Here is a test case to separate decentralist libertarians, who believe that divided sovereignty is the best long-run protection for liberty, from the centralist libertarians, who mistakenly believe that a distant government that is not friend of liberty should be empowered to defend liberty and property rights.
The case concerns an unmarried couple in Black Jack, Missouri. The couple has three children. The town wants to deny them an occupancy permit. Because the permit is issueed by the government and not a private property, this is a violation of their rights and imposition on their freedom of association and economic liberty.
Should the Feds intervene, or should the ACLU sue under federal law? No, because that would enlist the federal government, the worst enemy of liberty, as the sovereign over all issues of local residency in the US. We’ve been down this road before, and look where it got us.
