The Zero Aggression Principle (ZAP)* is the key libertarian idea. It says — Don’t threaten or initiate force, or ask politicians to do it for you. This means…
- Limit force to defensive purposes (e.g. criminal justice)
- Let people live by their own conscience, provided they let others do the same.
Libertarians want to create a world where governments never initiate force, even for good intentions. Governments must only use force defensively — to serve rather than rule. If this idea attracts you then please join us. Subscribe! And share this page with others!
What does everyone, including you, want?
Every human being, including you, wants to avoid aggression. No one wants to be harmed.
What is initiated force?
Can you tell the difference between initiated force and defensive force? This distinction is crucial to libertarian thinking.
Is fraud initiated force?
Fraud is illegal when used with the aim to... initiated force by other means
What is a libertarian?
Libertarians of all types agree on one thing: Solving social problems starts with a specific question.
What is a Voluntaryist?
Applying the libertarian Zero Aggression Principle consistently.
Where do you get your rights?
Does The State foster empathy, or oppose it?
Is the Golden Rule inherently libertarian?
Does The State violate the Golden Rule?
Can everyone do absolutely anything they want?
Everyone is free but cannot do absolutely everything they might want to do.
How much should you respect individual conscience?
Are you willing to use "government" force to make others obey your preferences, or will you respect individual conscience in all things?
How do we expand our liberty?
Don't impede the happiness of others. Politics is an anti-empathetic assault on individual happiness.
Is the libertarian concept of Zero Aggression pacifist?
The Zero Aggression Principle does not equal pacifism. It prohibits neither assertiveness nor defense. It only prohibits initiated force.
Are there exceptions to the Zero Aggression Principle?
Initiated force digs a hole Why there should be a bias against initiating force.Should zero aggression always be your starting point?
Find ways to solve social and political problems without aggression
Isn’t voluntaryism just another ideology?
Unlike statists, left and right, the voluntaryist doesn't see you as a pawn in some scheme to make the world a better place.
How do libertarians view Constitutional rights?
Does the Bill of Rights only apply to Americans?
How do libertarians view politics?
Are voters sociopaths?
Is a criminal action still a crime if The State does it?
Does your so-called government fight crime, or commit crimes?
Are you a passive consenter to State criminality?
Do you aid and abet The State's criminality?
Do you make excuses for State criminality?
Do you know someone who suffers from it?
Is Democracy benign and moral?
Democracy has no magic power to make wrong become right. We rightly rejected the divine right of kings, but now wrongly accept a divine right of majorities.Is democracy inherently perverted?
In democracy the majority vote counts 100% but the minority vote counts 0%. What happens to self-rule?
What is the connection between morality and law?
Should you advocate the Nuremberg Principle? This article is 92 words long. You can read it in 30 seconds. It addresses these questions -- Are legislation and law the same? Is legislation inherently lawful? Can legislation be criminal? What if legislation had to be moral? Would this promote empathy?
What is a law?
Most people think a law is anything passed by a legislative body. If true, then how could the Nuremberg Trials rule that Nazi “laws” were illegal?
Are some people confused about what a government is?
Government defined. What should government do, and not do? Does an institution cease being a government if it violates government's purpose? Other labels.
What is a legitimate government?
Two traits distinguish a legitimate government from a pretend "government." This mini-article has 106 words. You can read it in less than 30 seconds.
What is The State?
What is The State? How does The State differ from legitimate government? This mini-article is 202 words long. You can read it in under a minute.
Can you be pro-government but anti-state?
We are pro-government and anti-state. Does that sentence contradict itself? This 116-word mini-article explains why it does not. You can read it in under 30 seconds.
What do libertarians mean by the terms statist and statism?
Libertarians use the terms statist and statism to describe those who use The State to impose their personal preferences on others.
Who are the left-statists and right-statists?
The Zero Aggression Project believes most political labels are fraudulent. Using the terms left-statist and right-statist solves this problem.
