“Silk Road was supposed to be about giving people the freedom to make their own choices, to pursue their own happiness,” he said. And he apparently no longer shares the same view of maximum freedom that his libertarian champions hold: He exhibits deep regret not only for throwing his young life away, but also for dragging his family through hell. For many libertarians, he is worthy of praise for taking agorism to the next level via technology - for challenging the state head on, and paying the price. Social media buzzed all weekend with praise for Ulbricht as a brave soul who created a safer alternative to buying drugs off the street. The libertarian blogosphere certainly seems to think so. This cannot be overstated.īut is Ulbricht a commendable libertarian martyr by definition, simply by virtue of falling into the crosshairs of an immoral federal government waging an unjust drug war? Does lamenting his indefensible sentence mean celebrating him and his actions? They are natural market reactions to government interference. Dark sites like Silk Road, and the cyber payment systems they employ, exist because of state prohibitions on voluntary human conduct. No human being should be locked away for engaging in (or facilitating) peaceful, voluntary commerce among willing participants. The central issue in the Ulbricht case, as always, is an evil and unbridled federal government. Too bad he wasn’t sentenced like any other drug dealer. "You are no better a person than any other drug dealer." It was your opus, and you wanted it to be your legacy.” “What you did was unprecedented,” she told Ulbricht, “and in breaking that ground as the first person he had to be punished accordingly.” “ is clear is that you were captain of the ship as Dread Pirate Roberts and you made your own law. His sentence, which appears unduly sadistic even by today’s standards, was handed down with a lecture from Judge Katherine B. This follows his conviction in February for typically dubious (nowhere in the Constitution) federal crimes including conspiracy, money laundering, and the circular “engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise.” Last Friday came the unpleasant news that Ross Ulbricht, the 31-year-old former operator of the Silk Road site, has been sentenced by a federal court to life in prison without parole.
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