'Not Left, Not Right . . . Try Up: To the individualist alternative"

"This is addressed to all those repulsed by the political alternatives offered today, those who are seeking a rational social-political position....
    "The solution is not centre-Left, centre-Right or centre-centre. The truth is not a compromise between two errors. What is needed is a radical alternative to both Left and Right, a system that doesn’t attempt to work with the worldview of either tribe, but starts with a fresh, first-handed view of the individual vs. the state.
    "I have found four ethical-political ideas that together open the door to a radical ... alternative.
    "Only four? You may be dubious. But watch.

1. Your life is your own. You are not the slave of any other man, group, or entity—human or divine. “Society” does not own you ...

2. You have rights. ... Each individual has the right to his life, and as corollaries, the right to what living a human life requires: the right to liberty, to property, and to 'the pursuit of happiness.'

3. Only physical force can violate rights. ... Persuasion appeals to the mind. It points to facts and offers incentives. Force negates the mind. It coerces by threats of destruction. Your thoughts, your plans, your decisions become irrelevant, courtesy of the gun of the holdup man or of the Gestapo.
    "The basic social-political alternative is: freedom vs. force. That means: the mind-respecting vs. the mind-negating.

4. Government is force. ... The laws of a government are not suggestions. They are not requests. They are commands. ... A proper government will use its physical force only in retaliation ... But the peaceful man should face no threat of force from the government. ...

* * * * 

"What kind of society do these 4 points mandate? A voluntary society.
    "All human interactions must be voluntary, entered into by mutual consent. ...
    "Both Left and Right are collectivist; neither side takes seriously the reality of an individual life and the individual’s right to live it according tohis own judgment. ...
    "The Left wants the regulatory state or even a socialist takeover of the economy. The Right wants a populist, police-state, whose Supreme Leader can decide to round up 'internal enemies,' deport 'illegals,' legislate morality, and junk the Constitution.
    "The Left used to uphold the right of free speech. No longer. The Right used to uphold business freedom and international free trade. No longer.
    "Try 'up': to the individualist alternative."

~ Harry Binswanger from his post 'Not Left, Not Right . . . Try Up'