Special to L. Neil Smith's The Libertarian Enterprise

Suppose there were a gang... A gang which required members to rape, pillage, and attack people as a condition of membership. A gang which financed all its activities, and bought all its clothing and equipment, with money it stole from the local population. A gang which bragged about driving nice cars stolen from people they attacked. Any member who didn't commit those acts on a regular basis would be kicked out, and quite probably be subject to revenge by the other members.

As a condition of gang membership, you are agreeing to pretend other people's property rights can't apply to you. You pretend no one has the right of association where you are concerned—if someone tries to walk away when you insist on talking to them, the gang's rules say you can murder them. If someone tries to defend themselves from unwanted physical contact—or from even worse—the gang's rules say you can murder them. The rules you impose on others don't apply to you.

If you are a member of this gang you are openly admitting support for what the gang does. When you wear the gang colors, you are identifying yourself as a member in good standing. You are leaving no room for mistaken impressions of what you are, what you do, and what you support.

Any non-member caught wearing the gang colors or claiming to be a member would be kidnapped and caged, robbed, and quite possibly killed by actual members of the gang. The membership must be kept pure. There is no room for pretenders.

Sometimes the gang's members actually do helpful things. This is what the gang and its supporters want everyone believing the gang is all about, but it is actually a small and uncommon part of what the gang does. In fact, it is rare enough to be newsworthy when it happens.

The rapes, theft, and murders committed in the name of the gang are said to be committed by a "few bad apples", even though a "good apple" who didn't do those things—or at least turn a blind eye to those who do—would be kicked out of the gang and targeted for revenge. By staying in the gang, a member is endorsing all the gang's activities—official and unofficial.

The gang has done a good job convincing your family, friends, and neighbors that without them, other gangs would commit the same acts, but that this would somehow be worse; it would be chaos and mean the end of civilization. It is a lie, but few are willing to admit they are being lied to, and many actually believe it is true.

"Polite society"—particularly including newspapers and television and radio stations—ignores the nature of the gang, and instead praises the members for the few good deeds done—deeds that don't require gang membership to perform. They also ignore the evil nature of the acts that only members of the gang can get away with committing. Those who refuse to ignore the institutional evil are ostracized.

When a member of the gang gets killed while wearing the gang colors, "Polite Society" weeps and wails and tears at its clothing, acting as though the death came out of nowhere and was completely beyond understanding. No matter what the gang members have done recently, and no matter that the supposed "good apples" didn't disavow the acts of the members who committed the acts. Polite Society demands everyone weep and wail along with them, and voice their loyalty to the gang over and over again, lest they be thought of as horrible, uncivilized monsters.

I'm not Polite Society. I can't grieve when members of the gang are killed. Even if they weren't currently attacking the innocent, by remaining in the gang and wearing the gang colors openly, they are declaring themselves an enemy to everything good and civilized. How can anyone see the deaths of these gang members as a "bad thing"?

Well, this gang actually does exist. It infests every town and city in America, and in most of the world. They are the police—the Blue Line Gang (in America). They pretend they have no choice in the acts they commit because politicians made up "laws" by saying magic words which made their perverted opinions "official". Never mind that Nuremberg proved this to be a worthless defense. Individually, they each have the ability to refuse to do evil, even if a politician says they must. And, if a person can't avoid committing these acts without removing himself from the Blue Line Gang, then to be a good person he MUST quit the gang, regardless of the personal costs. If I have a job and my boss tells me I am required to overcharge a customer or lose my job, I can't remain in the job and still be a decent person. It simply isn't possible.

It doesn't matter if you believe these "laws" are a good idea, or even "necessary". It doesn't matter if the lack of them scares you. Any "law" which seeks to control something other than aggression or property violations is a counterfeit "law"—the few that are left are unnecessary laws.

In the absence of police some people might get away with violating life, liberty, and property of others. The existence of police guarantees it.

This is why there is no such thing as a "good cop", and why there can never be. It is self contradictory.

The police is where the boot heel of tyranny meets the human face. Without them no evil ruler could impose his will on large numbers of people—people would simply kill him in self defense. Which is why politicians work so hard to whip up support for cops.

No good person can remain consistently good and continue to support the police. It simply isn't possible. I know good people who do support the police, but by doing so they are being inconsistent, and actually being evil at that moment. Withdraw your support; be a good person all the time.

The sooner you accept it, internalize it, and act on it, the sooner you will be free.

 Kent McManigal
Read all my writings at Blog.KentForLiberty.com
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Reprinted from Kent's "Hooligan Libertarian" Blog for Thursday, July 14, 2016

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