Imagine a scenario with me:
You hire a private security company to protect your property (the foremost being your own body) and the property of your family, friends, neighbors or even strangers while they are on your property. With this voluntarily contract you enter a win-win relationship with the security company because you receive the security you desire and the company receives the patronage they desire (and your recommendation for satisfactory or even extraordinary service). You feel safe and assured.
One day, very much out of nowhere, a representative (or representatives) from your security company violates the terms of your security agreement and raids your house destroying your property, killing your pet, terrifying your family (the PTSD associated with this incident will last for quite some time) and shattering your trust. In the end, after all the pain and loss, it doesn’t matter why the company violated the terms and conditions of your agreement, only that they violated them. Let’s be 100% clear that the security company is in violation of the agreement, not the customer on the receiving end of the service.
What would you do as the customer?
I would demand recompense for the loss of property and psychological damage incurred during the incident, as the contract permits, and most likely terminate my business with the security company, telling everyone I know about their unsatisfactory business practices. Other customers, upon hearing of my situation, may withdraw their business from the security company and find another that provides a better service or reexamine their contract. The service of the security company I hired may no longer be worth the risk to potential and/or current customers. With the withdrawal of or lack of new contracts, the cost of their service will be forced to drop if they wish to survive in a competitive market.
As you can conclude, a security company wanting to profit in a free market better do a damn good job of protecting my property and ensuring a high yet reasonable compensation for violations of contract… or they face the guillotine (figuratively speaking).
Let’s compare this to the security service we’re all forced to pay for now:
You have no freedom to cancel your payment or choose to hire an alternative service. Law has been monopolized as has the system for enforcement (police, judges, etc). You, the customer, literally have no choice in the service you are forced to pay for nor do you have a physical contract entailing the terms and conditions for said service. So, you’re forced to pay for a service that doesn’t guarantee the safety of your property (including your own body) and doesn’t guarantee recompense for your property in the instance of damage or violation. Even worse, the security company you’re forced to pay for has no obligation to protect you- Say WHAT?!
Warren V. District of Columbia: The monopoly on law has ruled that “police do not have a duty to provide police services to individuals, even if a dispatcher promises help to be on the way…” Exceptions may be made, but that still means there is no guarantee of service. Let’s repeat that: No. Guarantee. of. Service.
Holy shit, wait a minute! It sounds like you’re being stolen from and lied to, right? You’re being forced to pay for a service you don’t necessarily want and you’re not even guaranteed to receive it. Are you OK with that? I’m not OK with that! I feel like I’m being forced to waste my money, my hard-earned property, and I’m risking my life with no guarantees on top of it all. Why should I be forced to do that? Why should you be forced to do that? My questions don’t stop here, but let’s continue…
Let’s take it a little further. When the service you’re forced to pay for actually starts murdering innocent customers, murdering customer’s pets, kidnapping customers from arbitrary crimes in which there are no victims (like possession of any substance deemed ‘illegal’ by the monopoly on law, or engaging in a voluntary agreement in which currency is exchanged for sex, etc), torturing customers, etc., where do you draw the line? When do you finally say, “That’s enough! This has gotten out of control! There’s a better way to provide security, and this is not it.”? Do you have to experience the violence firsthand to finally understand that this method of security is not only not working but that it’s having the opposite effect of its intended purpose? Does it have to be too late to for you or for someone you love before you understand it’s not working?
Could this post open your mind to the possibility of alternative solutions to security and other problems? Just as we strive to better technology, advance our knowledge of health and medicine and discover the mysteries of space or the uncharted depths of the ocean, let us work towards finding a better solution to any and all conflicts. Let us not get caught up in one system or solution simply because it is the only one to have existed in our lifetime. Should one possible solution have an unlimited number of attempts to solve a problem?
I’m ready to find an alternative solution, and I have an open mind. I want this to happen in Richmond more than anything else. I think it’s time to start having this conversation, and I encourage you to have it with everyone and anyone that will listen. Have it with us, Liberate RVA.
– Bugatti Veyron
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