Her reply was that it would be nice, but no one else would ever let me do that. "That's just not the way things work..."
My opinion is that if individuals like me don't leave other people alone (as in not using coercion against them, whether personally, or "collectively" through The State) to do as they wish, as long as they aren't stealing or attacking, why should we expect them to leave us alone? It has to start somewhere.
Maybe that's not how the world is now. Maybe it will never be like that. However, I can still make my own life better- right here right now- by doing the right thing even if others don't. I make my stand on the principles of voluntaryism/anarchism/libertarianism. However that turns out, it is my choice to stand for your liberty, and thereby enhance my own.
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I can't see a way out of having at least some government: cops/courts/soldiers/etc to protect peaceful people from aggression. And if not the State, then who? Do I hire my own private security team? Human nature being what it is, doesn't anarchism always boil down to who can muster the biggest army? Seems we're screwed no matter what. Might always ends up making right, and history is written by the winners. Sorry but I'm kind of in a discouraged mood today.
ReplyDeleteSelf government ("self control") is necessary, but externally-imposed government- what most people mean when they use the word "government"- isn't.
ReplyDeleteDo the "cops/courts/soldiers/etc" of The State protect peaceful people? Or do they exploit and subjugate them- and even rob, kidnap, and murder them pretty regularly? Who most endangers your life, liberty, and property/pursuit of happiness today? If The State can't (or won't) do what makes some justify it's existence, why continue to justify it? Government has had 5 or 6 thousand years to get it right and still fails over and over again, every single time it is tried in whatever permutation you implement. Time's up. Stop pursuing a path that goes in circles.
Somewhere in the past, and I can't find it right now, I have written that I fully expect I can go the rest of my life without getting into any serious trouble from freelance thugs- trouble I can't handle myself- but I can't say that about the State's thugs. There is no effective defense from them because they have the illusion of legitimacy and almost infinite backup. Let's remove that illusion of legitimacy and see them for what they really are.
You could hire your own private security team if you want. In a free society you would have many times more wealth to use as you see fit. But no one- not a hired guard and not anyone who works for The State- cares about your personal security even a fraction as much as you do. Your security is your responsibility and always has been.
The funny thing about using the argument that "Human nature being what it is, doesn't anarchism always boil down to who can muster the biggest army?" is that observation tells me that this isn't what anarchism boils down to at all; rather it is the circumstance we find ourselves in under The State. The "rich warlord" that statists fear has already taken over... and they support him.
Stop pretending that warlord has any legitimacy and treat him and his gang as you would treat any powerful thugs.
Might doesn't make right- it only makes most people nod their heads in agreement so they don't get shot. That's a weakness, not a strength. The real "might" comes from being right. The history that is written is just the story of bad people interacting with bad people. The real events matter more than the history.