The Principle of Violence

The Principle of Violence As will be developed later, the principle of violence finds widespread application all over the world, in America as elsewhere. But to illustrate what is meant by violence, I shall choose a modern instance, one among hundreds of familiar instances, one that most people, not having re flected on the matter, fail to evaluate in terms of violence. The familiar instance is public housing. A citizen is compelled to give of the fruits of his labor to meet the housing "needs" of others. Freedom of choice as to what he does with his own capital and income (property) is denied him. Freedom of choice gives way to the dictation of an authority, a dictate backed by brute force - vio lence! Actually, in a strict sense, the only choice a citizen has in this instance is between obedience or death. This 7 may sound extreme, but nonetheless it is true. Suppose, for example, that a person decides to exercise, absolutely, his freedom of choice concerning payment for a govern ment housing project. Suppose that he decides not to pay his share of the cost because he believes that the building of houses is not a proper function of government. Sup pose that he deducts this from his tax payments. What would happen?