Prepare for an exciting journey into the twisted logic of statism. Consent may not be what you thought it was!
Consenting to a Mugging
You’re walking through a park late at night. Suddenly the cold metal of a gun barrel is jammed against your temple, painfully stretching the skin on your face. “Gimme your money,” an aggressive voice demands in your ear. Having no choice but to give up your wallet or possibly die, you hand over all you have, and fall to the ground in shocked relief as the assailant disappears into the trees with your wallet in hand.
Lucky for you, the mugger didn’t actually force you to pay. You had a choice. You consented. You were free to choose to die and keep your wallet, but you instead chose to live, which in this case carried the cost of losing all your money. Tough cookies, but that’s just how life goes sometimes.
Consenting to Taxes
It’s the same with paying taxes. Some people bitch and moan about having to pay their fair share and sure, there are some valid reasons people oppose taxation. Some people don’t want to pay for wars that kill innocent people. Some don’t want to pay for abortions. Some don’t want to pay for bloated government overspending on lavish public parks and civic facilities. Some just want to keep their own hard-earned cash to spend on other things.
While all of this makes sense, taxpayers still have free choice. They can choose to pay and remain safe, or keep their own money and be audited, potentially arrested and then even killed if they resist the arrest for not paying. The choice isn’t an easy one, but the fact remains: they did have a choice.
Consenting to Sexual Assault
Then there’s sex. Such a wonderful thing as sex should not be kept from anyone. It’s basically a human right. As such, if you wish to molest, sexually assault or rape someone, it’s not that big of a deal. They always have the choice to fight back and try to stop you.
Consenting to Vaccination
When it comes to medicine and bodily penetration by a needle, it’s the exact same as sex. Sure, maybe the government won’t allow you to take a critical business trip to another region, or escape an exploding volcanic island without the covid-19 vaccination.
Sure, they might demand you surrender your body to an as-of-yet unapproved mRNA treatment in order to move across arbitrary borders and through various legal jurisdictions. But hey, snowflake. Stop whining. You always have a choice. By choosing to not get the vax, you are effectively freely consenting to your business failing, not seeing your friends and loved ones, and potentially starving to death and dying.
WAKE UP!
None of the above garbage scenarios are examples of consent, of course. True consent doesn’t involve violence and coercion. Now let’s head back to reality, talk about real consent, and shine a light on the solution to the current collectivist plague.
In the same way Pizza Hut cannot force you to pay them for pizza if you don’t want it, your neighbors cannot force you to pay for a park they want to build. Your best friend cannot force you to fill out paperwork and give him a percentage of your income. Your partner cannot force you into having intercourse. Private security companies can’t violently make you choose their service over others. In the same way all of these are clearly immoral and wrong, so is forcing people to take a vaccine against their will, pay taxes, or go through a financial institution to use their money.
The central problem here is the violent, forced association and disassociation the state requires. Say Charlie pays taxes for a library and Joe also pays taxes for that same library. Charlie votes that the library should require all patrons be vaccinated before entering. Joe votes the opposite way. This conflict can never be resolved peacefully, as both are extorted to pay for the place and want to get their money’s worth by leveraging politics to club the other over the head.
They think the only way to solve problems is via the violence of the state. How foolish!
The key to truly live and let live then, is privatization. Privatization of money. Of medicine. Of property. Your bodily autonomy is no more a matter to be voted on than a woman’s body who doesn’t want to be assaulted. Your private business is no more a matter to be voted on than what goes on in your bedroom. The end.
The time has come to be consistent. Which is it then, statists: consent, or coercion? There is no gray area here. My body, my choice. If you do not wish to associate with me, I will respect that wish. But do not attempt to restrict my freedoms by claiming ownership over me.
Please see the video exploration of this topic below for more information. Thanks for reading!
-GS
