Checking in...

I know it's been a while since I sent one of these dispatches from your liberated future.

That doesn't mean Libertopia imploded; it means nothing noteworthy has happened recently.

If you want, you can always post a comment asking how such-and-such works out in Libertopia. Perhaps I just never considered that particular issue important.

Until next time, exercise your liberty so it doesn't get all flabby and gross.

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Bon Appetit!

What you eat can kill you!

Sure, that is pretty common knowledge, and scary- but it's also natural and normal. It certainly is no one's business but your own.

You could eat the healthiest diet possible- and choke to death. And few people agree to any great degree what the "healthiest diet possible" really is, anyway. Even now.

Some foods contain bacteria that could make some people sick under the right (wrong?) circumstances. Some foods can contain prions that can cause trouble. Some foods will cause you to get really fat or die of heart disease if you eat too much of them. Some foods probably even contribute to cancer!

Of course, all those things were more of a concern back when The State kept medical care expensive, rationed, and "behind the times", but even now some people eat themselves to death in one way or another.

And that is their choice. Friends and loved ones will sometimes mention the obvious. But if they get too pushy they could find themselves facing arbitration. A person who wants help can find it. If not- that is between them and anyone whom they might hire to insure their life and health, or have other contractual obligations with.

If someone wants to eat something, someone else will be willing to provide it for a price. As long as it initiates no force, obviously. Consensual trade between self-responsible individuals. Let the customer know what they are getting, and finding out the consequences of their food choice is up to them. That's pretty easy, though, with modern technology.

If any vendor of "raw milk products" found herself the victim of a raid by armed thugs, she would shoot back, using equally-effective weaponry, confident that (if she survived the fight with her home-turf advantage) any surviving thugs would find themselves crushed under a mountain of debt and obligation that they would be unlikely to ever fully repay. I've read that this wasn't always the case.

In the case of contaminated foods, liability for any harm caused is good incentive to take pains to prevent it. Therefore several inspection services are available for hire by food providers or their insurers. Competition, and a desire for a powerful reputation, keeps inspectors innovating and pushing the cleanliness envelope- in ways that make the food provider's life and job easier at the same time. It's a good system. And it provides for some spectacularly wonderful things to eat out there! Enjoy!

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Now for something different- "The Shoe Fallacy"

"If everyone had always gotten their shoes from the government, the proponent of shoe privatization would be greeted as a kind of lunatic. 'How could you?' defenders of the status quo would squeal. 'You are opposed to the public, and to poor people, wearing shoes! And who would supply shoes … if the government got out of the business? Tell us that! Be constructive! It's easy to be negative and smart-alecky about government; but tell us who would supply shoes? Which people? How many shoe stores would be available in each city and town? … What material would they use? … Suppose a poor person didn't have the money to buy a pair?'" ~ Murray Rothbard

I suppose you could say Libertopia happened when people realized how silly this kind of delusional thinking always had been, and got over it.

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Immigration in Libertopia

A little fact about Libertopia that you may not be aware of: it does not encompass the entire planet. Yet. There are still struggling pockets of State here and there.

Most of them have serious immigration and emigration "laws".

The Rulers of these dying States don't want any Libertopians moving in and giving their new neighbors dangerous ideas. Thus the immigration "controls". I doubt it's necessary- who would move to a State? But it was a good justification for putting the infrastructure in place to control the "borders".

Because, even more, they want to keep the residents (the States would call them "citizens") they have from escaping- it's hard to tax people who leave if they go somewhere without a government to help you track and control them. It is also hard to rule when you are alone.

Most of the residents of these States were in favor of the immigration controls. At least at first. What the residents of these States failed to realize was that any policy or agency that can keep "them" out, can be turned around and be used to keep "us" in. Cages and "borders" work both ways.

Libertopians living near these unilaterally-declared "borders" are usually more than willing to help people escape an oppressive State (Yeah, I'm repeating myself there). The more people who are free, the better it is for everyone. It is the new "Underground Railroad", and it is killing the last few States.

