Gambella: the new New World

The freedom philosophy, the libertarian movement, or liberalism, says Ludwig von Mises, is encapsulated in the word property. Gary North points out that most Economics books begin with chapters on scarcity. He thinks they should start with dominion instead. Me too. Once we know who has dominion over what, we can spot a violation thereof. If you have dominion over property and I take, damage, or otherwise use it without your consent, we have a violation.

Eminent domain is not just a tool of the State in the United States. My brethren and sistren in Gambella, Ethiopia are victims of said violation. The State, via its Ethiopian branch, is removing the humans of Gambella from their ancestral homes at truncheon point. To make up for this discomfort, the State is giving them new homes on new land. This idea, now called villagization, is as old as the European invasion of North America. Watch Guns, Germs, and Steel and you too will see. What was done to the Native Americans is being done to the Native Africans. Guardian writer William Lloyd George reveals the evil perverted by mouths mouthing good intentions, with quotes from the Gambellans

"These mass evictions have been carried out under the pretext of providing better services and improving the livelihoods of these communities," says the letter. "However, once they moved to the new sites, they found not only infertile land, but also no schools, clinics, wells or other basic services."

If it takes a whole village to raise a child, then those who uproot villages are attacking the youth. Legally, the State in Ethiopia gets away with this, because they claim dominion over all land in Ethiopia. Their law books are on their side. Whether they fiat windward to be leeward or east to be west, or more dreadfully both, they will find the paperwork to back their claims. The masses are only allowed to own structures made on top of land. No system of property rights assigns this much leeway except for the Legal Positivism exploded by Judge Andrew Napolitano's 2011 tirade against the State, It's Dangerous to be Right, When the Government is Wrong. We hear people say that actions speak louder than words, but reading about actions through words works well as well. And again William Lloyd George lets the Gambellans do the talking after his short introduction

It says the government forced them to abandon their crops just before harvest, and they were not given any food assistance during the move. "Those farmers who refused to implement the programme... have been targeted with arrest, beating, torturing and killing,"

You know, the usual tools of our enemy. Every time I look at a human interaction I ask, is this the initiation of violence, or consent? You've seen my cards, what are yours?

Furthermore, we must end the State.*


Post Scriptum:

Shout out to Thomas Knapp's tagline