THE MOST DANGEROUS SUPERSTITION (phần IV Kết)

Part IV
Life Without the Superstition
The Solution

Nearly everyone can see at least some problems with the “government” he lives under, whether it be corruption, war-mongering, socialist redistribution, police state intrusions, or other oppressions. And many are desperate to find a solution to such problems. So they vote for this or that candidate, support this or that political movement or party, lobby for or against this or that legislation, and almost always end up disappointed with the results. They can easily identify and complain about various problems, but an actual solution always eludes them.

The reason they are always disappointed is because the problem does not reside in the people called “government”: it resides in the minds of their victims. Tinkering with “government” cannot fix a problem that does not come from “government.” The dissatisfied voter fails to realize that it is his own view of reality, his own belief in “authority,” that is the root cause of most of society’s problems. He believes that a ruling class is a natural, necessary, beneficial part of human society, and so all of his efforts focus on bickering over who should be in charge, and on what the power of “government” should be used for. When he thinks of “solutions,” he thinks inside the box of statism. As a result, he is powerless from the beginning. Begging masters to be nice, or asking for a new master, never leads to freedom. Instead, such behaviors are dear indicators that the person is not even free inside his own mind. And a man whose mind is not free will never be free in body.

People are so accustomed to engaging in the cult rituals collectively referred to as “politics” (voting, lobbying, petitioning, campaigning, etc.) that any suggestion the! they not bother participating in such pointless and impotent endeavors amounts, i., their eyes, to suggesting that they “do nothing.” Because they view voting, whining and begging as the entire spectrum of possibilities open to them when it comes to “government,” they are unable to even comprehend anything that might actually accomplish freedom. So when a voluntaryist or anarchist explains both the problem and the way out of it, but without presenting a new candidate to vote for, a new political party to support, or some new movement or campaign to get behind-in other words, without proposing anything that coincides with the superstition (of “government” and “authority’<=the average statist will complain that no solutions were offered. Prom their perspective, anyone who does not play the game of “politics,” within the rules set down by the ruling class, is “doing nothing.” They enthusiastically declare, “You have to participate!” They fail to realize that participating in the game created and controlled by tyrants is “doing nothing”nothing useful, at least.

In truth, rather than some event needing to occur, or some particular thing needing to be done, the real solution-the only solution to the problems involving “government”-comes from not doing certain things, and from certain things not happening. In one sense, there is no positive, active solution to “government.” The ultimate solution is negative and passive:

Stop advocating aggression against your neighbors. Stop engaging in rituals that condone the initiation of violence and reinforce the notion that some people have the right to rule. Stop thinking and speaking and acting in ways that reinforce the myth that normal people should be, and must be, beholden to some master, and should obey such a master rather than follow their own consciences.
When people stop bowing at the altar of “government” stop playing the games of tyrants, stop respecting arbitrary rules written by megalomaniacs, the problem will go away on its own. Being a mythical entity, “authority” does not need to be overthrown, or voted out, or “reformed.” The people need only stop imagining something that is not there, and never was. If the people stopped allowing an irrational superstition to warp their perceptions, their actions would immediately and dramatically improve. Most aggression, which is now done in the name of “authority,” would cease. No one would issue commands, enforce commands, or feel an obligation to obey commands, unless the commands themselves were seen as inherently justified based upon the situation, not based upon the one giving the command, or his supposed “authority.” That alone would eliminate the vast majority of theft, extortion, intimidation, harassment, coercion, terrorism, assault and murder which human beings now perpetrate against one another. When the people recognize and accept no master, they will have no master. Ultimately, their bondage, and the means to escape it, exists entirely inside their own minds.

Human society does not need anything added to it to fix most of its problems, nor does it need the institution of some new “system” or the implementation of some new master plan. Instead, it needs to have one thing-one all-pervasive, extremely destructive thingremoved from society: the belief in “authority” and “government,” What will “make things work” is not any centralized plan, not any authoritarian agenda, but the mutually voluntary interaction of many individuals, each serving his own values and following his own conscience. Of course, this does not fit at all with the way almost everyone was trained to think: that society needs a master plan with “leaders” who will make it happen. In truth, what society needs the most is the complete lack of a master plan, and the complete absence of authoritarian “leaden” to whom the people must surrender their free will and judgment. The solution is not to add some new thing to society. but simply to understand and dispel the most dangerous superstition.

Reality Is Anarchy

Many people have become anarchists-advocates of a society without any ruling classafter having come to the conclusion that SOCiety would be more prosperous and more peaceful, and would enjoy more justice and security, without any ‘government’’ at all. However, that is somewhat akin to an individual deciding, after careful analysis, that Christmas would work better without Santa Claus. But if Santa Claus is not real, it is pointless to have a debate about whether he is “needed” in order for Christmas to “work.” If Christmas works at all, it already works without Santa. And so it is with the usual debate between “government” and “anarchy.” “Government” does not exist. It never has and never will, which can be proven, using logic that does not at all depend upon any individual’s moral beliefs.

