About

"Physical removal" is a phrase commonly used by anarcho-capitalists and libertarians to express a desire to separate and dissociate from those with opposing viewpoints or lifestyles viewed as undesirable, especially liberals and communists. It's used in a manner similar to Free Helicopter Rides in that it can also be used as a euphemism for executing political opponents.

Origin

The phrase originated in libertarian author and political theorist Hans-Hermann Hoppe's 2001 book "Democracy: The God That Failed" ^[1], in which he argues that in order to maintain a libertarian social order, those with political views antithetical to private property such as democrats and communists would have to be disallowed from joining libertarian communities.

In a covenant…among proprietor and community tenants for the purpose of protecting their private property, no such thing as a right to free (unlimited) speech exists, not even to unlimited speech on one’s own tenant-property. One may say innumerable things and promote almost any idea under the sun, but naturally no one is permitted to advocate ideas contrary to the very covenant of preserving and protecting private property, such as democracy and communism. There can be no tolerance toward democrats and communists in a libertarian social order. They will have to be physically separated and removed from society.

Spread

It is unclear when the term became popular as a meme within Alt-Right and libertarian circles. On July 16, 2015, Youtube user SeventhSon associated with the podcast the Daily Shoah uploaded a video "Physical Removal" which reimagined Hoppe's concept of physical removal as an actual business.

Similarly, on July 21, 2016, the subreddit /r/Physical_Removal ^[2] was created dedicated to the meme and similar jokes.

External References

^[1] Wikipedia – Democracy: The God That Failed

^[2] Reddit – /r/Physical_Removal