The 108th Congress should
- encourage Free Market law enforcement
Libertarians propose dramatic
cuts in government. Without government to penalize criminals,
won't crime rage out of control? What controls can the Free Market
apply to crime?
Our goal is not simply to
eliminate "the government." Actually,
Libertarians believe in MORE government than those who support
"the government." We believe in replacing
"the government" with
"self government." We believe in
- replacing a nation of
thieves and slaves ruled by a few in "the
government"
- with a nation of producers
and responsible Americans who govern themselves.
Self-Government
Means More Government
Those who support increased power for the
State and resist calls for anarcho-capitalism
usually do so because they are concerned about the cultural
effects of increasing numbers of people who do not understand the
principles of liberty upon which America was founded, and who are
easily manipulated by fascist or socialist demagogues.
Here's how self-government works to protect American
values better than the federal government.
Let’s consider the question of immigration:
Rather than being met at the border by jack-booted gun-wielding
federal immigration authorities, immigrants should be met at the
borders by voluntary
associations of friendly Americans who will offer American
hospitality, job training, values education and other works
of mercy which will help the immigrants carry on great
American libertarian traditions.
Once settled in America, there are continuing opportunities for
self-governing Americans to help new arrivals become great
citizens:
Families: Children who are not victims of government
schooling and who have been trained to appreciate America's
libertarian values can pass these values on to their neighborhood
playmates who come from foreign lands. American parents have
always been careful to know who their children play with, and
always make an effort to meet the parents of their children's
playmates and invite them to learn more about our culture.
Employers should actively seek out new arrivals to
America and hire them, showing them how American employers
appreciate the loyalty, hard-work, creativity and dedication which
characterize most immigrants, and how generous American employers
are in the wages they pay and benefits they offer. Lunchtime Bible
studies and employee training sessions can pass on America's
cultural values.
Landlords should rent to immigrants and help them become
self-governing tenants, thus passing on American respect for
property. Weekend classes in property management, concern for the
environment, and household budgeting can be required of tenants in
rental agreements.
Merchants should seek out immigrants and deal fairly
with them, explaining to them how American capitalism rewards both
buyer and seller in a voluntary exchange, and how capitalism has
made America a more prosperous nation than the nation from which
the customer has emigrated.
Teachers should pass on American values to their
students, even in classes that do not directly teach social and
cultural subjects. Like the Apostles (Acts
5:29), teachers should defy court
orders prohibiting a discussion of American values before and
after school, and at lunch.
Media sources which propagate anti-American values
should be boycotted. Americans should invite immigrants to join
them in viewing movies, television, plays, concerts, and other
events which transmit American values. Americans should invite
immigrants to neighborhood reading circles in which great
American books are read and discussed. Americans should host ESL
classes (English as a Second Language) in
their homes. Parents are qualified to teach their children
English; immigrants often bring a child-like love of learning.
Immigrants who commit crimes should be responded to in the same
way we respond to natural-born Americans who commit crimes.
It is only because Americans are no longer self-governing
that they appeal to "the government" to use armed force
against immigrants. This desire for increased government power is
lazy, unAmerican, and anti-Christian.
Let’s run through this list again in consideration of other
more serious forms of crime. These considerations apply to all
forms of crime such as theft, or any form of property damage, as
well as to other crimes which “Christian Reconstructionists”
are quick to demand criminal (State) sanctions: homosexuality,
adultery, or even idolatry. “Punishment” is their by-word.
Keep in mind that Biblical Law has no place
for prisons, but demands restitution.
The victim is to be made whole by the offender. How can the
offender be pressured to make restitution if there is no “government”
threatening him with prison or fines? (Not
that this helps the victim in any way; indeed, victims are taxed
to warehouse criminals.)
Families: The Founding Fathers agreed that religion and
morality were chiefly responsible for creating a population that
respected God’s Law. Schools continued this tradition. It is a
grave error to believe that the State can keep crime rates low by
outlawing the teaching of religion and morality in schools while
appropriating billions of dollars to a growing “prison industry.”
