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It's the same message every election year: "Get out and vote--It's
your civic duty." Those who audit the sound bites of the
candidates, read headlines about the debates and finally pull the
lever at their local precinct are touted as moral, upstanding
citizens; those who find among the candidates no agreeable
representative, no platform worthy of espousal, and who then refuse
to turn out on election day, on the other hand, are labeled
apathetic and the legitimacy of their opposition is denied. This
book is an anthology of articles and excerpts from a variety of
sources that deal with the topic of nonvoting. In presenting the
minority view that important moral and political reasons abound for
not voting, the book unfolds four general arguments: voting is
implicitly a coercive act because it lends support to a compulsory
state; voting reinforces the legitimacy of the state; and existing
nonpolitical, voluntarist alternatives better serve society. Many
people do not agree with the concept of nonvoting--but the serious
and well thought through underpinnings of such a belief are of
crucial importance to an understanding of modern American politics.
Throughout history, governments have sought more efficient ways to
count, tax, allocate, monitor and order the activities of their
citizens. Watner and McElroy have compiled a collection of essays
that present the historical, religious, moral and practical
arguments against government identification. The articles look at
several government naming practices and the census and discuss how
the collection of seemingly innocent data could be used to commit
abuses. Section one recounts the history of what we now call
national ID. Section two covers contemporary technologies, such as
microchips, email tracking and camera-based surveillance systems,
applying to each the test, ""How would this catch terrorists or
other criminals without destroying the rights of peaceable
people?"" Section three imagines a future of rebellion against a
government tracking its citizens in the name of security, but
offers some hope that American culture does not lend itself to the
fanatical control that a high-tech national ID system could make
possible.
HOMESCHOOLING A HOPE FOR AMERICA is a collection of articles taken
from The Voluntaryist, a newsletter with a libertarian outlook
which has been published since 1982. This anthology argues against
government education in a unique way. One who advocates
voluntaryism opposes government schools, not because he opposes
schooling but, because he opposes coercion, which is to be found in
government taxation, compulsory attendance laws, and in the
monopolization of public services. Most of us would agree that
there should not be any state religion; that religion should not be
supported by taxation; and that people should not be compelled to
attend religious services. Why shouldn't the principles of
voluntaryism in religion apply to education? All government depends
on the cooperation and/or tacit consent of the majority of its
citizens. When the state could no longer use government churches to
legitimize its rule of the divine right of kings, some other
institution had to be found that would induce consent among the
masses. Government schools became the chosen instrument to produce
good citizens for the state. Indoctrinate the young: then they will
support the state for the rest of their lives. America is at a
cross roads of cultural and economic disintegration, yet
voluntaryists believe that there is hope. It is to be found in home
schooling. Rather than cursing the darkness, parents can light one
small candle of wisdom and learning and pass it along to the next
generation. "Ages of experience testify that the only way society
can be improved is by the individualist method; ... that is, the
method of each one doing his best to improve one." This is the
quiet or patient way of changing society because it concentrates
upon bettering the character of men and women as individuals. As
the individual units change, the improvement in society will take
care of itself. In other words, if one takes care of the means, the
end will take care of itself.
LARGE PRINT EDITION More at LargePrintLiberty.com
Voluntaryists are advocates of non-political strategies to achieve
a free society. We reject electoral politics, in theory and in
practice, as incompatible with libertarian principles. Governments
must cloak their actions in an aura of moral legitimacy in order to
sustain their power, and political methods invariably strengthen
that legitimacy. Voluntaryists seek instead to delegitimize the
State through education, and we advocate withdrawal of the
cooperation and tacit consent on which State power ultimately
depends. This volume is a collection of essays from The
Voluntaryist newsletter between the years 1982-1999.
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