As I am using the moniker "Robin Hood", I get a lot of comments from socialists as they are surprised that I am against socialism. This is because they are not very bright and not very well-educated. Let me explain:

Robin Hood possibly lived at some point between the 12th and 14th centuries. There is evidence that a man called Robin Hood did exist, but it is unlikely there is much truth in the ballads about him. The important part is what the ballads said about the people who told them.

Feudal England was ushered in by the Norman Conquest, a traumatic event for a country that had endured three hundred years of Viking attacks: plunder, rape and murder from invaders was a part of life.

The English developed a high respect for property rights. Even as far back as Magna Carta, limits on the power of the King to seize property were present. A man's property was his own and only he is entitled to it.

Robin Hood is a development and extension of that respect. In feudal England was, as I presumably shouldn't have to explain, pre-capitalist. Property was dispensed at the judgement of the king, and almost 90% of the peasantry were serfs, bound to the land they had to work.

Property was mostly tenured to the nobles and the church. These things were interlinked with the king in the feudal system of governance; the king was crowed in a religious ceremony, and took his landed vassals' oaths of alleigance, in return the king gave them land.

In feudal England, there was no distinction between "the rich" and "the government". Land was the primary source of wealth and was owned by the authority of the king, with the nobles were responsible for enforcing the common law.

The political evolution of England sprung from the need to secure the natural rights of free Englishmen against the Church and State. Robin Hood as a mythical character fulfilled that desire; he robbed from the rich authorities to give to the poor peasants.

Sidenote: this isn't really true. Robin Hood robbed from the rich authorities, peasant travellers, and anyone else who he thought he could take from, in the ballads. He spent the money on arms, food and drink, mostly. Sometimes he used it for political gain and paid them off.

"Robbing from the rich to give to the poor" is synonymous with "robbing from the tyrant to give to the oppressed", in feudal England. This is not necessarily the connection now, however, as capitalism has provided means for people to get rich without oppressing others.

In conclusion, Robin Hood is a libertarian folk hero. Thanks for coming to my TED talk.