111 lines
6.3 KiB
Plaintext
111 lines
6.3 KiB
Plaintext
A Defense of the Freedom to be Left Alone
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BAD Broadside #4
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We live in an invasive society. Our freedom to peacefully lead our
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lives as we please is severely restricted by laws, rules, and
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regulations instituted by governments of all sorts and their
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supporters among the populace. We are subject to a huge number of
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laws, among which are laws that: outlaw certain forms of consensual
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sex; ban public nudity; restrict the sale or production of sexually
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explicit books and films; criminalize the sale of sexual favors;
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prohibit ownership of handguns; require us to get notes from a
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physician to buy certain medicines; prevent us from seeking the
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assistance of another in ending our own lives; fine us for not wearing
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seatbelts; and attempt to prevent us from using the recreational drugs
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of our choice. Why do people tolerate such a level of government
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interference in their personal lives? Because they have been convinced
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that individuals and society need to be protected from the
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consequences of "bad" choices people might make if they were left
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alone.
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Governments presume that they know better what is good for others
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than do those people themselves. These rulers seem to think that when
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other people make choices that they consider unwise, unhealthy, or
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immoral, those people are misbehaving because they are either
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uninformed, stupid, or physically, psychologically, or morally
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diseased. The state then feel justified in stepping in to prevent the
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"unenlightened" from harming themselves. These busybodies fail to see
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that other people can freely choose to engage in activities of which
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they disapprove.
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People like different things and have different ideas about how to
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lead their lives. Some prefer heterosex, some homosex, some both, some
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neither. Some like coffee and cigarettes, others vodka and cocaine.
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Some prefer to have physicians tell them how to stay or get healthy
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and what medicines to take, others would prefer non-medical healers or
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wish to make their own choice about what drugs they wish to use. Some
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choose to engage in sex for free, while others are willing to pay for
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or sell sexual favors. These activities are the result of freely made
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choices and no one is affected by any of them except the individuals
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who voluntarily engage in them. Therefore, they should not be the
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business of anyone but the participants and should not be interfered
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with by others.
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People sometimes engage in activities that are potentially harmful
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to them because the pleasure or benefit they derive or hope to derive
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from the activity is more important to them than the actual or
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potential harm the activity may cause them. People smoke tobacco
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despite the increase in lung cancer and emphysema risk associated with
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it because of the pleasure they get from smoking. Some people engage
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in sexual activity, like cocksucking without condoms, which carries
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some risk of causing HIV infection, because the sexual pleasure they
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obtain is worth the small risk of being infected and perhaps
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developing AIDS. Such choices should be left entirely up to the
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individual, since no one else is harmed. We should be free to live our
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lives as we please, even if we make some decisions that turn out to
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have been unwise.
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Some voluntary activities are prohibited or regulated because they
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have the potential to involve others involuntarily. Since guns can be
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used to kill others, the argument is made that gun ownership should be
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regulated to prevent possible harm to others. Some harmed by guns
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deserve to be harmed, as when gun owners are defending themselves or
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their property, but sometimes innocent others are harmed by gun
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owners. The fact that non-invasive people are sometimes injured or
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killed when guns are freely available, however, does not justify
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restricting their availability. Non-coercive people are also sometimes
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hurt or die in car accidents, but few, if any, advocate banning cars
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for this reason. Just because a gun or car can be misused to hurt
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someone who has not injured the owner does not justify banning it.
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Supporters of interventionist governments would argue that no or
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little risk is acceptable in society. However, the problem with this
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outlook is that lowering risk means restricting freedom. A society
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that values freedom will necessarily be a society which allows people
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the freedom to engage in risky behavior. We must make a choice: either
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a free, somewhat risky world, or a safe and secure, but stifling and
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unfree one.
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Politicians of all political tendencies, rightists and leftists
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alike, support government intervention in other people's lives.
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Conservatives and conventional liberals may be more crass and open
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about their interventionism, but they hold no monopoly on it. The
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socialist left is perfectly willing to interfere with the affairs of
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others, and the socialist states have an even worse record than the
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united states when it comes to restrictions on individual freedom.
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Few leftists criticize the prescription system or laws against
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recreational drug use, for instance, and the socialist states are
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notorious for persecuting people who engage in homosexual sex.
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No government of any sort, no matter what its size or political
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orientation, will leave people alone. The nature and mission of
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government is to interfere with free individuals and tell them how
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they should live their lives. We will only be truly and completely
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free when people finally decide that they can live better and more
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freely without any government and begin the process of building a
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stateless society.
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NO COPYRIGHT
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Please send two copies of any review or reprint
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of all or part of this to:
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Boston Anarchist Drinking Brigade
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(BAD Brigade)
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PO Box 1323
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Cambridge, MA 02238
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Internet: bbrigade@world.std.com
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November 1991
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