Willie’s Journey is Our Journey

I recently expanded on my November post about Willie Nelson being accosted on the road by state agents. It was published this week at Michael Kleen's new site, Untimely Meditations:
Willie’s travails illustrate several common acts of state aggression against individuals that the average, clueless, obedient statist now takes for granted as legitimate and even necessary:

1) Restrictions on freedom of movement. Willie was peacefully traveling down the highway until forcibly stopped with absolutely no justification whatsoever. The bus was not operating in a dangerous manner and no individuals on board were committing acts of aggression against any other individuals.

2) Illegal and unjust search of property. The sanctity of Willie’s private property (tour bus) was violated by the uninvited intrusion of meddling state agents.

3) Theft and/or confiscation of private property. Willie’s weed was literally, blatantly stolen from him without hesitation. The state thereby commits an act of aggression against the property rights of Willie Nelson.

4) Unjust arrest. Willie was arrested and detained for possessing plant material that busy-body tyrants and self-professed “leaders” (politicians) in some far away land (District of Columbia) claim are dangerous and should not (and will not) be consumed. Willie is literally kidnapped to satisfy an unjust law that violates his individual right of self-ownership- the right to consume and imbibe whatever substance he deems appropriate. The state thereby commits still another act of aggression against the property rights of Willie Nelson.

5) Kidnapping and imprisonment. Willie is forcibly removed from his tour bus and transported to a gulag (county jail) and held under armed guard. Any attempt to leave such a facility at his discretion may very well result in being killed by state agents.

6) Extortion. Willie is forced to hand over $2500 to his kidnappers before they will allow him to leave his cage. Still more of his property (cash) is stolen. Still another act of aggression against the property rights of Willie Nelson.

7) Arbitrary change of charges. Willie’s stolen, prohibited plant material now weighs in at four ounces, not six, as originally claimed. The charges are therefore reduced. The state thereby arbitrarily enforces its unjust edicts. This could only occur when prosecuting a victimless crime. The state creates its own reality. Just as the state claims to miraculously make people’s problems disappear, apparently they can also make two ounces of plant matter disappear. Of course, they can also (and often do) create even more plant matter. I guess Willie is lucky the drug warriors didn’t create a few more pounds of plant matter to increase the fine and the profitability of their shakedown.

8) A protection racked financed through the forced extraction of privately owned wealth. Let’s not forget that all the manpower and equipment used to steal from, kidnap, cage and extort Willie was, in part, paid for by wealth previously extracted from Willie through taxes.

This arrest will surely not tarnish Willie’s “outlaw” image. But what the mainstream considers “outlaw” is really nothing more than an individual freely living and making choices- all while not aggressing against other’s lives and property. These choices are not made to appease and obey the commands or suggestions of those who claim to rule, but rather to satisfy the desires, needs, creativity, and ambition of the individual.