To quickly rehash, people cannot delegate rights they do not have, which makes it impossible for anyone to acquire the right to rule (”authority”). People cannot alter morality, which makes the “laws” of “government” devoid of any inherent “authority.” Ergo, “authority”-the right to rule-cannot logically exist. The concept itself is selfcontradictory, like the concept of a “militant pacifist.” A human being cannot have superhuman rights, and therefore no one can have the inherent right to rule. A person cannot be morally obliged to ignore his own moral judgment; therefore, no one can have the inherent obligation to obey another. And those two ingredients-the ruler’s right to command and the subject’s obligation to obey-are the heart and soul of the concept of “authority,” without which it cannot exist.

And without “authority;” there is no “government.” If the control which the gang called “government” exerts over others is without legitimacy, it is not “government;’ its commands are not “laws;’ its enforcers are not “law enforcement.” Again, without the right to rule, and a simultaneous moral obligation to obey on the part of the masses, the organization called “government” is nothing more than a gang of thugs, thieves and murderers. “Government” is an impossibility; it’s simply not an option, any more than Santa Claus is an option. And insisting that it is “necessary,” when it does not and cannot even exist, or predicting doom and gloom if we do not have the mythical entity, does not change that fact. To argue that human beings need to have a rightful ruler, one with the moral right to forcibly control all others, and one whom all others are obligated to obey, does not change the fact that there is no such thing, and can be no such thing.

As such, the purpose of this final chapter is not merely to argue that society would work better without the fiction called “government;’ but to introduce to the reader the ways in which people will perceive reality differently, think differently, behave differently, and interact differently-very differently, indeed-once they give up the most dangerous superstition: the belief in “authority.” Anarchy, meaning an absence of “government,” is what is. It is what has always been, and will always be. When people accept that truth and stop hallucinating a creature called “authority,” they will stop behaving in the irrational and destructive manner they do now.

Almost everyone, at least to begin with, has difficulty thinking clearly about such a concept. Because every politician, and every “government,” is constantly proposing “solutions” that deal with how society will be organized, managed and controlled through a centralized, authoritarian “system;’ most people do not even know how to mentally process the idea of a complete lack of any forcibly imposed “system.” They instinctively ask things such as “How would the roads work?” or “How would we defend ourselves?” The truth is that no one can know how everything would work or what all would happen. Individuals can make suggestions about how things should work, or predictions about how things might work, but no one can possibly know the best way for everything to work. Despite the huge amount of uncertainty this creates, the historical track record of people living in freedom is far better than any centralized, managed “solution” has ever been.

However, statists have been trained to be terrified of this infinitely more complex type of society, where there is not one master plan but billions of individual plans, interacting with each other in innumerable different ways. To them, that means chaos. And in a way, it is chaos, in the sense that there is no single guiding idea and no single controlling entity. This does not mean that people cannot make agreements, or work together, or cooperate and find compromises. Instead, it means that each person will view life as an adult instead of throwing away his free will and responsibility to blindly follow someone else’s agenda.

As an aside, even without the “authority” superstition, there would still be leaders and followers. But it would usually be actual leadership, where one person leads by example, by demonstrating a level of intelligence, compassion or courage which inspires others to behave similarly. That is a very different phenomenon from what is usually dubbed “leadership” today. When people talk of the “leaders” of countries, they are talking about people coercively controlling millions of others. The term “leader of the free world,” when talking about a “government” official, is inaccurate and self-contradictory. Politicians do not lead by example. If anything, they set an example of how to be dishonest, conniving, narcissistic and power-happy. They say what people want to hear, in order to dominate and control them. To call such people “leaders” is as ridiculous as calling thieves “producers,” or calling murderers “healers.” In the absence of the belief in “government,” real leaders could emerge: people who claim no right to rule, no right to force anyone else to follow them, but whose virtues and actions others recognize as being worth emulating.

No one could predict, and no one will control, what all will happen in a world without the myth of “government.” The following is not, therefore, intended to be a complete explanation of how every piece of human society would work once the “authority” myth is gone. Instead, it is an introduction to a few of the ways in which human beings might stop allowing an irrational superstition to distort their thinking and pervert their behavior, and might start behaving as rational, free beings, driven by their own free will and individual judgment, as they ought to be.

Fear of Freedom

Most people live their lives surrounded by authoritarian hierarchies, from families, to schools, to businesses, to all levels of “government.” As a result, most people have a hard time even beginning to imagine a “leaderless” civilization, a society of equals, an existence devoid of rulers, a world without “legislators” and their “laws.” The very thought, in most people’s minds, conjures up images of chaos and mayhem.

