LewRockwell.com | The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their true names.
I’ve found a great deal of value in that little saying. It is, in fact, a fundamental building block of human development. So long as we call things by false names, we maintain our own confusion and contribute to our own abuse.
So, today I want to examine several instances of calling things by false names and to define true names for them.
True Name #1: “Because violent people say so.”
We’ve all heard young people ask why certain things must be done. And we are all familiar with responses like “because it’s the law” or “because that’s how society works.”
Those phrases, however, are untrue. The honest answer to such questions is “because violent people demand it.” Almost no one pays taxes willingly; they pay because they’ll be punished if they do not comply, ultimately including armed men and jail cells. The same goes for every state order, from building permits to stop signs: Comply or face punishments, ending in violence.
The truth is not that we do things because of laws or even because of convention; we do them because the users of violence order them and stand ready to hurt us if we don’t comply.
For actions we take voluntarily, difficult and misleading answers are not required. We usually answer questions about those things easily and honestly. Read Entire Article
By Paul Rosenberg
