Last week the BBC reported that police in Germany raided 200 flats and offices and seized “45,000 recordings, more than 170 computers and 70 weapons.” This doesn’t bode too well for me as I believe people should be free to act (including owning things others deem dangerous, distasteful, or immoral) unless they initiate force against another.

For the “weapons” this distinction is easy to understand. But what about the recordings and computers? Under what pretense did police seize them? Because they supposedly contained content that could be deemed “extremist” or encourage “racial hatred” — things the government has made illicit.

But is that the proper role for government? To decide what words, phrases, symbols, and beliefs are “legal” and which are “illegal”? Doesn’t it make more sense for all ideas to be welcomed to the conversation so that through voluntary interactions rather than the force of government the truth of the best ideas can disprove those that are erroneous? And even if some individuals choose to cling to ideas most others think despicable, I’d argue that no one, including government actors, has the right to use force (i.e. break down their door, steal their property, incarcerate them, etc.) to try to change their views.

But does this type of thoughtcrime happen only outside the borders of the U.S.?

As reported by the Associated Press:

Four members of an anti-government group have been arrested [in Nevada] on charges that include money laundering, tax evasion and weapons possession, federal prosecutors said Friday. Authorities said the four men are members of the Sovereign Movement, a group that attempts to overthrow the government and defy authority with “paper terrorism.”

Paper terrorism?

They’re also being charged with weapons violations and prosecutors in this case are attempting to further smear the accused by stating that they “believe government licenses, taxes and currency are invalid.” Hell, if that’s the only criteria it takes to get targeted by the government these days I suppose I should start saying goodbye to many of my fellow freedom fighters.

Really though, my friend Dalebert from Anarchy In Your Head recently drew a succinct distinction between actions now deemed illegal by the government — those that actually harm someone and those in which the actor disobeys the State — and that those crimes targeted most extensively by the government fall into the latter category. I tend to agree.

For more on this, check out the Fuck Censorship and Homeland Tyranny overviews on Bureaucrash Social.

Thanks to Jason Talley for putting the second article on my radar.