But which is the State's essential function, aggression or defence, few seem to know or care.
Benjamin TuckerRead
There is no freedom that I would grant to any man that I would refuse to woman, and there is no freedom that I would refuse to either man or woman except the freedom to invade ... whoever has the ballot has the freedom to invade, and whoever wants the ballot wants the freedom to invade. Give woman equality with man, by all means; but do it by taking power from man, not giving it to woman.
Interpretation
The quote advocates for equality by emphasizing that true freedom for all must not involve the oppression of others.
Benjamin Tucker's quote highlights the complexities of freedom and equality, arguing that granting rights to one gender should not come at the cost of denying rights to another. It suggests that achieving gender equality requires a re-examination of power dynamics rather than simply bestowing new powers upon women while allowing existing inequalities to persist.
In practice
In a debate about women's rights, this quote could illustrate the argument for equality without oppression.
But which is the State's essential function, aggression or defence, few seem to know or care.
The main question ... is not what motive inspired the law, but what it will be possible for men of bad motive to do with the law.
Government is the assumption of authority over a given area and all within it, exercised generally for the double purpose of more complete oppression of its subjects and extension of its boundaries.
Voting is merely a labor-saving device for ascertaining on which side force lies and bowing to the inevitable... It is neither more nor less than a paper representative of the bayonet, the bully, and the bullet.
To force a man to pay for the violation of his own liberty is indeed an addition of insult to injury.
Anarchism does not repudiate the right of ownership, but it has a conception thereof sufficiently different from [others'] to include the possibility of an end of that social organization which will arise, not out of the ruins of government, but out of the transformation of government into voluntary association for defence.
The sum of a man's problems come from his inability to be alone in a silent room.
A search for truth seems to me to be full of pitfalls. We all have different understandings of what truth is, and we'll each believe - or we are in danger of each believing - that our truth is the one and only absolute truth, which is why I say it's full of pitfalls.
When you suffer and lose, that does not mean you are being disobedient to God. In fact, it might mean you're right in the center of His will. The path of obedience is often marked by times of suffering and loss.
It is only the superficial qualities that last. Man's deeper nature is soon found out.
If efforts to do social work are couched in selfish motives, then they will die a premature death. Why would my efforts get politicised? I have values I inherited from my father. He helped many. Anyone, even a postman knocking on our door would get a glass of water and some sweets.
This is a crucial time in the fight for corporate civil rights. Just look at the hateful signs at Occupy Wallstreet: 'Corporations Are Not People!' Wow, I thought we were past the point in this country where some people aren't people just because they have different color skin or different religion or were born in a lawyer's office, only exist on paper, have no soul and can never die.
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