Tag Archives: gay marriage

Living Under the Mirage of Law

Respect for “the law” held by liberals and conservatives alike is entirely a consequence of their own personal stance on its validity. For example, the Supreme Court found in Citizens United that free speech protection does indeed extend to corporations, but since that didn’t sit to well with liberals (who are eager to selectively muzzle corporations they disagree with) they applaud any attempt to undermine that decision. The second amendment guarantees a right to individual gun ownership, but again liberals will hardly shed a tear when local officials defy that right with onerous restrictions. Likewise, Roe v. Wade and Obamacare are settled constitutional law (according to the Supreme Court) and yet conservatives will do whatever they can to subvert the spirit and intent of these laws. With conservatives the cognitive dissonance of unconditionally supporting cops (even when throwing grenades into a baby’s crib) but opposing taxes creates unexpected results. Last year Eric Garner chose to ignore New York’s laws regarding selling untaxed cigarettes and paid the ultimate price for his impertinent obstinacy in not bending to the will of the state (death by cop). And what did the putatively tax-averse conservative do? Rather than commending his act of tax-rebellion, they hid behind a wall of cowardice in proclaiming, “well, the law is the law and it must be followed.” I guess they’re only opposed to onerous taxes that affect them.

Religious conservatives are now all too happy to do a full 180 on the principal of “follow the law” and heap accolades upon someone who defies the law – because they happen to agree with her. Kim Davis, clerk of the court for Rowan County Kentucky, is being held up as a noble heroine for her staunch refusal to issue marriage licenses to gay couples. There aren’t many things one can be sure of in life but of this I am most certain: had the court ruled the other way and we now had a clerk issuing marriage licenses to gay couples in defiance of that decision, conservatives would be quite vocal on the sanctity of the “rule of law” and that officials have a solemn duty to carry out the law despite their own personal misgivings.

At one time the Fugitive Slave Act, Jim Crow, and Japanese internment were law but I dare say you’d be hard pressed to find anyone today who would view people that ignored those laws as being guilty of anything other than heroism. So where does this leave us? If sometimes it really is ok to ignore the law and sometimes it (supposedly) isn’t, then perhaps the problem is not with a societal lack of unwavering respect for “the law” but rather with the laws themselves. This lack of solidarity over what constitutes valid law is merely a reflection of the fact that society is composed of individuals who don’t all agree on everything. That is ok. I have some shocking news: it is possible for people to live together and not be forced to live the exact same way.

Laws of nature cannot be broken; laws of man can. By labeling the latter with the same appellation as the former, society deludes itself into believing the two are equivalent in their capacity to govern human behavior. Man’s laws are that fiction that implies human behavior can be constrained by mere ink. And if ink alone doesn’t work then we now have our excuse to “enforce” its edicts by any means necessary. Law is not protection from aggression but rather an excuse to engage in it – “look, he broke the law, go get him!” Laws against murder, rape, or theft are not what potentially protect us from such acts, rather feedback does. That is to say, contained within the act itself is the basic natural right to reciprocally respond to it (the right of self-defense). The real and certain potential for instantaneous reciprocity is the actual deterrent that keeps criminals at bay, not mere laws.

Rules (laws) are acceptable if one has affirmatively consented to them (and consent does not mean merely being born within invisible walls), but without consent mere ink can not convey the right to aggress against others because they choose not to follow particular rules concerning taxation, social behavior, or other non-aggressive behavior.

There is nothing mistaken in thinking this law or that law is unjust and should be ignored; all non-property rights violation laws are but mere opinion enforced with guns. The real crime here is engaging in the hypocrisy of believing we must live under a rule of law while simultaneously ignoring the laws you don’t like. Don’t be a hypocrite; admit that forcing others to live according to your beliefs is dishonorable and in that moment you will have earned the right to live unmolested by the beliefs of others. If you espouse aggression against others, then don’t come crying when others aggress against you.

Supreme Kool-Aid

The Supreme Court rendered two landmark decisions this past week. For those short on time I will parse them in the simplest of terms. In King v. Burwell (the “Obamacare” case) the Court decided that “established by the States” can mean exactly the same thing as “not established by the States.” This ranks right up there with Bill Clinton’s inability to parse the meaning of the word “is.” This linguistic pretzel betrays the court’s predilection to save Congress from themselves. The court regards Congress as a parent would a child who keeps getting into trouble: “aw, shucks silly rabbit, you mean you didn’t anticipate that a poison pill clause aimed at punishing the citizens of recalcitrant states might blow up in your face if those states remained recalcitrant? – well, don’t you worry, old Uncle Roberts will fix that right up for you with his magical judicial word-redefiner.”

In the next decision, Obergefell v. Hodges (the “gay marriage” case) the Court affirmed the principle that we should heap accolades upon our wise overlords when they deign to stop interfering in our lives. Apparently we need the state to stop other states from doing bad things – but who will protect us when the federal state does bad things? State regulation of marriage makes about as much sense as state regulation of healthcare.

Right about now the left is feeling pretty smug and self-satisfied with these decisions. But the right has had their day, and they will once again. That’s just how our system works – the lives of 300 million people must conform to the opinion of nine random people in black robes while each side cheers for their “team.” Both sides trumpet the merits of democracy – until their side loses. When that happens they are both all too happy to jettison the “democratic” results and substitute it with the opinion of 9 monarchs.

The fact that so many wait in eager anticipation for a sign of white or black smoke wafting from the judicial chimney of the Supreme Palace betrays something rather sinister. Nearly all of us are part of a cult: the cult of the State. The figurative “kool-aid” of state-love is doled out year after year at, gasp!, state run schools. There is nearly no defense against this mountain of propaganda. We grow up believing our rights come from government and therefore when the wise sages of that august institution speak, we must pay heed.

Consider a different perspective: The US Government is the functional equivalent of a private corporation that has monopolized certain segments of the economy. It maintains its market dominance and its customer base (us) through a combination of brainwashing during childhood, the illusion of control in adulthood (voting), and the for those that would rebel against paying for products it forces upon us, the overt threat of violence from a massive military complex. Cast in that light we should see that the internal policy making procedures of this company should have as much relevance to one’s life as would the operational policy decisions made at Apple, Walmart or Payless Shoe Stores. Who cares what 9 random people think? How is it that we not only allow – we welcome – other people, (the President, Congress, or the Supreme Court) telling us how to run our lives? If you want to participate in a socialized insurance system called “Obamacare” fine, be my guest. That has as much relevance to my life as does your decision to buy car insurance from Progressive and not State Farm. However, I choose to not purchase the products of U.S. Government, Inc – Social Security, Medicare, Obamacare. I also see no need to ask permission from one of its wholly owned subsidiaries (Georgia, Inc.) to get married, get a job, start a business or educate my children.

Now some might argue that I have a “social responsibility” to purchase some products (“public goods”) and that gosh-darn someone must force me to do so if I won’t. In reality, there is no such thing as “public goods” – this is simply a name that emerges from sloppy and lazy thinking from those that can’t fathom how anything other than violence could bring such products to market. And for those inclined to cite “the roads” please bear in mind it only constitutes about 1% of government spending.

I will close with this one tidbit of irony. The determination of the constitutionality of laws by the Supreme Court (“judicial review”) is itself unconstitutional. You can scour the Constitution but you will not find the authority for the court to engage in this practice.  This notion of “judicial review” was born out of the court’s ruling in Marbury v. Madison in 1803 as a matter of expediency and we’ve suffered the consequences ever since. That the dictum “the ends justify the means” guides this court’s decision should come as no surprise considering its power to render these decisions flowed from the same principle.