Can any particular good outcome justify The State?

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Statists justify initiated force by pointing to some good it achieves. But this is like the South Sea Cargo Cults that linked wealth with cargo-planes. The fact that a particular institution or method delivered a good outcome doesn’t mean that’s the only way it could be done. Using individual good outcomes to justify initiated force is Cargo Cult Statism. In reality…

  • It would be stunning if The State did nothing positive with the vast wealth it controls. It would simply have to do some good, even if only by accident.
  • The ends don’t justify the means. Using bad means is always wrong, no matter how good your intentions are. The moral costs of initiated force trump any claimed benefit.
  • There are non-violent alternatives to every good The State provides.

Libertarians reject Cargo Cult Statism. Instead, we set ourselves the empathetic task of always finding ways to deliver the cargo using Zero Aggression.
Libertarians believe governments must obey the Zero Aggression Principle. Governments must not initiate force. They must only use force defensively. 

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By Perry Willis & Jim Babka

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