I am what most in this forum would call and independent, I do not vote for something because one party or another says it is what is good, I look at the issue and weight the long term results before casting a vote. Still I am also an extreme Constitutional law believer. IT is stated: A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. Now I am maybe no lawyer, but necessary to keep is more than a right. So all that being said there is a point to standing up to the thieves and terrorist in the world even if it cost you your life. WWII was the greatest generation because they stood up and were ready to die for what was right, our current military members deserve our respect for being willing to do so.

how many times have people stood by when a bad event is happening and all they have to do is speak up, but they are afraid of what others will think of them. Germany in World War II, so many people stood by as one group or another was taken away by the SS, and when it was them that was being taken, there was no one willing to stand up for them either. In the USA, now there are people protesting in the streets about this or that life matters, yet when those same groups get violent their own do not speak out against such violence. In the world now days, terrorist are hijacking the religion of Islam, and most of the followers of the Prophet wont speak out against such violent acts because they will be seen as bad Muslims. There are way too many cases of people allowing and even participating in violence because they do not want to be the first to stand for rights of others and justice of law. Now do you see the self violence in the world today due to peer pressures?

"The ends justify the means?"
Maybe Rand wasn't holding up Danneskjold as a hero. Maybe she was saying a gov't that does not respect property rights turns even honest people into thieves.

I see a much greater cost than experiencing the act and the dime--it's the personal and moral cost of complying with the demand. Many will reply that it's only a dime and more importantly that complying in the face of a weapon is the only sane option. I would argue that the victim has just abandoned his integrity as well as any Objectivist values and natural rights. That's a much higher cost than the realization that evil exists or that you alone are responsible for your own self defense.

Yes. So much yes.

What bothers me the most is Federal Income Tax, people like myself paid into it my whole working life and really get no benefit from it. It's the Government slush fund. It's free money for the Feds to use, with little consequence to the future. It's not invested there is no earning's on it. The Government bureaucracy is still thieving. I hope Trump visits this part of the IRS thugocracy during his presidency.

I pay my taxes at the end of a gun. I think someone else said that. If you do not comply with the government's wishes, forcible and possibly violent detainment will eventually ensue.

I have proof that the judge committed acts of treason. I submitted the paperwork to the sheriff and he did nothing. They are all in it together. JFK said "Those that prevent a peaceful revolution guarantee a violent one."

I certainly hope that you can fight it out in court, and get that s***stopped.

Retaliation would be up to the courts...assuming the courts could be honest again...big question there.
Protection, in the progressive brain can and has been taken too far; I fear we would have to spell it out fully. It's tough to get the concept across to the bicameral brained left. (meaning the two halves of their brain still, after 3000 years, does not cooperated to any sufficient degree.

I was pulled over for putting only ONE foot down when I came to a stop on my motorcycle. The cop told me that they write tickets even if they have no chance of winning because it "proves" that crime exists and they will get more money. Cops are shooting people that exercise their 2nd Amendment rights.

If you are pulled over by the police, you may have
inadvertently been doing something to the detriment
of the safety of the other people on the road; I do not think that simply being pulled over gives you the
right to shoot the cop.

It is true that the roads ought to be privatized, but until they are, you are not the only taxpayer/victim of the government.

Besides "protection", there is also "retaliation", that is, punishment after the fact. I agree that one should not take the law into his own hands_ after the
fact_, unless the government has somehow been derelict in its duty to rectify injustice that has already taken place.

What if an official says, "Wear a seatbelt or I'll shoot you."? My answer - it's still wrong. But, I know many who call themselves Objectivists or Conservatives while taking the other side on this.

I find that funny...

There are many dangers to initiating force. Not the least of which is the possibly mistaken assumption that retribution is not coming from the victim.

You believe that "social pressure" is a greater problem than the threat or application of actual physical violence? I'm not sure what kind of non-violent social pressure you mean, but I can't think of any example which would inspire me to agree with this statement.

Hello khalling,
We had a home break-in years ago. They didn't get much (our dog apparently ran them off, or we came home and they went out the back) but the toll on our piece of mind was indelible.
Best wishes,
O.A.

Correct! He had an absolute right to control, use, and dispose of that dime. No other entity, individual or government, had any moral claim to his property.

The act of declaring by the state that nothing you have or produce is yours to keep except with the permission of the state your property is then rented from the state (national or local level) and the amount of extortion can be changed at any whimsy. We are and have been slaves of the state almost from the beginning when conscription was used to force men into wars they disagree with. If the state has the right to your life so that you might have the right to rent your property from them you are not free men.

This is a very interesting post and discussion. I have had a gun shoved in my face and he took more than a dime. I had no doubt I was going to die, but I had the choice to sit there and die or fight and die. I chose fight. By the way...I didn't die. edited for typo

Absolutely. I am, perhaps foolishly, rather fearless for a little while. I think my reptilian brain has a timer on it or something.

I was afraid of the dark as a child. I recognized over and over and over again that the fear was unfounded and the dangers way overstated. I may have subconsciously disabled my fight or flight response by recognizing it so often. I've lasted 48 years so far without that reactive response, so I don't have much interest in rejuvenating it.

That could end the encounter very quickly, and not in one's favor or expectation!

Hear, hear !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And evil !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nor did you know if it was only going to be a dime.