Most theories of government taught today suggest that by paying taxes and merely living in a country, a citizen gives tacit consent for the state to do whatever is needed, including for their "national security".
This argument is even extended to warfare and assassinations. "Democratically elected" politicians are more than capable of killing millions of innocent people in wars, and are likely to be even more arrogant about it, reminding us that they won democratic elections.
Politicians like Tony Blair and George W. Bush viewed themselves as "legitimate" rulers, and viewed others like Saddam Hussein as "illegitimate". Nevertheless, their actions arguably killed more innocent people than the Iraqi dictator. Their crimes are rendered even more offensive by the fact they would like to cite "democracy" as an argument for shifting the blame away from their own bloody and arbitrary hands onto their people.
Writing at the Center for a Stateless Society (C4SS) on 10 June, Tommy Raskin counters the view that voters really approve of the actions of even a "democratic" government. He states, "many citizens do not vote for government action but are forced to facilitate it nonetheless. Citizens who endorse losing candidates, for example, still have political obligations. So do the millions of citizens who choose not to vote".
Noting that when the state does something good, it is merely a gift, because it goes out to people who never requested it or specifically donated funds for it but were instead taxed, Raskin concludes that "Simply living under a democratic government does not count as requesting government action". While Raskin's article does not specifically address the bloody conflicts and genocidal actions by western democracies, the anti-statist's comments are useful in uncoupling the people from their rulers when it comes to understanding who should be held accountable.
Raqqa compared with Battle for Berlin: The BlogThe "capital" of ISIS in Syria is being approached rapidly by ... https://t.co/yJwV6t8f9D— The clubof.info Blog (@ClubOfInfo) June 14, 2016
