04/08/05

The masses of people are happy with the way things are because the things they value are easily accomplished through coercive force: wealth, luxury, privacy, and chillingly, freedom of behavior. Coercion gives an easy way to persuade or dissuade another's behavior, including guaranteeing personal freedom. No question about it; simply pointing a gun at someone and making a demand is far easier than the compromising, haggling, and sheer doggedness required to get things done peacefully. So what the hell are we fighting for? We're fighting for the principle. Not the results. They already have results that are acceptable. We like the principle; the idea that the results are achieved in a more respectable way. One of the great cornerstones of liberty is that the ends do not justify the means. It may be easier to make a thousand dollars by sticking a gun in someone's face, but that doesn't make it right. It is the principle of coercion that we abhor and wish to see chopped down at the root...

http://www.strike-the-root.com/51/scarmig/scarmig1.html

from Strike the Root, by Scarmig


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp