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Everyone knows that the way things are isn't the way things should be, but most everyone also seems to think that the solution to this problem is just to get the right people into power in the government, and then they'll fix it for us.
I hate to break it to you, dear reader, but that is a delusion. There is no such thing as "the right" person to exercise power over us through the use of government force. Nobody worthy of leadership would want to wield such power, and anyone seeking to wield it is automatically unworthy of it.
The problem is the institution of statehood itself. Civilization isn't a gift from government. Government is always and ever standing in the way of a civilized society. Progress toward civilization and freedom has always come from the bottom up, fighting those in power in the government every step up of the way.
Authoritarianism isn't a bug in the system that can be fixed: it's a feature of the system. A state government is premised on the threat or use of force to achieve ends determined by central planners. The idea that we are sovereign and they serve "We the People" is a cruel joke, and elections are a sham designed to delude people into consenting to their own mental and economic enslavement.
The government school system teaches historical myths conducive to the indoctrination of children into the state religion, the belief that we need the government intervening into our lives to take care of us and provide us with law and order. But government doesn't give law, it gives lawlessness, and abolishing the wicked institution of statehood is a prerequisite for humankind to become civilized.
Government bureaucrats making decisions at best arbitrarily, assuming benevolent intent and no corruption, do not know better than the free market with its pricing system how to efficiently allocate scarce resources toward productive ends, as determined by the will of consumers, which is to say by all of us.
There is no more perfect manifestation of the democratic principle than individuals engaging in voluntary exchange for mutual benefit, which gives rise to spontaneous order and true economic growth, i.e., increases in societal standard of living. And there is no reason why society could not alternatively be organized around this simple principle of non-aggression. It is the only way forward.
That is all. I just wanted to share these brief thoughts with you to encourage you to start imagining how we could organize an enlightened society in the absence of a central government.
Let's envision a better world and then act to make that vision a reality.
Relatedly, in case you missed it, Bretigne Shaffer and I made the case for not voting in this interview. Whether we end up persuading you or not, I guarantee you'll find our discussion intellectually stimulating: |