Know what the irony is here? Blacks are heading right back into slavery and dont even realize it!!
Read this and one realizes, its a slam dunk!!! Of course, I highlighted the most compelling section and the one that is indisputable........
The Sovereign Individual
This Libertas Award acceptance speech was delivered at the XXIII Forum da Liberdade, in Porto Alegre, Brazil, on April 12, 2010.
President [Leonardo] Fração, it is a pleasure to be here, at this XXIII Forum da Liberdade, whose theme is based on Ludwig von Mises’s Economic Policy book [known in Brazil as The Six Lessons]. Mises was one of the greatest intellectuals of the twentieth century, a resolute and uncompromising champion of freedom. Fifty years ago, Mises came to South America and delivered those six historic lectures, which are heralded and quoted just outside, at the Forum’s exhibit. Today, there is a great international revival of Misesian ideas – including in Brazil – which show the benefits that consumers and workers derive when they are free to venture, to chart their course, and to fulfill their desires.
This week, in Porto Alegre, there is a great concentration of intellectual heirs of Ludwig von Mises. We, from Instituto Mises Brasil, have just concluded our first Conference, which was a great success, and it could not have been otherwise! The energy emanating from you is contagious. We have here today many scholars and experts of the Austrian School of Economics. Tom Woods, one of the speakers at our Conference and the bestseller author of Meltdown, will address you tomorrow. The legendary founder and Chairman of the Mises Institute РLew Rockwell Рis also among us tonight! Without Lew, there would be no Mises Institute, no revival of the Austrian School, no Instituto Mises Brasil. Thank you, Lew. And above all, thanks to you, President Fra̤̣o, to IEE [The Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies], for your support to our Conference and especially for your achievements in the fight for liberty. Results come first in this contest; the results of the work of IEE and of the Forum da Liberdade are both evident and quantifiable. Congratulations, IEE!
On other occasions, I customarily speak about finance and economics, about the measures that are likely to bring about a more prosperous society; in other words, as did Mises, I usually speak about what works and what does not.
Today, for the first time, I am addressing a different subject. I speak about what moves me. I speak about where my energy, as an individual, originates. Its source is here, in this advanced and progressive libertarian community, which looks forward to real changes; not merely illusory changes from campaign slogans. I feel at home. It is a great honor to receive the Libertas Award.
The history of ethics has been a history of exploitation. From time immemorial, individuals were set apart into two groups: those that must obey the rules, and those that need not. The people must observe ethics and morals, while rulers not.
The ethics that you and I must observe correctly advocates that one should not steal the property of others, should not murder, and should not force others to do something against their will.
But note that those ethical rules do not apply to government – the government takes your money, calls it "democratic taxes," and presto! – it is now authorized to steal.
If one enslaves another, this is considered a heinous crime. After all, slavery is the antithesis of individuality! However, in the case of government, they will draft you to "serve your nation" for a year, call this conscription "military service," and serfdom becomes perfectly legal.
If one kills a neighbor, this is murder. However, if he is an agent of the government – particularly that of the United States – using an olive-green uniform, and invoking a "preventive" war or similar excuse, suddenly it becomes permissible to murder; legally.
Counterfeiting is a crime, but only for you and me. For the government has the money-printing machine, or more precisely, the counterfeiting machine. If it is they doing it, fine. If it is we, we go to jail.
Three hundred years ago, a substantial part of the population in the Americas was comprised of slaves. One hundred percent of the fruits of their labor were the property of their owners. Today, we are no longer slaves. However, about 40 to 50% of the product of your efforts and talent are not your property, but your masters’: that is, the government and its friends. This is what you pay, whether you like it or not, embedded in the prices of the products, or through other taxes, duties, or tariffs. We are no longer slaves, but we are serfs.
Previously, the slave owner would threaten to punish with a whip a slave who refused to work. Now, if you refuse to pay the government, you are summoned and attacked with lawsuits, until you are finally thrown into jail. In both cases, the violence is of the same nature. The gun doesn’t even need to be displayed, as in the case of the customary robber. The mere threat of violence suffices. But the gun is always present, in the robber’s pocket and in the ruler’s jacket.
Theft and slavery are crimes, even if sanctioned by the majority of the people! Theft of the government, by the government, and for the government is somehow accepted and rationalized by the population at large. Why does that majority agree with this theft?
We must analyze the most misrepresented concept nowadays: the concept of democracy.
Click the link below to continue reading... Newby
April 21, 2010
Helio Beltrão [send him mail] is the founder and president of Instituto Mises Brasil.
The Sovereign Individual by Helio Beltrão
