Victimless "Crimes"

Many things are illegal  because people thing that they will be safer and protected with these laws in place.

These are all things that are required by law, or illegal, in some, or all, of our country:

• Speeding
• License Plates
• Wearing seatbelts
• Emission standards
• Drunk driving
• Government warnings on cigarettes
• Government warnings on alcohol
• Smoking marajuana
• Using drugs
• Underage drinking
• Copyrights
• Trademarks
• Patents
• Taxi driving permits
• Soda size bans
• Nutrition information
• Fishing licenses
• Hunting licenses
• Licenses to practice medicine
• Licenses to practice law
• Building permits

All of these things, and hundreds of thousands more, are required by law, or not allowed.  We're told that we are safer or healthier or cleaner because of these mandates and bans.

In every case, there seems to be a plausible excuse: futures trading, piracy, counterfeit goods, violation of copyright, financial fraud, national threats, you name it. You can rationalize them all.

But here’s the thing. There is a sense in which there is always a rationale for tyranny, always a seemingly good excuse for shutting down human freedom. The mass allowance of human volition always seems dangerous to the despot. That’s why freedom itself is always and everywhere on the defensive against all-knowing dictators who are quick to say that they have a better way. But if we let them get away with it time after time, excusing their every encroachment as an exception with a plausible basis in this one particular case, eventually, they will come for you. You will see the injustice clearly and experience the violation personally. But then it will be too late. -Jeffery Tucker

Nearly all of what our government does in involve itself in our lives in ways that it has no business doing.

If I steal from someone, then I should be required to pay my victim to "make him whole."

If I injure someone, then I should be required to pay for his medical bills.

If a cop stops me for going 70 in a 55 mph zone, then to which victim do I make out my check?

If a twenty year old drinks beer, then who was harmed?  Who should he be required to repay for the damages?

If I make cigarettes but don't add the surgeon general's warning to the package, then who was my victim?

We have hundreds of thousands of laws telling us to do, or not do.  And most of these laws are not the legitimate domain of a government.

Legitimate Domain of Government:

1. Protect citizens from non-citizens (armed forces)
2. Protect citizens from each other (police, allegedly)
3. Provide a fair means for resolving disputes (judicial system)

Does requiring me to wear a seat belt prevent others from harm?

If no one is a victim, then why are they crimes?