Larken Rose: Government is an Illusion

We were lucky enough to meet Mr. Rose at Libertopia 2012, where we learned that he would be headed to Denver on his way home to Philadelphia.

During his talk at LOTR Denver, Larken discusses why government has no legitimacy and is therefore an illusion. He also addresses the ideas of anarchy specifically, getting into some heated debates with attendees along the way.

• Category

  News & Politics

[LarkenRose]

By your logic, I guess the earth is flat, and the sun goes around the earth, because people were punished for doubting those, too. Shouldn't you be mindless committing murder, like a good state mercenary? Oh, no. You're retired. Now you just receive stolen property for having been an idiotic politician's drone.

[LarkenRose]

How many other videos are repeating this lie under? You know that the government has openly and repeatedly admitted that I didn't hide anything, and didn't lie about anything--that I told them exactly what I was doing and why, before they were even paying any attention to me. Why do you feel the need to repeat what you know is a lie, to scare people away from hearing ideas the conflict with your state-worshiping, mindless authoritarian mentality? Oh, that's why.

[goose1077]

With the tax penalties of $695 or 2.5% of income that is Obamacare 2016, this could be the first millions of people have an unpaid tax bill. The large number of people in this situation would caused people to question the legitimacy of the system in the first place. Also, the state would not have the power to put them all in jail. It's like state governments and use tax, which nobody pays even though they are threatened with jail if they don't.

[goose1077]

You're right, we have had two presidents in a row who completely ignored the constituents who voted for them. It was the behavior of Bush that did it for me. He said he was going to do X he did the opposite of X and that caused me to question the whole idea of voting.  I thought, what good is it to vote when even if you get your guy, you don't get what you want and he isn't who he said he is? That and economics class started me down the road to anarchy.

[goose1077]

I think part of the reason it took us so long is we not exposed to the idea of anarchy as a possibility. Eventually, after years of struggling with trying to figure it out, I was exposed but it seems you came up with it yourself. I remember going down the list of taxes trying to find one that was just and the only one I could come up with was the gas tax. That's about where I was before I ever heard a David Friedman speech.

[mairuzu]

When you did the line of questioning to the first guy, what was his response? I can barely make it out. The one who pretended to be a minarchist.

[Joseph Huntington]

Larken is the only speaker that wears the same color top as the sills behind him. This consistency is subtle, but ensures his uncollimated success.

[jdziedzic11]

none are more hopelessly enslaved, than those who falsely believe they are free

-Goethe

[RetSquid]

You cannot argue the law at trial, only on appeal. The Code is obviously used in the case, otherwise they would not be there.

[Carl Enquist]

How can any argument be any good if the "special class of humans" that make and enforce the rules are corrupt? I've read a bunch of IRS tax case transcripts and I noticed how the judges almost always "will not allow the law in my courtroom". IRC (code) is not allowed as evidence. They used all kinds of twisted logic or just "because I say so". There is too much at stake to give up the income tax slave system. It's a rigged show.