Concretely, there is no such thing as 'government.' There are only individuals, acting.
Calling a State a Spade
As an abstraction we understand government to comprise individuals working therein as a unified whole, and to some extent this makes sense. Those in positions of state office do often work together to achieve common ends. But there is also chaos there, and divisive conflict, as there is anytime self-interested humans are present. As such, one must ask some pointed questions about the narratives pro-government individuals incessantly put forward.
If ungoverned people are hopelessly prone to indecent, violent, and deceptive acts, as the statist narrative goes, who governs the people at the top positions of power in government? And then who governs that government? Oh, we have things like the EU and the UN, some might protest. We have international organizations that govern the individual governments. Alright. But what about above them? They are just people too. Prone to error. So who governs at the very tippy top?
Well, it's a complicated system of checks and balances, globally.
Hmmm. Sounds like circular reasoning to me. And not very comforting if humans are indeed the hopelessly depraved, murderous, serial killers and rapists government, the mass media and religion want us to think they are. Luckily, that's not quite the truth.
Two Ways to Approach Anarchy
The individuals that make up the state approach the reality of anarchy – the open and completely free 'IS-ness' of the universe – as an opportunity to control, manipulate, coerce and violate others to achieve their individual ends and thus, to some degree or another, desire the prevention and abolition of any logical, fair, reality-based system or norm.
For example:
The statist says: "I'M CHRIS COLUMBUS, AND ALLLLLLL THIS SHIT I JUST CRASHED INTO WITH MY BOAT BELONGS TO ME AND SPAIN, JUST BE-FUCKIN'-CAUSE!"
The voluntaryist says: "Slow down there, Chrissy. We need a property norm that applies equally to all individuals. Otherwise, you're just gonna have a massacre and a bunch of people fighting with each other."
Make no mistake that the nation states of today function in pure anarchy. At the top of the power pyramid (and even the lower levels which I've seen) it is connections, hushed conversations, and unofficial backroom deals that make the 'world go 'round,' as they say. And you know what? Anarchy works perfectly splendid for these jackasses.
They don't need laws, official contracts, or formal punishments for breaching protocol. That stuff is for the peons like us. For them, it's blackmail, bribery, favors and connections that get jobs done. Then laws are made to protect them from being held accountable. Why do corrupt bankers get bailed out over and over again? Why are presidents drone bombing innocent families and making jokes about it not put on trial for murder? How can Johnson and Johnson push an opioid epidemic, suppress science, pay billions in damages, and still receive state and media support? Welcome to the dark side of anarchy.
In anarchy, the individuals participating in the state have built the small conceptual box called 'government,' and have trapped you inside. They themselves do not believe in, and could not give a damn about government. They care about POWER. Government is a myth they've created for you to believe so you will disempower yourself. But there is some good news. While their evil order is built on anarchy, our good one can be, too.
Life-Affirming Anarchy
Luckily anarchy is neutral and allows for goodwill, harmony, and healthy life-affirming order as well.
Anarchy makes it possible for two individuals to freely consent to an agreement about how their property might be used. For example, if two private property owners want to join their properties to build a library, there need not be any voting about mask policy, the type of books that will be housed, business hours, etc. Taxpayers do not need to be extorted to build the edifice. If the people in the area do not like the type of library the two property owners produce, they can go to a different one, as there is no longer one centralized, violent, government rule as to how, when, why and where libraries may be built or run.
The same goes for policing services, schools, road construction, etc. Just as it would be insane for Burger King to point a gun at your head and demand you never go to McDonald's, no matter bad how their burgers may be, it's equally insane that we are expected to pay for one company and one company alone when it comes to protection, called the police. What if they suck at their jobs? Well, they often do, as anyone knows who watches the news.
Private alternatives are available already. Private companies build massive roads and infrastructure already. It is possible. Free market anarchy already happens every day in a million and one diverse ways.
While government's decrees and claims are arbitrary, disconnected from objective reality, and thus induce chaos, i.e. we own all of this land from ocean to ocean because we say so and can tax you because some dead guys from 200 years ago said so, the voluntaryist anarchist's order is founded on concrete, immutable realities: I own my body and my life, you own your body and your life. My property is that which I acquire legitimately via my body which I own.
