I just completed Opitz’s The Libertarian Theology of Freedom and found it insightful and an enjoyable read. I am aware that most people could care less about these things – but I thought I would post a segment of the book that I enjoyed.
Claims of Government
It takes but a moment’s reflection to convince ourselves that the preposterous claims of government are sheer fraud. Take, for example, the matter of economic security. The government promises to provide us with at least a minimum of economic goods – houses, good, clothing, and so on. Now, no person can give away what he does not possess, and neither can government. Government does not produce the economic goods it promises to dispense, nor is it a factor in their production; people do the producing. The three factors in production are land, labor, and capital; government is not one of these. Before government can give you anything, it must first take it away from somebody else; or before it can give somebody else anything, it must first take it away from you.
This is not the way to prosperity or justice. In current theory, government promises to be a Robin Hood, robbing the rich to pay the poor. This theory is immoral, but the practice is even worse. The promise is soon forgotten, and Robin Hood robs the rich and the poor alike to pay Robin Hood.
Nice!