Because that literally is the only way out of it. The alternative is savagery and civil warfare without end. While we are here, still resisting their DESIRE for civil war (because, yes, they want us t...
Several things can be true in this context.
1. We are not voting our way out. The incentive structure is such that nobody can fix the system from within the system. Any politician who promises to do that is either lying or will inevitably fail. Either way,
2. Voting can slow down, speed up, or even briefly and temporarily reverse the rate at which liberty is lost. Libertarians getting involved politically can influence this process to a degree.
3. The system is made stronger by certain kinds of violent resistance such as terrorism, assassination, sabotage, etc. When the masses feel unsafe, they will permit faster erosion of liberty by their rulers in the name of feeling protected. Again, note that the masses can’t prevent erosion of liberty; they can merely influence the rate at which it erodes because
3. Violence CAN destroy the system if the violence is sufficiently widespread OR precisely targeted. This worries the elites and those who depend on the system. It’s why the mood of the masses matters to the rulers. However, mass violence offers no real promise for replacing the system with anything better. Probably the replacement would be far worse. Targeted violence could, theoretically, replace some elites… with other elites. And the incentive structure of the system would remain unchanged, but with more political violence now woven into the social fabric.
4. This why in the Freedom Tech community we choose a different approach to change. By providing the potential for peaceful opting-out of the system, we create a new and better incentive system for people to interact cooperatively. When coercion is ineffective from a physics perspective, society no longer needs to rely on laws or social norms to protect liberty.
5. Violence - or the threat of violence - is and will always be necessary to protect liberty. We are not pacifists. And when the losing Elite factions come after us in a desperate attempt to save their system, all options are ethically open to us for defense. If we make violence expensive but cooperation inexpensive, we win.
I’ll say that again.
Make violence expensive.
Make cooperation inexpensive.
That’s how we win.
1. We are not voting our way out. The incentive structure is such that nobody can fix the system from within the system. Any politician who promises to do that is either lying or will inevitably fail. Either way,
2. Voting can slow down, speed up, or even briefly and temporarily reverse the rate at which liberty is lost. Libertarians getting involved politically can influence this process to a degree.
3. The system is made stronger by certain kinds of violent resistance such as terrorism, assassination, sabotage, etc. When the masses feel unsafe, they will permit faster erosion of liberty by their rulers in the name of feeling protected. Again, note that the masses can’t prevent erosion of liberty; they can merely influence the rate at which it erodes because
3. Violence CAN destroy the system if the violence is sufficiently widespread OR precisely targeted. This worries the elites and those who depend on the system. It’s why the mood of the masses matters to the rulers. However, mass violence offers no real promise for replacing the system with anything better. Probably the replacement would be far worse. Targeted violence could, theoretically, replace some elites… with other elites. And the incentive structure of the system would remain unchanged, but with more political violence now woven into the social fabric.
4. This why in the Freedom Tech community we choose a different approach to change. By providing the potential for peaceful opting-out of the system, we create a new and better incentive system for people to interact cooperatively. When coercion is ineffective from a physics perspective, society no longer needs to rely on laws or social norms to protect liberty.
5. Violence - or the threat of violence - is and will always be necessary to protect liberty. We are not pacifists. And when the losing Elite factions come after us in a desperate attempt to save their system, all options are ethically open to us for defense. If we make violence expensive but cooperation inexpensive, we win.
I’ll say that again.
Make violence expensive.
Make cooperation inexpensive.
That’s how we win.
