[ExI] Call To Libertarians

[Darren Greer]

Quoting Samantha Atkins <sjatkins at mac.com>:
>
>  The essential element of libertarianism is the Non-Agression Principle.
>>  No one has the right to initiate force against another.  This is
>> equivalent to total freedom to do anything that does not harm,
>> physically force, threaten physical force or defraud another.
>>
>>
>
I like that principle Samantha. Very much. I am personally committed to it.
But I wonder how does one go about establishing system where the principle
non-aggression is paramount, when natural aggression, both tribal and
individual, seems to be a dominant feature of the human psyche nurtured by
millions of years of evolutionary development?

I don't ask this question facetiously, or in an attempt to disparage. I'm
truly interested in your response. I've been thinking about this kind of
society for awhile, and how it would work. One of the answers I've come up
with, that sounds similar to what you describe, is to establish a system of
territorial morality, where the doctrine is "you do your thing and I'll do
mine and it's all OK as long as it doesn't hurt anyone else." Because
morality, along with status (again both tribal and individual) and
economics, are most certainly related to aggression, from what I've
perceived. Alister Crowley came up with something similar in his Thelema
doctrine, as a recipe for modern utopia.

The problem as I see it is what to do when people in your society violate
this principle. Currently we're paralyzed by political correctness and
cultural relativism. Also it might be difficult to come up with valid
definitions of what harming somebody actually means. Just figuring that out
on a case-to-case basis might be as daunting as coming up with a universal
moral consensus.


Darren



-- 
*There is no history, only biography.*
*
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*-Ralph Waldo Emerson
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