I just published a new long-form piece on Substack.

The article starts with a pretty simple distinction: consent and compliance are not the same thing. From there, it gets into coercion, “meaningful choice,” political authority, voting, the “consent of the governed,” birth certificates, the State's relationship with children, free will, and eventually the idea that even an ethical law does not become legitimate merely because a government writes it down and calls it law.

The basic question running through the whole thing is this:

Where does the supposed authority to command another human being actually come from?

I don't think “because the government says so,” “because we voted,” “because it's the law,” or “because you were born here” answers that question.

This is the longest piece I've published on the subject so far, and I'm not done with the objections. There are plenty of escape routes left to examine.

It's a 20 minute long reading time:

Read the full article on Substack

And yes, the full version is free to read. For now.