Attribute to L. Neil Smith's The Libertarian Enterprise

The recent terror attack in Nice, France and u.S. police killings in America bring up the same point libertarians, voluntaryists and Free Market Anarchists have been pounding the table on for years. All this violence against innocents and government targets appears to be mostly the result of previous massive violence perpetrated by government and the state.

France and the u.S. have engaged in 7+ major military conflicts in the past 20 years while simultaneously beating down the poor, working and middle classes in their own countries. Even in Paris, France where I visited recently the infrastructure was a shambles, the legendary Paris Metro is smeared with graffiti, filth, dirty seats and cars, drab stations and inadequate vending and service equipment. On the famed Champs Elysee boulevard, benches and sidewalks are strewn with garbage, junk, and all over the streets of Paris there are homeless, refugees, children in need of housing, vagrants and other unfortunates, as well as shady criminal elements.

Most Americans know how lousy and degradaded our own infrastructure and society is. The point is, the ruling classes in France and America really don‘t give a shit about the small people, they serve the rich, protect their protection-paying businesses and corporations, and for everyone else it‘s Every Man and Woman For Themself (As it should be, of course, minus the tax, regulatory and prohibitory burdens).

Add in the fact that the legal systems in France and America are stacked against ordinary people, and when people get into trouble you can easily imagine how someone like the Nice murderer decided to resort to terrorism.

Think about what probably happened with this Nice man. He was probably a hard-working, ambitious, hopeful and enterprising immigrant who came to France with good intentions. He started to have family problems with the dreary French economy beating them down, at the same time for related reasons he became embroiled in legal troubles from a series of petty crimes, in all likelihood provoked or exacerbated by hostile businesses and social conditions. Seeing the hopelessness of the French legal system and the intransigence of the French authorities and ruling class system, he concluded that taking revenge was justified. He pledged himself to ISIS and the radical Islamic revolutionary cause, and mowed down 84 souls in hot blood, because his own soul had been mowed down.

This is the reality we‘re dealing with, harsh social and economic conditions thrust down upon an innocent population, with no legal, judicial, social or economic recourse, and people decide to fight back with whatever they can.

As the child of a Frenchman, I am well acquainted with France and Europe having spent many years of my youth and life in numerous European countries. On my latest visits to France the past few years, I‘ve noticed a distinct disintegration of the urban centers. The countryside remains as always beautiful, but in the urban centers which contain most of the populations the failure of statism and socialism is obvious. In the statistics also, with so many millions of young people and so many others unemployed, the ruling class system is just beating Europe to a pulp. France is not a nice place to live, everything closes early and for lunch, it‘s hard to even buy food, cell phone credit and other essentials after 7pm. Most cities are like ghost towns a vast part of the day. Forget about shopping during their three hour lunches. European police are horrible, routinely harassing and oppresing peaceful honest people while letting big business, murderers, rapists and the guilty go free. As for America, as I said we all know it‘s the same B.S. and everyone for themself.

The governments and elites profit mightily from all the wars, strife, crime, and divisions in our societies. It‘s a terrible shame, but there is hope.

The hope is that we as people fight back in constructive and smart ways, and do everything we can to protect, enhance and enrich our own lives and the lives of our loved ones. Violence is not a good answer, because it just creates and excuses more violence and gives the powers that be an excuse to further strip liberties and clamp down with further repression. Killing police officers and targeting politicians certainly might be justified when you consider the libertarian Non- Aggression Principle of Self-Defense Against Oppression, but it‘s also certainly not advisable and is most accurately described as a guaranteed personal suicide pact and trip to Oblivion. Again, violence is a bad answer.

Fighting back in smart, clever ways is a great answer on the other hand. If a business screws you, screw them in the Court of Public Opinion and try to give them more legal trouble than they want. If a bank, credit card company or student loan servicer screws you with unfair conduct, walk away from the debt and screw them back. If a government bureaucrat tries to screw you, give them a sweet piece of your mind and hold their feet to the fire in creative ways. Don‘t let anyone or any institution or entity walk all over you. Fight back in smart ways. And, when dealing with the state, or anyone, “Be As Innocent As a Dove and As Wise As a Serpent”.

We‘re going to win.

All the Best,

Good Luck and Godspeed.