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Zonie63 -> RE: A Lively Moment at CPAC: Slavery = Food + Shelter (3/20/2013 11:40:13 AM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: JeffBC
quote:
ORIGINAL: Real0ne
what gives any person or group of persons the "legitimate" authority to rule or effect the actions of another?
I actually think there is an interesting question in that. I'd be a lot more comfortable if it was easy for an individual to pick and choose their government. I'd also like there to be some remote island somewhere that the anarchists can all go to and kill each other peacefully. As it sits right now though the entire planet is claimed by one sovereign or another and citizens cannot easily "shop" for a benign government.
To answer your question: For most of my life I felt that the US government was a legitimate government FOR ME. I liked some of what it did. I disliked other parts. But overall I felt that in exchange for the sacrifice of some of my freedoms I got a reasonable return. So what made it legitimate was I felt it was. Now, I no longer feel that way. I was able to move to another country. Not everyone is so capable/lucky/whatever.
My answer is probably similar to yours. The thing is, I was born in this country, and my parents, grandparents, aunts/uncles, siblings, cousins were all born here and all accepted that this is the country of our birth and the society in which we live. I have one cousin who's lived abroad for over 20 years, in a place which has a stricter government than the U.S. (he's in Singapore).
That's the main problem in shopping for other governments, because most of the governments in the world are worse than the U.S. government. I suppose if it was back in the old days, people could just move out to the frontier or become a mountain man if they didn't want to have to deal with governmental authority, but that's really not much of an option anymore. I've heard that some people go up to Alaska thinking that they're going to live off the land and off the grid, but I don't know how well they fare.
I'm not sure about this "sovereign citizen" business, though. The first time I ever heard of the concept was when I was in my late 20s, introduced to me by a fire-and-brimstone preacher and self-proclaimed "Messiah." One of the most interesting characters I ever met in my entire life. He managed to piss off the local government, the cops, and nearly every mainline Christian denomination in town. His main reason for promoting sovereign citizenship was because he believed that anyone who paid taxes or supported the government would be held responsible by God for anything and everything our government has ever done. So, if the U.S. government has ever committed murder during the time of its existence (from 1776 to the present), then all U.S. taxpayers would be condemned by God as murderers, according to this person's belief. He had some pretty hardcore beliefs.
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