40. Ian Thorpe:
History shows that when people are left to think for themselves mob rule is the result. And mob rule will give way to tyranny as is happening now with the Obamanazis squeezing your bollocks harder every time someone yells “freedom”.
Can you please expand on the idea that “when people are left to think for themselves mob rule is the result,” using historical examples? And in each case, could you be so kind as to note whether such “mob rule” ensued despite the existence of a rational, state-enforced rule of law which banned physical force from human relationships and prohibited the abrogation of individual rights?
Or are we doomed to be subjected to this endless confusion between individual freedom and anarchy?
As Ayn Rand pointed out so many years ago, anarchy – the kind of lawlessness which leads to mob rule – is not ‘freedom,’ since the individual is at the mercy of whichever marauding gang wishes to physically coerce him. Real freedom means the freedom to do anything except abrogate the rights of others to do the same. When we talk about freedom in a rational libertarian sense, this is the kind of freedom we mean.
Mob rule is the result of two things – either a complete breakdown of law and order, or a democratic system without a Constitution to limit the power of the state. This last point is very important. Democracy is only a good thing when the state is prohibited from having the power to abrogate the rights of the individual. Give the state too much power in democracy and you effectively have mob rule; the majority has the power to trample over the rights of the minority. We are seeing this now with the exploitation of populist rage against the rich, which is being harnessed in order to legitimize an anti-rich agenda. ‘What the majority want’ should never be unconditional. What if the majority suddenly decides it doesn’t like Jews, or that rich people should be imprisoned and have their wealth confiscated?
The concept of freedom is not “sentimental nonsense” and I’m frankly embarrassed on behalf of anyone who would utter such thoughtless nonsense. You compel us to “get organized.” Yet the right to “get organized” depends on one thing – freedom. In a free society you have the power to cooperate and collaborate with anyone you wish. Relationships – the element of any ‘organization’ – are entirely voluntary, as they should be.
And for heavens sake, let’s have an end to the tedious habit of insinuating that whenever someone talks about anything remotely libertarian, they’re advocating anarchy. It’s one of the most annoying straw man arguments of our time.
