Michael Matulef on Nostr: The primary social evil of our time is lack of respect for self-ownership rights. It ...
The primary social evil of our time is lack of respect for self-ownership rights. It is what underlies both private crime and institutionalized crime perpetrated by the state. State laws, regulations, and actions are objectionable just because the state is claiming the legal right to control how someone's body is to be used.
After all, although self-ownership is more fundamental than rights in external resources -- one must own oneself, one's body, in order to own other things -- self-ownership is rendered meaningless if the right to own private property in external resources is not also respected. This is why Murray Rothbard insisted that all "human rights" are property rights: that is, ownership rights in scarce resources, whether self-ownership rights in one's body, or property rights in external objects.
~ Stephan Kinsella
After all, although self-ownership is more fundamental than rights in external resources -- one must own oneself, one's body, in order to own other things -- self-ownership is rendered meaningless if the right to own private property in external resources is not also respected. This is why Murray Rothbard insisted that all "human rights" are property rights: that is, ownership rights in scarce resources, whether self-ownership rights in one's body, or property rights in external objects.
~ Stephan Kinsella