Do statists have a P-P problem?
Left sees profit as a curse word. Right does the same with pleasure. Both sides use The State to impose these prejudices on others.
Should anyone have coercive authority over others?
Is The State the country?
Statists assume The State is the same thing as the country. But voluntaryist libertarians argue that The State is merely an institution.
Are society and community the same thing as The State?
Libertarians think The State's use of initiated force is inherently anti-social and anti-community. Society and community describe voluntary relationships.
Is The State a form of cooperation?
Libertarians believe that statists misunderstand cooperation. The State's use of initiated force contradicts the whole idea of cooperation.Is statism actually compassionate?
When voluntaryists disagree with a more "socialist" political agenda, they're accused of being "privileged" or "selfish."What is the central principle of politics today?
Can statist policies be enforced without murder?
What do libertarians propose as the alternative to state coercion?
Libertarians propose peaceful persuasion and voluntary cooperation as the alternative to statist violence.
Is statism generous?
Would you consider your neighbor generous if he robbed you and gave your money to the Red Cross?
Are statists robbing your charities?
Statists engage in charity robbing to fund their favored cause. This is greedy and harmful. The Zero Aggression Principle is the cure for charity robbing.
Why should you oppose all business taxes?
Companies collect taxes, their customers pay them. Corporations never pay taxes, consumers do.
Can The State cure selfishness and greed?
Selfishness and greed are inherent to statism. Thus, The State cannot cure these problems, it can only magnify them.
Do more laws make things better or worse?
A frequent outcome of new statist policies is the Boomerang Effect. The unintended side-effect of a new law or regulation is that it makes the problem worse.
Do “free riders” justify initiated-force?
Free riders do NOT justify initiated force. Instead, they signify a benevolent, empathetic society committed to generosity and Zero Aggression.
Do externalities justify initiated force?
The State is the ultimate negative externality
Do the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few?
Do some people need to be monitored and disciplined by their "betters?"
Statist argument from arrogance.
Can any particular good outcome justify The State?
Reject Cargo Cult Statism. Instead of initiating force, set yourself the empathetic task of always finding ways to deliver the cargo using Zero Aggression.
Can initiated force be harnessed for good?
When Statists solutions fail, and they blame the opposing party or some other non-cooperating force, they've fallen for...
How should The State be evaluated?
To learn how to evaluate The State correctly you must learn to count all the costs of initiated force.
Can a cost-benefit analysis justify initiated force?
Can “social science” justify initiated force? Part 1
No complete cost-benefit analysis is ever conducted before any statist scheme is implemented. Statists use "social science" to sidestep this flaw
Can "social science" justify initiated force? Part 2
“Social science” also fails in another crucial way...
Are fears of even modest State growth reasonable?
Statism is creepy
Can initiated force be limited?
Giving The State the power to initiate force instantly frees it from most limits.
Can The State be controlled?
The Constitution either created the criminal State we now have, or it was impotent to prevent it.
Does initiated force solve social problems or beget more violence?
Politicians design programs they believe will initiate force precisely and sparingly. But in reality, they've opened Pandora's Box.
Is corruption an accidental byproduct of statism?
Is the Zero Aggression Principle anarchistic?
The State is anarchy. It is not ruled or regulated by anything, it commits crimes. It foments chaos and disorder.
Is The State needed to provide governmental services?
The State's cultural dominance has left us largely blind to institutions of NON-STATE GOVERNANCE and order.
Are there non-state forms of regulation?
There are non-state forms of regulation just as there are non-state forms of government.
Do you have more power as a consumer or as a voter?
Consumer vs voter -- where does your greater power lie? Consumers are kings. Voters are captives.
Is taxation impractical?
Violence-based funding is inherently criminal and corrupt. It removes the need to satisfy customers, leading to waste and incompetence.
What is the alternative to The State?
