A voluntaryist libertarian believes that all adult relationships should be voluntary.

A voluntary society is what results when you apply the Zero Aggression Principle (the ZAP) consistently. This means that institutions of governance must be…

The result is something we call consumer-controlled governance. In other words, citizens should have the power to withhold funding from government functions they disapprove of, or to choose another service provider.

Some libertarians disagree. They make exceptions to the Zero Aggression Principle. They argue that some legitimate government functions, such as police, courts, national defense, and pollution control, require taxation, though they still hope to limit those functions and taxes.

Voluntaryists believe this approach is both immoral and impractical. It’s immoral because it initiates force. It’s impractical because it…

  • Divorces government from the need to perform well.
  • Gives politicians vast powers that must inevitably expand.

This is why tax-funded government tends to be wasteful and inefficient. It’s also why tax-funded government constantly grows. There is no way to prevent this once you permit the power to initiate force. Thus…

Voluntaryists make NO exceptions to the ZAP. Force must never be initiated. Force must only be used defensively.

The voluntaryist thinks empathetically when evaluating all political proposals. We put ourselves in the shoes of those affected — not only those who would benefit from some coercive political proposal, but also those who would be harmed by it. We ask if we would want to be treated that way, and then act accordingly.

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By Jim Babka & Perry Willis

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