336 Conclusionof Trilogy
the morehealthfullywill our civilization—whetherwe considerit a monopolisticempire
or not—willbe ableto endure.Recognizingthis realityis not ruthlesssocialDarwinism,
but it is a formof culturalevolution.
Examiningournation’s history,we discernthat not evenPatrickHenrycompre-
hendedthe full significanceof the famousphraseof his that I quotedat the launchof this
trilogy.Thisis a fullerquotationof the publicaddressin whichit wasspoken:“Is life so
dear,or peaceso sweet,as to be purchasedat the priceof chainsandslavery?Forbidit,
AlmightyGod!I knownot whatcourseothersmaytake;but as for me, giveme libertyor
giveme death!”^18 Thoughthe wordsare eloquent,theyfacilitatea misleadingconclusion.
It appearsthat Henryinferredthat one couldpracticablylive underdraconiangovernism,
thoughsucha conditionwouldbe so horridthat it wouldbe preferableto risk one’s life to
castit off. Yet,as we havediscovered,to dwellundertyranny—ratherthanunderfree
industry—drasticallyshortensone’s life expectancy.For the samereason,tyrannyin-
creasesone’s chancesof perishingfromhomicideat the handsof the State.Therefore,
thereis ultimatelya far morepronounceddichotomybetweenlibertyandviolentdeath
thanPatrickHenryrealized.Everygainin politicalfreedomreducesthe probabilitythat a
personwill prematurelymeethis doom.
Moreover,humanlife—takento its logicalmaximization—is Aristotelianeudemonia,
and achievingAristotelianeudemoniarequiresthe exerciseof personalautonomy.There-
fore,insofaras thereis adherenceto the Ruleof Peace,a society’s membersmaximize
theiropportunitiesto attaineudemonia.Andto attaineudemoniais to live life as proper-
ly as is possibleto one’s natureas a human.For thatreason,the Ruleof Peacecan be
thoughtof as the PublicPolicyof Life.By contrast,the moregovernismpervadesa
society,the moreit obstructsthat society’s membersfromlivinglife to its full potential,as
governmentregulationitselfthreatensthe physicaldestructionof innocentparties.There-
fore,governismcan be justlybrandedthe PublicPolicyof Death.To favorhumanlife,
then,is to favorhumanliberty.A justsocialsystemis onethatcodifiesthe absolute
freedomof peacefulaction.
NOTES
- Rousseau,A DiscourseOn a SubjectProposedBy the Academyof Dijon:WhatIs the Originof Inequality
AmongMen,and Is It AuthorisedBy NaturalLaw?, 1754,republishedin Rousseau1923,pt. 2, para.1,14,
http://tinyurl.com/2loygu,accessedWednesday,October3, 2007. - R. Porter 2004 U.S.version,429.
- M. Grosser1978,16.
- J. F. Moon1974,47.
- GreenAnarchyCollective,“WhatIs GreenAnarchy?:An Introductionto Anti-CivilizationAn-
archistThought andPractice,” GreenAnarchy, Summer2004,republished inSacredLands, http://
http://www.sacredlands.org/green_anarchy.htm,accessedThursday,November7, 2013.I learnedaboutthis
manifestofromK. Kelly2010,209-210. - Younkins2002,165–68. For a first-handexampleof Rousseau’s collectivism,see Rousseau,The
SocialContract,or Principlesof PoliticalRight, Bk. 1, Ch. 7, http://tinyurl.com/5t5fem,accessedThursday,
July31, 2008,in Rousseau1923. - VictorKlemperer,diaryentry,Thursday,July30, 1936,in Klemperer1998,180.Inibid., Klemperer
elaboratedon whatRousseau’s writingshadin commonwithHitler’s speeches—“the prostitutionof
reasonin the serviceof subjectivefeeling.. .” - I haveheardan “anarcho-capitalist” libertarianspinon OriginalSin as well,in whichthe formation
of the firstSocialContractcountsas the OriginalSin. In this versionof the tale,humanbeingsfrolickedin
blissfulanarchyandtradedwithone anotherunder“anarcho-capitalism.” Unfortunately,somehuman
beingssoldout to villainyby agreeingwithoneanotherto forma government.Thiswasa Faustian
bargainin whichthesemensoldeveryone’s freedomdownthe riverin an attemptto gainmoresecurity.
Sincethen,the veryinstitutionof governmenthas beenthe greatestsourceof mankind’s woes.And
humanitycan onlyredeemitself—and restorethe freedomthat wasonceman’s naturalstate—by casting