Freedom means rejecting all violations of private property.  Many claim to support freedom, but in practice, they accept coercion so long as it’s dressed up in rituals.  Voting, legislation, enforcement—it all feels civilized.  Yet underneath, it’s just organized force.  Elections are treated as a symbol of consent.  What if you didn’t vote for the winning candidate?  What if you didn’t vote at all?  What if you voted, but disagreed with that person on every issue except one?  You’re still bound by the outcome.  That’s not voluntary association.  That’s coercion with a ballot box.

It’s a package deal, forced on you whether you like it or not.  Even the winner’s supporters don’t get what they want—only what the political machinery decides.  No opt-out.  No refund.  The idea that this system represents consent is fiction.

We’re told “no one is above the law,” but that’s only true in theory.  In practice, there are two categories of law: one for the individual, and another for the state.  If you take someone’s money without permission, it’s theft.  If the state does it, it’s taxation.  If you create fake money, it’s counterfeiting.  If the central bank does it, it’s monetary policy.  If you imprison someone without trial, it’s kidnapping.  If the government does it, it’s called national security.  The double standard is obvious—if you’re willing to see it.

A payment made under threat isn’t voluntary.  If a criminal demands your wallet, we call it what it is.  When the state does it, you’re expected to smile, salute, and call it “your fair share.” At least a robber is honest about what he’s doing.  He doesn’t follow you home.  He doesn’t rob you weekly.  He doesn’t lecture you about the common good.  He takes your cash and leaves.  The state?  It takes your money indefinitely.  It grows.  It lectures.  It lies.  It demands gratitude.

Worse still is the hidden theft—inflation.  Instead of taking your money outright, the state creates new money, quietly devaluing what you already hold.  You feel poorer but don’t know why.  Your savings buy less.  Your wages stretch thinner.  The numbers in your account stay the same, but their meaning drains away.  As Keynes said, this method allows governments to “confiscate the wealth of the people” without most ever realizing what’s happened.  The robbery is silent.  It leaves no fingerprints.

This kind of theft is more dangerous than outright taxation.  With taxes, at least you see the cut.  With inflation, the damage is hidden, delayed, and misattributed.  People blame the business down the street for raising prices, not the central bank for inflating the money supply.  It’s a rigged game, and the victims don’t even know they’re playing.

Some argue this is all justified because it’s been voted on.  A crime doesn’t become just because a majority supports it.  If 99 out of 100 neighbors vote to take your house, that doesn’t make it right.  Democracy doesn’t sanctify theft.  It just spreads the guilt around.  It’s still mob rule—now with paperwork.

If something truly is voluntary, it doesn’t require threats, punishment, or manipulation.  It doesn’t come with a jail sentence for noncompliance.  It doesn’t need propaganda to sell it.  Real consent doesn’t need to be faked.  It just is.

It doesn’t matter how polished the system is.  It doesn’t matter how often the faces change.  If your property can be taken against your will—whether by a criminal gang or a bureaucratic regime—it isn’t freedom.  It isn’t voluntary.

Theft is theft, even when done by majority vote.

Reference

Murray Rothbard; For a New Liberty