THRUST FOR FREEDOM - No. 11

How to define CRIME?

The entire structure of a society can be determined by the definition one employs in referring to the word “crime.” In our society, crime is defined as a violation of a societal rule which has been established by any form of state.*⁽¹⁰⁾ The state’s rules are called “laws.” This is an artificial concept of law, not to be confused with natural laws, such as the Law of Gravitation, or the Law of Electromagnetic Induction, or, in volition, the Law of Supply and Demand.

Artificial laws form an artificial structure called legality. Legality, in turn, produces an organized form of coercion which conveys the image of “rightness.” In such a social structure, “crime” is defined as the “violation of a law,” using the artificial concept of law, which merely means the violation of someone’s opinion, but with the coercive force to impose that opinion upon the conduct of all.

In such a society, everyone, without any exception, is a potential criminal. There are so many inconsistent and contradictory laws that it is virtually impossible for a human being to live his entire life without ever violating someone else’s opinion as to what he ought to be doing. In principle, therefore, everyone is a criminal. However, it is not feasible to treat everyone as a criminal because there are not enough jails. Also, a society needs producers, not merely consumers. And an imprisoned populace does not produce very efficiently.

While everyone is a potential criminal in contemporary society, not everyone is so designated. Nevertheless, like the proverbial sword of Damocles, the threat of punishment for a “crime” hangs over the heads of all.

Is there a possible alternate definition of “crime?” If we use property*⁽²⁾ as the basis of such a definition, the answer is yes.

USING THE CONCEPT OF PROPERTY, A TRUE CRIME IS A SUCCESSFUL, INTENTIONAL INTERFERENCE WITH THE PROPERTY OF ANOTHER. IN OTHER WORDS, IT IS AN ACT OF SUCCESSFUL COERCION.

THIS DEFINITION OF CRIME, UNLIKE THE SO-CALLED "LEGAL" DEFINITION, IS ABSOLUTE. IT DOES NOT DEPEND UPON THE OPINIONS OF THOSE WHO HAVE THE POWER TO COERCE. THIS DEFINITION IS ABSOLUTE BECAUSE IT PERTAINS TO EVERYONE'S PROPERTY. (AN INDIVIDUAL'S PROPERTY IS HIS LIFE AND ALL NON-PROCREATIVE DERIVATIVES OF HIS LIFE.*⁽²⁾)

The “legal” definition of crime is obviously associated with the concept of state.*⁽¹⁰⁾ The absolute definition of crime is equally obviously associated with the concept of government.*⁽¹⁰⁾ The first definition (the “legal” definition) is nearly always in contradiction with the second definition. In those rare instances where the two definitions apply to the same action, the reasons are dissimilar. The first definition of “crime” has nothing to do with property.*⁽²⁾ The second definition of CRIME has nothing to do with coercion. When a CRIME is defined in terms of coercive “law,” it automatically constitutes a successful attack on someone’s property.

The first definition of “crime” is relative. The second definition of CRIME is absolute.

The nature of a given society, then, can be determined largely by that society’s usual definition of the word CRIME. If the definition is relative, then the society is coercive. If the definition is absolute, then the members of the society enjoy 100% control of their property,*⁽²⁾ and, therefore, enjoy freedom.*⁽³⁾

* see THRUST FOR FREEDOM issue number indicated in parenthesis.