Bellum Omnium Contra Omnes by Chris Dates

“My political opinions lean more and more to Anarchy(philosophically understood, meaning abolition of control not whiskered men with bombs). The most improper job of any man is bossing other men. Not one in a million is fit for it, and least of all who seek the opportunity.”

– J.R.R Tolkien

Amidst all of the race-pimping, hate-mongering, media-whoring, collectivist anti-gun, anti self-defense crusading, boundless breathtaking ignorance, and general awfulness that was the Zimmerman Affair,  the motto, bellum omnium contra omnes rang out in my head like a shot. A war of every man against every man; neighbor versus neighbor.

I heard it crystal clear over the past couple of weeks. It was painfully apparent embedded in the chants of, “stand your ground is legalized murder!” And, “Stop more George Zimmermans; repeal stand your ground!”

There is a sinister assumption smuggled into the premise of the government supremacist’s argument, and that assumption is this — without the Almighty Leviathan State everyone would be murdering, raping, and looting each other. I’d like to tease out this assumption in a little more depth, and focus on what is actually being said, if only implicitly. The State worshipper, the one who bows to the absolute authority of their God, is saying this —

“Oh, mighty omnipotent State, while we recognize your supreme sovereignty, and happily submit to your righteous rule, we believe, with all due unwavering respect, that you may have made a slight error in all of your infinite wisdom and judgement. It seems that you, the stalwart of all that is good and moral in this world, may have accidentally overlooked a safeguard that keeps us, your unthinking, unquestioning, unchallenging, ever devoted flock, from randomly murdering each other. The fact that this law wasn’t even sighted by the murderer’s feeble defense notwithstanding.”

“We fear that without the abolition of these laws, we will resort back the brutish, and beastish state of nature you found us in, and most graciously rescued us from. We do not desire to return to the perpetual state of war from which you delivered us. Therefore, we, as a collective, have come to the obvious and necessary conclusion that we cannot be trusted with our individual self-defense. It would be most wise of you to repeal all laws that condone the abhorrent practice of self-defense, and we will gladly, and dutifully, relinquish all responsibility in that regard.”

“We believe that it is you, oh magnificent State, that has written the laws of morality on the hearts of human beings. We believe this is true, because when you think you can trust us with our own defense, we pervert these laws and use them as legal cover to mask our primitive, murderous tendencies. We understand that some will perish from the abolition of these laws, but we also understand that it is ultimately for the greater good of the State, and that is your end, and your end is our end. Everything within the State, nothing outside the State.  So now, we throw ourselves upon your alter, and pray that you will banish these laws from your lands, and save us from ourselves!”

You might think what I wrote above is hyperbole, but this is what it comes down to. This is what people think of their neighbors. They believe the only reason their neighbor hasn’t viciously and ruthlessly hacked them to pieces, or gunned them down in cold blood is because of the virtuous laws penned by the individuals calling themselves the state. There are many factors that played into the outrage sparked by the Zimmerman Affair. Some(if not most) of it was manufactured, no doubt, but I think some of the outrage directed towards the state is justified when viewing the situation from their perspective.

A major part of the state’s legitimacy, in their view, stems from the state having such an unbelievable amount of power that it leaves their neighbors awestruck, and makes them think twice about reverting back to Man’s natural state. But, by their estimation, the state failed at that job. Not only has the state failed at keeping murderers at bay, it has given them license to do so with Stand your Ground, and other pro self-defense laws. This runs completely counter to their conception of what the state was created to do, leaving them confused and scared.

What they fail to realize is their belief in the state is what gives rise to the perpetual war that is being waged around them. Their belief in the state is the license for this perpetual war. Not a war of all versus all, but a war of some versus all. Unending propaganda campaigns, inflicted from cradle to grave, has birthed the  mistaken belief that the people are a part of the some. Of the people, by the people, for the people, and all of that nonsense. However, if the state is made up “of the people”, then it stands to reason that the individuals who make up the state have the same rights the rest of us have, and it doesn’t take an analytical mind to show this is empirically false.

To believe the state is the thing that keeps us from being beasts is to believe in the ultimate class war; the superior and the inferior. A class of übermensch who are truly enlightened, using superior force to keep us all in line, and our knuckles from dragging on the ground. I don’t think anything could be more absurd or further from the truth once one comes to understand the factual nature of the state.

This is the Big Lie that has been perpetuated by the psychopaths who’s only desire is to lord over other human beings. Unfortunately, the acceptance of this lie was on display writ large in the events surrounding the Zimmerman trial. Some people seem to think they’re the only ones who are moral in this world, and without an army of legislators keeping the immoral in chains and fetters, it would be chaos. When trying to shatter the Big Lie, I always attempt to personalize it. I ask, “if the state made murder legal tomorrow, would you murder?” The person I’m talking to usually says, “well I wouldn’t, but…..” If I’m talking to a woman I would ask, “if the state made prostitution legal tomorrow, would you become a whore?” Again, the answer is, “well I wouldn’t, but…..”

You see, everyone is worried about everyone else, instead of just focusing on what they would do. They don’t seem to understand that their basic sense of morality is mirrored by almost everyone else around them. This fear is what ultimately gives rise to the state. They are willing to create the most immoral institution the world has ever seen, because they have an irrational fear of their neighbor.

I’d like to ask this question: absent the murderous, predatory state, and the criminal syndicates it has spawned, how many true criminals do you think are out there? Too many for free and independent human beings to handle? I think not.

Resist the Big Lie.