"Consent"? Of the "governed"?
Look at it this way...
There
are 2 basic ways in which people can interact: by mutual agreement or by one
person using threats or violence to force his will upon another. The first can
be labeled “consent” – both sides willingly and voluntarily agreeing to what is
to be done. The second can be labeled “governing” – one person controlling
another. Since these two – consent and governing – are opposites, the concept
of “consent of the governed” is a contradiction. If there is mutual consent, it
is not “government”; if there is governing, there is no consent.
Some will claim that a majority, or the people as a whole, have given their consent to be ruled; even if many individuals have not. But such an argument turns the concept on its head. No one individually or as a group, can give consent for something to be done to someone else. That is simply not what “consent” means. It defies logic to say, “I give my consent for you to be robbed.” Yet that is the basis for the cult of “democracy”: the notion that a majority can give consent on behalf of a minority. That is not “consent of the governed”; it is forcible control of the governed, with the “consent” of a third party.
Some will claim that a majority, or the people as a whole, have given their consent to be ruled; even if many individuals have not. But such an argument turns the concept on its head. No one individually or as a group, can give consent for something to be done to someone else. That is simply not what “consent” means. It defies logic to say, “I give my consent for you to be robbed.” Yet that is the basis for the cult of “democracy”: the notion that a majority can give consent on behalf of a minority. That is not “consent of the governed”; it is forcible control of the governed, with the “consent” of a third party.
- The Most Dangerous Superstition
I’m beginning to believe
the “Rule of Law” is more the root of our problems than the cure. Categorically forcing individuals to be slave to laws of “civilized society” or “for the
greater good”, is collectivist-statist bullshit. Do you need a “ruler” or “government”
or “imposed authority” to live your life in ways that do not project force or
fraud on someone? Mutual agreement, voluntary cooperation, does not require a “rule
of law”. Everything we need to live peacefully and productively is contained within free, voluntary mutual cooperation. The Rule(s) of
Law requires enforcement – and force is the mortal enemy of peace and
self-governance. We could all live quite well “voluntarily” than as “citizen-slaves”
to a powerful, corrupt, Freedom-killing machine that is the State which uses
the Rule of Law to subject others to its will.
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