Freedom Outlaws

I am sure, that simply writing this article is breaking some law, somewhere. I have not made and will not make any effort to discover any such law. All laws are oppressive immoral restrictions on the freedom of moral individuals. [See my four part series, Social Chaos, which describes the deadly evil of order imposed by law.]

It is impossible to live morally in any modern Western nation, perhaps any nation anywhere, without breaking laws. A moral individual does not have to consider any law because he is going to live morally no matter what laws exist or do not exist. He does not obey any law�he does not obey moral laws because they require nothing he is not going to choose anyway, and he does not obey immoral laws, because such obedience would be immoral.

The independent individualist does not disobey any law in defiance, but since he regards all laws as an affront to his virtue at best, or a threat to his life and freedom, more likely, all laws, for the moral individual are irrelevant. There is only the practical matter of knowing what oppressive laws it is particularly dangerous to be caught in breach of by the thugs who enforce them. Beyond that, laws are to be regarded as man-made evils with no essential significance.

Outlaw Occupations

The truly creative productive individual is almost certain to be living in violations of some laws, just because so many laws are directed against original and adventurous enterprise. The Daily Freedom articles, “Smuggler’s Notes” and “Be A Ragnar Danneskj�ld,” were about two moral outlaw occupations, smuggling and black markets.

There are other occupations an independent individualist might be interested in that might be overlooked because of the ubiquitous laws and regulations that all come under the banner of, intellectual property. The copyright and patent laws are all immoral restrictions on individuals using their own minds and productive efforts in the name of protecting coercive monopolies.

[If you are not aware of what is wrong with so-called “intellectual property”laws, please see the articles: “Commentary - Intellectual Property” and “Patent Absurdity and Tyranny of the Mind“]

This is not a suggestion that you begin to copy and sell CDs, (music or software), for example, though there would be nothing immoral in doing that; the reward, however, is not worth the risk in most cases. (There are certainly situations and places where the risk would be very small�it might be worth considering in such cases.)

The point being emphasized is, when determining what you choose to do, do not let any intellectual property laws restrict your choices. If you discover that such laws interfere with some aspect of what you choose to do, find a way to do what you choose and minimize the risk of having such laws used against you

It is morality that matters, not legality. Legal does not mean moral, and illegal does not mean immoral. In this day and age, it is almost always the opposite, and most people do not mind doing any immoral thing if it is, “legal.” It is not immoral to copy, print, and sell a copyrighted book, though it is illegal; it would be immoral, however, to pass the book off as your own.

Drug Cartel Teaches Morality

Everyone knows it is drug laws and the WOD (War On Drugs), that makes the hugely profitable (billions of dollars) drug cartels possible, just as prohibition made bootlegging a hugely profitable business in its day.

When governments outlaw, or use laws to restrict the availability of products, such as drugs, those who have no compunction about breaking laws will always take advantage of the huge illegal market such laws provide. Intellectual property laws are just such laws because they provide those who hold the patents and copyrights a coercive monopoly free of market forces that would otherwise restrict the prices they could charge for their products. Not only does this provide another opportunity for criminals, it is a much safer one than drugs.

It is an opportunity the La Familia drug cartel is taking advantage of selling counterfeit Microsoft Office computer software. They have a, “sophisticated distribution network of 180,000 points of sale in stores, markets and kiosks, earning more than $2.2 million dollars in revenue every day,” and they have the immoral US patent and copyright laws to thank for that market.

While I regard the thuggery of such drug cartels as evil, and the marketing of “recreational” drugs as immoral, because it caters to individuals’ weaknesses and ignorance, their Microsoft software business is both moral, and an indictment of America’s immoral laws.

Be Free, Be An Outlaw

If you are going to be a free, productive, moral individual in the world today, you will have to be an outlaw. If you are not breaking any laws, you are not living morally.