A Tiny, Psychopathic Percentage of the Population, Ruling Billions
There is a reason almost nobody you know kills and robs and rapes people. There is a reason almost nobody you know swerves into oncoming traffic. There is a reason almost nobody (or nobody, most likely, in all of these cases) you know, habitually wants to see others suffer. It is not just because these things are illegal, or because there are cops around. How psychotic someone would have to be for that to be their reason not to engage in such violent behaviors.
No, the reason almost no one engages in these acts is because when people's needs are met, we generally want to help one another. When people's needs – physical, emotional, spiritual — are met, we are almost never rotten to the core.
This natural desire to do good isn't some vapid, saccharine altruism, either. It is the enlightened side of self-interest. I feel best when those I love also feel good. My company makes the most profit when I treat my customers very well. My life is most likely to continue in desirable fashion if I don't swerve into oncoming traffic. I don't want to see my friend suffer, so I am not going to steal from him.
You know what we call people who feel no empathy, and don't care about these things? Psychopathic. And you know what positions they tend to seek? Positions of centralized power with little accountability. Cops and politicians. Priests. Sometimes teachers. It's true not all psychopathic individuals engage in evil, but the small, minuscule psychopathic percentage of the population that wants to do evil to fulfill their desires finds a perfect place to do so in the state. A seat of centralized power billions dogmatically believe to be authority, basically immune from consequence or accountability.
So there it is. Government is anarchy. They've simply duped you into believing in a bullshit product they don't even believe in themselves. They themselves are anarchists, addicted to seeing your life in chaos and feeding upon your labor to sustain their dark order. They've got you condemning anarchy when you should be condemning them, and taking responsibility for your own life. So, I think it's high time to get out of that conceptual box you're trapped in called government, and wake up to reality:
THERE IS NO GOVERNMENT. THERE ARE ONLY INDIVIDUALS, ACTING.
What are you going to do?
-GS
*My long-form articles on HIVE are posted here, and @ read.cash exclusively. Thank you for reading.*
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Governments undeniably exist in a state of anarchy in relation to one another, and despite all the perverse incentives, they still mostly coexist in relative peace. Why not remove levels of government until only individuals and voluntary associations remain?
Superb article. Thank you.
Thanks!
Rarely have I read something so good about anarchy. Except, in Chesterton or modern Darren Allan:
https://expressiveegg.org/portfolio/33-myths-of-the-system/
How nice that there are more people in the know. I haven't really woken up to it myself for a long time, only in bits and slow stretches. It can take a lifetime to realise what you've been caught in. Growing up is painful and scary. Because one is attached to it, to the old and familiar. I wish I could finally discover the lightness of being again.
Sometimes, like today, with my brothers at the table, we laughed and told each other stories where we showed courage and didn't obey those who demanded it of us. But however many moments there were when I obeyed, I regret them all.
Here is a small anecdote:
A student is on his way to a big city. Outside the city gate
he meets Death, who is sitting in the shadow of the city wall. The student sits down next to him and asks: "What are you going to do? Death replies, "I'm about to go into the city and get 100 people!" The student is frightened, runs into the city and shouts, "Death is on his way into the city! He's going to get 100 people!" People run into their houses, barricade themselves.... But there is no hiding from death. After four weeks, the student leaves the city again - and sees Death sitting in the shadow of the city wall again. He runs towards him and shouts at him: "You liar! You wanted to get 100 people! But now over 5,000 are dead!!! "Death rises slowly and says: "I took the 100 according to plan, like every week. Old, weak, sick....
The others were killed by ANGST! And YOU carried it into the city!"
Greetings to you.
Thank you for the reading recommendation and the kind, thought-provoking commentary. Really appreciate it. And yes, angst can be the real killer oftentimes, where if we could just breathe and live a bit, much trouble would pass us by unnoticed. Easier said than done, in some sense. But then again, maybe that lightness of being is always there and our mission is to rediscover it and couple it with the wisdom of experience gained across the years.
Why isn't private law enforcement recognised and allowed in our 'equal-free-market society'?
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