This message is intended for those outside the choir that are willing to accept a different viewpoint.
Why would any person in their right mind claim to identify as a libertarian/anarchist/voluntaryist? Have you not read Lord of the Flies? Clearly people are like ten year old boys, refugees of a brutal war, and ergo need other people to control them. Society must be organized around, theft, violence, and the threat of violence, otherwise there would constantly be theft, violence, and the threat of violence, plus poor people would struggle. People are bad, so we need government made up of people.
Unfortunately for most of the world, this is exactly what they believe. Mention the word anarchy, and the first thing that comes to mind for most is random mob violence. Never mind that the violence of the State is impossible to truly grasp. Never mind that its actions are contradictory to what it professes to do. I was one such person.
Until quite recently, approximately a year, I used to adhere to the completely insane notion that we needed an involuntary institution in order to have a functioning society. One example I used to “justify” the need for a centralized authority was a natural disaster such as Hurricane Katrina. Now anyone who knows anything about the government’s response would know that it was a total disaster and did not help people in the slightest.
Another example I used was the “social safety net” argument. I believed that it was necessary to have forced wealth distribution programs to “help” those who are less fortunate. I also expanded that argument to include: infrastructure, and health and safety. One only has to look at the crumbling government infrastructure to realize just how ridiculous the notion is. “You want solid infrastructure? Well then, you will have to wait for the government to kill a few hundred thousand brown people to make sure you are safe.”
Perhaps the most ridiculous reason I used to justify the need for government was because politicians were controlled by corrupt bankers and corporate lobbyists, we needed government to keep us safe from corrupt bankers and corporate lobbyists. I laugh at myself now that I know just how insane that notion was.
Not only is the State ridiculous and comical, it is incredibly violent. It is a death cult, soaked in blood. War and famine inevitably accompany it. A quarter of a billion people killed in the twentieth century should make one quite skeptical of government, if not realize there is no moral justification for it to exist.
A monopoly on force and violence, to “protect” people from monopolies, force, and violence makes as much sense as eating toothpaste. Government at its core is incredible irrational and destructive, despite all the window dressing it puts on itself. The real question should be: “Why would any person proclaiming to be rational not consider themselves to be a libertarian/anarchist/voluntaryist?”
Leave a Reply