From: HD
Sent: Monday, September 19, 2016 12:58 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Does Calling the Police Violate the NAP?
Dr. Block, Hello, I hope this email finds you well. I’m a 21 year old anarcho-capitalist at XYZ University. While having a discussion with my friends, they proposed an interesting situation that I didn’t have an immediate answer for. Let’s say Person A is selling drugs on a street corner. They’re engaging in voluntary, non-coercive transactions and selling a product that’s in demand. Along comes Person B who sees this individual and exclaims in fright how Person A is destroying the community, poisoning the young, etc. They then say they’re going to call the police to enforce the state’s immoral drug laws and violate the rights of Person A by taking him to jail. So my question is, does Person A have the right to use violence against Person B? For example, punching him and fleeing the scene so he’s not arrested. Does threatening to call the police in this situation constitute a violation of the NAP in which retaliatory violence would be justified? Should snitches get stitches? I’d love to hear your thoughts, or if you’ve dealt with this scenario before. Yours in Liberty, HD

Dear HD: Let us posit that this takes place in the imaginary country of Moldovia. Then, yes, Person A does indeed have the right to use violence against Person B. B’s threat to call the police in this situation does indeed constitute a violation of the NAP in which retaliatory violence would be justified. Coward that I am, I wouldn’t want to apply this to any country I live in or might visit, since my response might well be a violation of their laws, and I don’t seek to be a martyr, be sent to jail. So, I am answering only theoretically.

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