YOU'VE PROBABLY MOVED across state lines at some point in your life. Maybe it was to attend college or take a higher-paying job. Maybe you wanted to live closer to friends and family after having kids or to join a new religious or political community. It could even be as simple as deciding to move from Dallas to Philadelphia because you prefer attending the home games of a successful football team.
No right-minded person would have the government interfere with any of this. If a business offers you a job and you accept, that's between you and the business-not you, the business, and the state. The same goes for buying a house from a willing seller or joining a welcoming religious congregation. To borrow from Robert Nozick, these are "capitalist acts between consenting adults." Granted, these capitalist acts took place across state borders, but so what? The rights to offer and take jobs, buy and sell property, and assemble freely don't depend on your location relative to a government-drawn line.
This story is from the December 2024 edition of Reason magazine.
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This story is from the December 2024 edition of Reason magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Abolish the NSA and CIA
ENDING THESE UNACCOUNTABLE AGENCIES WOULD SAFEGUARD CIVIL LIBERTIES AND IMPROVE INTELLIGENCE GATHERING.
Abolish ICC
THE AGENCY DISRUPTS COMMUNITIES AND FAMILIES, FOR NO GOOD.
We Still Live in the Physical World
The digital world has not effaced our humanity, no matter what social critics like Christine Rosen say.
Blaming Bill Buckley
IT'S THE CLEANEST, neatnest [sic] operating piece of social machinery I've ever seen. It makes me envious.\" When Rexford Tugwell, an adviser to President Franklin Roosevelt, wrote these words in 1934, he was not referring to the New Deal programs in his purview.
The Backpage Trial Finally Ends-With a Suicide and a Sentencing
UNFAIR ALLEGATIONS OF SEX TRAFFICKING CHILLED FREE SPEECH ONLINE AND RUINED LIVES.
Abolish the National Park Service
PRIVATIZATION CAN MAKE AMERICA'S NATIONAL PARKS MORE ACCESSIBLE AND BETTER MAINTAINED.
Abolish the Fed
IT MAY BE IMPOSSIBLE TO IMAGINE AMERICA WITHOUT THE FEDERAL RESERVE, BUT A CENTRAL BANK IS NOT ESSENTIAL TO A FUNCTIONING ECONOMY.
Abolish the FCC
LET THE INVISIBLE HAND REGULATE THE INVISIBLE RESOURCE.
Abolish the Department of Transportation
IT DOESN'T EVEN BUILD THE ROADS. IT JUST INCREASES COSTS.
Abolish Borders
LINES DRAWN BY GOVERNMENTS DON’T HAVE MORAL MAGIC.