It is funny, though. No one in Libertopia worries about immigrants moving in and using up all the welfare. There is no welfare. No one worries about immigrants taking all the jobs- they are just as likely to create jobs. No one worries about what language anyone else speaks. There can be no "official language"- you communicate however you can. No one worries about their culture being destroyed by exposure to another culture. That would be an admission that your culture isn't worth saving. Yet all these excuses, as unbelievable as they sound to me, are actually used in those dying States!

Without a government to co-opt or take over- either by voting or by having more offspring than someone else- people don't seem to worry too much about who is moving where. At least as long as the new neighbors don't initiate force or steal. And if they do, where they came from is the least important piece of information you could possibly worry about.

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Formerly "public"- Currently thriving

Those of you reading these dispatches from your perspective in the era of government wouldn't believe how some of the traditionally "public" services have thrived since they lost their coercively-stolen funds.

Libraries, some even with actual paper and glue BOOKS, abound. They have innovated in ways you probably can't imagine. I'll bet more people use libraries now than at any other time in history.

The same obviously goes for space travel. It never took off (pun intended) until freed from the burden of being "too big for anyone but government" to do. You'd almost think governments were desperate to keep the tax cows earthbound and within milking distance.

I've talked about roads already. And museums.

Of course, some things did die out. No more police, "public schools", or terrorist recruiting programs (what you called "The War on Terror"). No more EPA, BATFE, DEA, or Department of XYZ. No more jackbooted thugs raiding dairies, houses, businesses or whatever, for doing something perfectly consensual and honest that the government had decided to regulate. No more State.

It seems that "taxation" enslaves the one who is being stolen from and also the one who receives the stolen property. It is obvious once you take off the statist blinders.

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The death of "One Size Fits All"

If there is one thing that defines Libertopia, it is the realization that one size NEVER fits all.

Sure, there are still a few people out there who insist their way is the only way. But they are pretty rare and getting rarer. And they have no power to enforce their opinions.

There are nudists and prudes living in mutually-embarrassed peace. There are gun owners and pacifists. There are the devoutly religious and atheists. There are even little pockets of communism in Libertopia, for those who just can't bring themselves to be free. The difference is that no one can be coerced to participate against their will in anything here, and no government to take over to force your preferences on anyone else. Even when you are a part of a group, opting out is always one disagreement away.

It all comes down to choices. You have an almost unlimited variety of choices available here. No one even "legally" forbids you from attacking your neighbor, although few who choose that path survive long in a polite (armed) society. Your choice; your consequences. And those who attempt to limit the non-aggressive, non-thieving choices of others quickly find themselves shunned or worse.

Just as it should be.

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Missing details?

I hope you'll forgive me when, in these contra-chronal messages in a bottle, I leave out some detail of life here in Libertopia that seems critical, from your perspective, to the situation being described. I don't mean to leave out anything important to your understanding, but I'm sure it happens.

It is probably humanly impossible for me to avoid taking some aspects of liberty for granted. It is the ocean I swim in, and just as a fish might not notice the wetness of the water, Libertopians have a hard time always being aware of the liberty of Libertopia. That means that some detail in a narrative that you might wonder about, I might not even be noticing or think about explaining. I am trying to explain things more fully, when I realize you might need more, considering what I know of life in the Era of The State. That knowledge is incomplete.

Feel free to ask, if something (other than personal details) is missing.

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Independence Day, Libertopia-style!

I enjoyed our Independence Day celebration here in Libertopia. Immensely! Rather than celebrating independence from one particular State, we celebrate our independence from slavery to the idea that States are necessary or good.

As was the case in the past, we celebrate with fireworks displays. Spectacular ones. All paid for voluntarily, of course. But the festival (and it is quite a festival indeed) is so much bigger than that. There are regional differences, obviously, but some things are fairly ubiquitous around Libertopia.

A big draw is always the "shoots". Everyone brings out their favorite guns (or buys the one they've been eyeing for a while now) and enters friendly shooting contests. Some scheduled, but many impromptu. Since the majority of people go about their daily lives armed, it is a simple matter to set up a shoot on the spur of the moment, using what is on your hip or in your pocket. Knowing this is inevitable, ammo salesmen come prepared. A good thing, too! After all, you don't want to use up all your "carry ammo" in a contest for a bottle of whiskey. It's quite a party.