Peer pressure is more potent an educator than teachers, at
least in modern public schools. Children who are not victims of
government schooling and who have been trained to appreciate
America's libertarian values can pass these values on to their
neighborhood playmates who come from non-Christian homes. American
parents have always been careful to know who their children play
with, and always make an effort to meet the parents of their
children's playmates and invite them to learn more about God’s
Law. Sometimes children have been known to have a dramatic impact
on their parents. Christian families can teach Godly values to
neighborhood children, who may have an effect on their parents.
If a parent finds out that a child has committed theft or
property damage, that parent should require the child to make
restitution. This applies to children of any age (Deuteronomy
21:18-21). Adult children should be evicted, and ultimately
disinherited. In too many cases, older children who commit crimes
have parents who subsidize their criminal lives.
Churches should excommunicate those who are unrepentant.
It should be socially unacceptable to not be a part of a Christian
church or para-church organization. The
sermon should be the dominant media event of our culture.
Employers should penalize employees who have committed
crimes. Paychecks should be garnished to pay restitution to
victims. Unrepentant employees should be fired. Recidivist
criminals tend not to seek gainful employment, but before they
become recidivists, the threat of unemployment is a strong
incentive to avoid crime or undo the damage done by criminal acts.
Lunchtime Bible studies and employee training sessions can pass on
the values of Biblical Law.
Landlords should evict unrepentant criminals. Weekend
classes in property management, concern for the environment, and
household budgeting can be required of tenants in rental
agreements. Such actions maximize respect for property and
minimize crime.
Insurance Agencies will not insure property unless it is
protected with a network of contracts that require restitution
both on the part of the insured and those with whom the insured
deals.
Merchants should not sell to those who have committed
crimes and have not made restitution. Criminals should find it
very hard to live in a Christian society until they repudiate a
life of crime and commit to making amends for past acts of crime.
Teachers should pass on Biblical values to their
students, even in classes that do not directly teach social and
cultural subjects. Like the Apostles (Acts
5:29), teachers should defy court
orders prohibiting a discussion of American values before and
after school, and at lunch. Schools should evict students who do
not make restitution.
Non-profit associations should pick up the hard cases
from schools and other institutions. Intensive “brainwashing”
may be necessary to fill the character void and reverse years of
bad habits and unbiblical thinking.
Media sources which propagate anti-American values
should be boycotted. Americans should invite the lost to join them
in viewing movies, television, plays, concerts, and other events
which transmit Biblical values. Americans should invite at-risk
children and adults to neighborhood reading circles in
which great American books are read and discussed. Media sources
should adversely publicize those who do not respect life, liberty
or property. The internet should have plenty of sites which
catalog those who have been disinherited, evicted, boycotted,
excommunicated, etc. Public shame is a strong source of social
order. (Daniel B. Klein, Reputation:
Studies in the Voluntary Elicitation of Good Conduct, University
of Michigan Press, 1997)
The strongest criticism of this proposal is likely to come not
from Christians who oppose anarchism, but homosexuals who oppose
Christian culture. When these “private,” non-political
institutions are vigilant and Biblical, there is far less “liberty”
for criminals than when the State is functioning “properly”
but family, church, school, business, and voluntary associations
are dormant. The forces of unrighteousness are far more likely to
complain that people are trying to “impose their religion” on
them than when these institutions are silent and hope a strong
centralized State will speak out against evil. In short, a society
is well-governed when “the government” no longer exists. This
is not “utopian,” this is an ethical imperative.
Actually, as Bruce Benson has shown, private response to crime
has historically been the norm:
The historical
reality of crime policy is that public [state] provision of
criminal justice is a recent social experiment that has not worked
as predicted. The increasing role of private security that we see
today is actually a return to historical practices rather than
something new, although private sector institutions and
technologies have changed dramatically as entrepreneurs have
discovered new ways to deliver the desired protection.
. . . One survey indicates that nearly half of all
business security managers investigate and resolve employee thefts
within the business organization without ever reporting the crime.
To
Serve and Protect: Privatization and Community in Criminal
Justice, New York University Press, 1998
When all these social institutions are
functioning properly, there is no need for the IRS, the INS, the
DEA, or other fascist agencies.
History gives numerous examples of how
theft, fraud, and other crimes can be dealt with in
societies without socialism. Details
here.
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