The arrest of a 19-year-old suspect who is said to have planned a terrorist attack at a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna offers some lessons in light of what Oberon Herbert, a student of Herbert Spencer, wrote in 1894. The suspect, an Austrian citizen “of North Macedonian origins,” had reportedly pledged allegiance to the Islamic State and was apparently planning to attack the crowd with knives and explosives. (See “Teenager confesses to plotting ISIS attack on Taylor Swift concert“, Financial TimesAugust 8, 2024; andTaylor Swift terror suspect planned to use car bomb at concert, authorities say“, The Wall Street Journal(August 8, 2024)
Oberon Herbert was a British individualist-liberal anarchist, but he called his philosophy “voluntarism” and rejected the label “anarchist,” at a time when most European anarchists were communists and often terrorists who would blow things up to hasten revolution. Contemporary Criticism The article “The Ethics of Dynamite” The pros and cons of state coercionLiberty Fund, 1978), Oberon Herbert argued that the “dynamiters” (terrorists) were not actually opposed to the government.
Perhaps I should at once translate this word, which we so often utter, into what I take to be its true meaning, for the sake of those friends who are inclined to glorify it a little carelessly, without considering all that it means; namely, to impose whatever one’s will or pleasure is on others, if one happens to be the stronger. … Dynamite is not against government; on the contrary, it is the most strengthened and concentrated form of government. … (Dynamite) is the purest essence of government that has ever been used, more concentrated and strengthened. It is government in a word, government stripped, as some of us claim, of the beloved fictions, ballot boxes, political parties, speeches in the House of Commons, and all the rest. Indeed, where can one govern in a more effective, or more concise, form, than to say: “If you do not want a pound of dynamite to be placed in your study on the first floor to-morrow evening, do this or do not do this?” That is the perfection and ultimate of government.
Speaking about terrorists, he criticised the then-Gov.
Here is your child, this is your doctrine of deified power, this is your disregard for human rights, this is your imposition of property upon men and women.
This was at a time when Western governments were much weaker than they are today. To be sure, Western governments are far from beating ISIS or many of the world’s other tyrants at that game. Still, you might think about another issue related to Taylor Swift, the Senate hearings on the government’s authoritarian crusade against so-called monopolies and market inefficiencies. of governmentit’s hard to take seriously (“Five takeaways from the Senate hearing on Ticketmaster’s Taylor Swift scandal“, The Wall Street JournalJanuary 25, 2023):
Live Nation Entertainment faced questions from lawmakers at a Senate hearing in Washington on Tuesday about Ticketmaster’s failure last year to sell tickets for Taylor Swift’s upcoming tour.
Senators from both parties in a divided Congress came together to criticize Ticketmaster, with Democrats and Republicans calling for a review of Live Nation’s market power.
To prevent social strife and Leviathan, we need individual freedom and private property. People who like Taylor Swift should be free to go to her concerts if she or someone else can raise the funds. People who don’t like Taylor Swift or don’t like fun should just stay away. And people who want to go to a Taylor Swift concert should be able to buy tickets from people who are hosting the concerts, people who act on behalf of the people who are hosting them, or people who are scalping tickets.
