Have you seen the Uncle Sam posters that I put up in the Morton and Burchard buildings? They're the same as the original Uncle Sam poster except this time they bear my own interpretation of the famous phrase "I want you." Instead of the original phrase, the caption reads "I own you," which I feel more accurately describes the way that the government sees the arrangement. "I want you" is benign. It's an invitation to a voluntary relationship and it has no business being on a poster for the US government. "I own you," on the other hand, is malicious. It's a claim on your life.

Libertarians abhor involuntary claims on other peoples' lives or property because we believe that the proper way for people to interact with each other is on a voluntary basis. Violence is reserved for the pursuit of justice alone. In our view, the man from the draft board is the one who is wrong, rather than the innocent man who wants to go about his life instead of killing men in a foreign land. Society at large tends to see it the other way around for some reason. What is the basis for the draft other than the belief that your life belongs to others and not to yourself? If this is the belief that they hold, then what other things would they feel justified in forcing you to do? The Selective Service website says that people who object to war can 'help out' in other ways, but that they still have to serve. However, suppose you object to the very idea of the draft? They only address that question by stating that you will owe them a quarter of a million dollars or five years in prison for your crime: refusing to be a uniformed slave. I know what you're saying: the draft hasn't been activated for years! Well, if you're a male citizen, you still signed up when you turned 18, didn't you? As Walter Williams, professor at George Mason University, says, "It's like they would tell me, well Williams, there's never going to be slavery again, but we want you to register. I'd be worried about that."

The income tax is also based on the assumption that the government or "society" has a claim on your life and your earnings. After you labor and earn compensation, the IRS will tell you what percentage of your income you are allowed to keep. What kind of arrangement is it where one party tells the other whether they can keep what is supposed to be theirs? If you don't agree with their decision, you are a criminal. It's overwhelmingly clear who they believe has a claim to the sweat of your brow and your life. It is not you.

Rahm Emanuel and Barack Obama have both shown in their writings and speeches that they have lofty aspirations for mandatory national service. No matter how much they dress it up with Soviet-esque visions of "the people" coming together for a common cause, it is still forced labor. Do they really think that participating in government is a great and selfless way to serve your fellow man? Are regulators and bureaucrats truly our servants? I believe that doctors, bakers, engineers, mechanics and the like are the real civil servants. People tend to look to government to "create jobs" and they somehow forget the vast majority of people are privately employed! Job creation happens every time a new business is started or each time a business expands by the action of a free person or group of persons. The market is where wealth and prosperity come from: not from the government. That being said, "I want you" for the free market and I actually mean it that way!

Reposted from The Stute.