There are also costume contests. You can dress as your favorite historical character, good or bad. The historical liberty-lovers are cheered and the politicians are enthusiastically booed. It is very popular to dress as politicians from the past, as the melodramatic acting can be quite a crowd-pleaser. It's hilarious to see Hitler or Schumer comically recreated to the delight of the crowd. This time it's all in fun, though. You should have seen the friendly debate/wresting match last night between "Lysander Spooner" and "FDR"- hilarious!

The recreational debates, both costumed and not, are a good time, too. You'll have excellent speakers take the absurd position that government is good and let random people from the crowd demolish the contention. Or, they will propose a "reasonable" justification for using coercion for some "good cause", people buy tickets to put their name in a hat, and the person who wins the draw will get to point out why the supposed justification falls flat. It is fun to watch 5-year olds cut through nonsense that back in the era of The State professors promulgated with a straight face. Did anyone ever believe that stuff? I can't really say for sure, but it is so obviously silly now.

And the FOOD and beverages! You've never seen such a delicious variety! All lovingly (or at least skillfully) prepared to be sold or given away. If you want to eat it, drink it, or smoke it, someone has it available.

There are also games of all sorts, and vendors selling anything you might want. People reunite with those they haven't seen for a year or two. Tents and RVs are set up everywhere and anywhere a property owner allows (and few refuse). The bonfires glow all night long as the sound of laughter and music ebbs and flows, along with the sounds you will only hear around true liberty.

I heard a rumor that this year a few neighbors got together and bought a curmudgeonly fellow a couple of days at a luxury hotel far from the celebration. Not everyone enjoys the noise and commotion. Still, there is always a solution if you put the effort into finding it.

It's been years since there was any serious incident around here on Independence Day. People know that they are always responsible for their actions and the consequences of those actions, and that there is no one who will be obligated to protect you from yourself. It's amazing how quickly that simple realization makes a person grow responsible.

Anyway, I hope your Independence Day was as great as mine! Hurry and join me- we have a lot of catching up to do!

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Quiet (but noisy) in Libertopia

It's been quiet in Libertopia. Not much to report. Just people doing the things that mean the most to them and that give their lives purpose. Those particular things differ from person to person; having as many individual answers as there are people. Well, guess what. Your actions in your today, there in my past, are ultimately responsible for creating Libertopia, my Libertopia and yours, tomorrow. In my present.

It has already happened, so even events that seem to be destructive to individual liberty end up creating that which they try to prevent. Your States are sealing their own fates by their anti-liberty actions. Isn't that ironic?

What a happy tangent. Anyway, back to the point. I should probably explain "quiet". I suppose Libertopia is quiet in some ways, but rather noisy in ways that those unaccustomed to liberty might not expect.

It is quiet in the sense that there is no crime. There are occasional acts that violate a right and create a debt, but since there is no State to make "laws", there is no "crime".

But Libertopia is not quiet in the sense that there is a vibrant culture creating, experimenting, and exploring all around us. And living life to the fullest. That sometimes makes a ruckus. No one really seems to mind, and if they do it is simple to fix the problem.

Just think about it. What is it that you most would want to do if there was no one telling you it was forbidden or ordering you to pay for the "privilege" of doing things you want to do which harm (nor obligate) no other person? The sooner you throw off your yoke the sooner you can get started.

These are exciting times and I can't wait for you to get here! What are you waiting for? Come on!

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Leaving the Museum of Government

So that concludes all the Museum of Government exhibits. Perhaps there may be more some day, but I'd rather focus on current events than unfortunate historical happenings.

So let's leave the past behind and step into the sunshine!

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Welcome to Libertopia!

Some say Libertopia doesn't exist. Well, it's true it didn't- once upon a time.

That was then; this is now. My "now", anyway.

From your perspective back in the first couple of decades of the 21st century I suppose things look bleak. Rampant, deadly Super-Statism everywhere. The American Police State is just ramping up its war against the average American. Fiat money getting more unstable. And, always, the "solution" suggested to fix the problem is more of the same thing that created it. Insanity!

I gotta tell you, though: it gets better.

Liberty can't solve everything. We are still dealing with human beings and the constraints of the laws of the Universe, after all. Free societies solve more of the world's problems than anything else.

To give you a glimpse of the good things the future will bring, join me here. I think you'll be glad you did!

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