Absolutely not,” said Nathan Atkins, a Republican convention delegate and Paul backer from Minneapolis. “I really don’t think he’s that different than Barack Obama. He doesn’t represent change.”

Atkins was wearing a tinfoil hat, a nod to more traditional GOP activists who have ridiculed Paul’s backers as paranoid conspiracy theorists. He said if Paul isn’t on the presidential ballot, he’d likely vote for Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson.

Most of us in the Minnesota liberty movement fail to take politics seriously. Many of the Paul supporters at the convention wore red fezzes and referred to themselves as the Ancient Persian order of Mystic Republicans. Atkins went so far as to cover his fez in tinfoil to mock those who claim Paul supporters are just a bunch of crazy conspiracy theorists. They also had a Hunger Games theme going on:

I could never survive in the Republican Party because the higher ups take themselves too seriously. On the other hand the liberty movement is always quick to mock and ridicule to absurdity of The Party while having a ton of fun as well. I’m glad they did so well, especially considering the fact that the Paul campaign has basically abandoned us.

Let me close by saying it is an absolute honor to call so many members of the Minnesota liberty movement my friends. When reading through all the coverage of the state convention I could only smile when reading about the antics, statements, and other ongoings because so many of the “perpetrators” were personal friends of mine. I am in some of the greatest company living here in the Twin Cities and it makes all of the other crazy shit that happens here worth it.

The NDAA Blocked in Court for Now

Some rare good news has finally emerged from our court system, parts of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) have been blocked:

A federal judge temporarily blocked enforcement of a part of the National Defense Authorization Act that opponents claim could subject them to indefinite military detention for activities including news reporting and political activism.

U.S. District Judge Katherine Forrest in Manhattan today ruled in favor of a group of writers and activists who sued President Barack Obama, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and the Defense Department, claiming a provision of the act, signed into law Dec. 31, puts them in fear that they could be arrested and held by U.S. armed forces.

[…]

Forrest’s order prevents enforcement of the provision of the statute pending further order of the court or an amendment to the statute by Congress.

Of course I expect an overturn or an amendment to the statute by Congress soon. I highly doubt the state is going to let a minor technicality get between it and total tyranny.