Social contract - schmotial contract

2m read

·Nov 8, 2024

People who support the state often say that everyone who lives in the territory claimed by the state has implicitly agreed to abide by the state's rules; that by not leaving the territory, they've entered into a voluntary agreement. This agreement is often the basis for denying that taxation to fund a project not supported by the taxpayer is theft.

The implicit contract that statists say exists is known as a social contract. This contract has been compared to the implicit contract between a customer and a restaurant. I know about and agree with the terms of the implicit contract between a restaurant and myself. I understand that my ordering of food is the trigger that brings the agreement into effect, and that part of the agreement is that I will pay for the food I order.

But by contrast, I have no knowledge of the social contract that statists tell me exists. Since I have never had knowledge of this agreement, I cannot have given meaningful consent to it. Furthermore, even if I had known that there was a mysterious contract that I was being asked to agree to, I still wouldn't be able to give meaningful consent to it until I knew exactly what the terms were.

I don't believe that a social contract exists. If I'm right, then I can't have agreed to a non-existent contract. If I'm wrong, then I can't have agreed to a contract that I did not know was being offered for my acceptance, nor can I have agreed to a contract whose terms I have no knowledge of. Either way, I cannot have agreed to a social contract by living in a territory claimed by a state.

This Particle Breaks Time Symmetry

Safari Live - Day 308 | National Geographic

View All

Worked example: Lewis diagram of xenon difluoride (XeF₂) | AP Chemistry | Khan Academy

Let’s do one more example of constructing a Lewis diagram that might be a little bit interesting. So let’s say we want to construct the Lewis structure or Lewis diagram for xenon difluoride. So pause this video and have a go at that. All right, now let’s…

Jacksonian Democracy part 2

So we’ve been talking about the emergence of Jacksonian Democracy in the first half of the 19th century in the United States. We’ve been talking about how, in this time period, the vote was slowly extended to all white male citizens so that by the end of …

Diagramming how a bill becomes a law in the U.S.

What we’re going to do in this video is diagram out how a bill can become a law. I make a distinction between a non-tax bill and a tax bill. A non-tax bill can be introduced into either chamber of Congress initially; it could be introduced into the Senate…

This Is The World's First Geared CVT and It Will Blow Your Mind - Ratio Zero Transmission

Today I have the privilege to hold in my hands something very special. This is the world’s first operational, gear-based, continuously variable transmission or CVT. And before I explain how this piece of absolute mechanical poetry actually works, allow me…

Does it really matter what browser I choose?

So Kelly, we have several different options on what type of browser we use. Does it matter from a safety and privacy point of view? Yeah, there are a couple factors that you might wanna think about that make a browser potentially safer. So one thing that…

Adam & Eve | What Can We Learn From Them?

There are many interpretations of the story of Adam and Eve, a creation narrative that is part of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, and shows that serious error results in serious torment. The story presents us different characters and objects, like the s…

Social contract - schmotial contract

More Articles