Consumer controlled governments will begin when violence-based funding ends. You will set your own budget for government and choose your own providers.
Will consumers fund sufficient governance?
What amounts to "sufficient funding" for government services should be defined by consumers, NOT politicians.
Can The State become a legitimate government?
Transforming The State into a true government means no more initiated force.
Is a libertarian society Utopian?
A society based on the Zero Aggression Project will not be Utopia. But it will be better than the Statist society we now.
What fundamental laws will govern a libertarian society?
Law in a society based on the Zero Aggression Principle will rely on three social norms.
What is a post-statist?
Post-Statism - A forward-looking label....Statists advocate initiated-force. They come in liberal, conservative, green, libertarian, and socialist varieties
Can we let the market handle things?
What do libertarians mean when they say, "Let the market solve a problem?" Are they suggesting that greedy, capitalist cronies should solve social problems?
Are the free market and society the same thing?
Free market is not just money, materialism, and self-interest. It covers all peaceful exchanges, cooperation, and human relationships. Free market is...What is capitalism?
Capital is money or resources used for production rather than consumption. Capitalism is "Toolism."
Do you analyze competing concepts fairly?
Do you analyze competing concepts fairly? Golden Rule of Ideas: Treat your own ideas the same way you treat opposing concepts. No double-standards.Should you avoid the war of competing studies?
Can a study refute a moral principle? Can people become experts in how others should live? What you can can gain from avoiding the war of competing studies.
Are you being manipulated by a statist machine?
Agenda Setting controls what people think and how they think about it. Agenda Setting is manipulative and excludes libertarian ideas. But there is a cure!
Why do my friends snap-back to statist ideas when I’m not there?
The Rubber Band Effect. One conversation won't undo the "pull" of statismWhy do people act as they do politically?
The aesthetic theory of partisan attraction suggests that people don't reason their way into a political party or ideological tribe
What thing do we most need to create a libertarian society?
The most useful libertarian actions will be those that discover, recruit, and mobilize more libertariansWhy do statist ideas defeat libertarian ideas in the political arena?
Seen as often as statist schemes (visibility parity), libertarian ideas win. How to make that happen? Operation Everywhere.
What strategic activity should libertarians prioritize?
Since there are tens of millions of latent libertarians, focus on that low-hanging fruit, first.
Can you induce people to reject statism?
"Man's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions." Try the Mental Depth Charge: Identify contradictions and then stand back!When should statists oppose greater government powers?
The 'shoe on the other foot' rule. Before giving any power to a politician, think about what could happen if a bad politician had that power.
Why should you tackle the five hardest issues first?
Use the Pillar Strategy to collapse the mental structure of statism.Can a voluntaryist be a gradualist?
A Fabian libertarian maintains the ultimate objective of a zero aggression society but also seeks small opportunities to move in that direction.
Does the common definition of isolationism make sense?
Libertarians get accused of being "isolationists" all the time. Statists are sloppy with words like that. The actual isolationists are...Why political borders are not like private property lines
Locked doors are for protection. Politicians maintain borders for dividing the sheep and fleecing them. Political borders can be bad for property rights.Is capitalism the same thing as the free market?
Most people assume that capitalism and the free market are the same thing. In this 158 word mini-article, Zero Aggression explains the actual relationship.Should libertarians abandon the word capitalism?
Democrats, socialists abuse the word capitalism causing capitalist to get shy. But this word can expose hypocrisy if used correctly...Does anarcho-capitalist describe pure libertarian?
Some libertarians and voluntaryists like to call themselves anarcho-capitalists (an-caps). Please consider these three ways that label fails.Are single-payer advocates lying, even to themselves?
Single-payer is a phony, misleading term. Let us count the ways that illustrate how there's never a single payer in any of these schemes.What’s the true objective of ‘single-payer’ advocates?
What's the true meaning of single-payer? Single-payer really means single-price. Single-price means shortages, poverty, and death.