Special to L. Neil Smith’s The Libertarian Enterprise

(previously posted to the KentForLiberty blog)

Recently, as if to illustrate a problem I've written about, I have gotten several comments and emails explaining why "X" is the exception. Why "X" is the one issue where other people's liberty can't be respected—why they can't be trusted with it, but must be subject to control and enforcement imposed politically. And they all give perfectly reasonable-sounding reasons.

The thing is, everyone who has weighed in has a different specific exception. No two "X"s were the same.

Each specific exception hinges on the issue (or issues) they are most concerned about. The thing that worries them the most, or that they can imagine impacting them the most.

This is why you can't make exceptions.

Liberty—no exceptions.

You are responsible for you. Yes, many (maybe most) people are not responsible. It doesn't change this.

You might not like having to watch your backtrail for those who aren't responsible. It's still your job to do so. Cops, bureaucrats, legislation, dictates/mandates, rules, law, etc. don't alter this one iota. It's still 100% your responsibility even if you're tired of it or feel inadequate to the task.

You have the right to defend yourself from archation or credible threats to archate, but if you overreact you owe restitution.

And there is no such thing as a "right" to proactively archate against them before they can archate against you—and that includes through legislation and enforcement of legislation.

Once you start carving out exceptions, you have no basis to complain when others do the same for whatever "problem" bothers them the most. You'll have to fight among yourselves to see who violates whom the most righteously. Guns, Covid, vices, immigration, cars, Rock n' Roll, or dancing—it's all on the table. Soon, what's left? You are only "free" to choose which hand your sex-monitoring chip is implanted in?

No thanks. That's not the world for me. I'll accept risk to avoid violating your liberty, even if you don't reciprocate and even if you don't want liberty, but only freedom. Your issues—even if shared by the majority—don't affect my principles.