People are more comfortable with whatever they are accustomed to, and fear the unknown. People are so attached to whatever is familiar to them that even those who live in very high crime areas or war zones rarely leave the world they know to search for something better. Similarly, it is a well-documented fact that some longterm prisoners develop a fear of being released, and when they are, commit further crimes with the intention of being sent back to prison. Even slaves can exhibit a dread of being freed. This is because the life of a prisoner or a slave, though not likely fulfilling, is predictable, and imagining a new, drastically changed life, in a strange place, among strangers, with all of the related uncertainties-how will I eat? where will I live? what will it be like? will I be safe?-scares almost everyone. So it is when most people contemplate human society without a ruling class. The concept is so foreign to everything they have ever known and ever thought about, and everything they were taught is necessary and good, that they hardly know how to begin to imagine it. Even our very language illustrates our fear of living in society as free equals, because such a state is defined as “anarchy”-a term also used to describe chaos and destruction. We have grown so accustomed to the mental cage which the myth of “authority” has formed around each of us that most of us are terrified of the idea of life without that cage. We are literally scared of our own freedom.

And some people work hard to reinforce that fear. Those who benefit the most from the myth of “authority”-those who crave dominion over others, and the unearned wealth and power it gives them-are constantly pushing the message that life without them in charge would mean constant pain and suffering for everyone. Just about anything people can be afraid of-crime, poverty, disease, invasion, environmental disaster, etc.-has been used by tyrants to scare people into subservience. The details vary, but the template of the message from the tyrants is always the same: “If you do not give us power over you, so that we can protect you, you will suffer horribly.” That message, combined with man’s inherent fear of the unknown, has allowed for an incomprehensible level of oppression, theft, and outright murder, lasting generation after generation, all around the world. Ironically, it has been the empty promise of protection against suffering and injustice which has duped so many people into accepting the very thing which has caused more suffering and injustice than anything else in history: the belief in “government.”

It seems strange that any thinking human being would not be naturally open and receptive to the idea that he owns himself and should be in charge of his own life, unhindered by any human “authority.” However, the average person who hears such a message often lashes out at the messenger, insists that actual freedom, a world without masters and subjects, would mean chaos and destruction, and then vehemently advocates the continued enslavement of all of mankind, including himself He does so not based upon any rational thought or any evidence or experience, but based upon his own deep-seated, existential terror of the unknown--the unknown in this case being a society of equals instead of masters and subjects. He has never seen it in action on a large scale and has never thought about it, cannot imagine it, and therefore fears it. And those who desire dominion over others are constantly reinforcing and encouraging that fear in those they seek to subjugate.

Seeing a Different World

When someone who has been indoctrinated into the cult of “authority” finally disentangles himself from the superstition, the first thing that happens is that he sees a drastically different reality. When he observes the effects of the “authority” superstition, which infiltrate nearly every aspect of most people’s lives, he sees things as they actually are, not as he had formerly imagined them to be. Most of the time, when he sees so-called “law enforcement” in action, he recognizes it as raw, illegitimate and immoral thuggery being used to extort and control the people in order to serve the will of politicians. (The exception to this is when the police use force to stop others who are actually guilty of acts of aggression-ironically, the very acts which the police routinely commit for the ruling class.) When the recovering statist watches various political rituals, whether a presidential election, a legislative debate in Congress, or a local zoning board passing some new “ordinance,” he sees it for what it is: the acting out of delusions and hallucinations by people who have been indoctrinated into a completely irrational cult. Any discussions in the media of what “public policy” should be, or which “representatives” should be elected, or what “legislation” should be enacted, appear, to one who has escaped the superstition, as useful and rational as well-dressed, attractive, respectable-looking people seriously discussing how Santa Claus should handle the next Christmas.

To one who has escaped the myth of “authority,” the premise upon which all political discussion rests disintegrates, and every bit of the rhetoric which stems from the superstition is recognized as being utterly insane. The un-indoctrinated individual sees every campaign speech, every political argument, every discussion in the news about anything political, every CNN broadcast of another debate on the House floor over some new piece of “legislation,” as a display of the symptoms of profound delusions due to the blind acceptance of utterly asinine, cult-like dogma. All voting, campaigning, writing to one’s “congressman,” signing petitions, suddenly appear no more rational or useful than praying to a volcano god to grant its blessings to the tribe. One who has been deprogrammed sees not only the futility in all “political” action, but sees that such actions, no matter what their intended goals, actually reinforce the superstition. Just as everyone in a tribe praying to a volcano god would reinforce the idea that there is a volcano god, so begging politicians for favors reinforces the idea that there is a rightful ruling class, that their commands are “law,” and that obedience to such “laws” is a moral imperative.

Those whom most people now regard with great respect, and who are often called “honorable,” are recognized as delusional, god-complex lunatics by those who have escaped the “authority” myth. The un-indoctrinated would take no more pride in shaking the “President’s” hand than he would in shaking the hand of any other psychotic, narcissistic mass murderer. The men who wear black dresses and wield wooden hammers and refer to themselves as “the court” are seen as the madmen they are. Those who wear badges and uniforms, and imagine themselves to be something other than mere human beings, are not seen by the deprogrammed as noble warriors for “law and order” but as confused souls suffering from what is little more than a mental disorder.

Of course, those who have given up the superstition of “authority” can still fear the damage which the megalomaniacs and their mercenaries-soldiers and police-are capable of inflicting, but the mercenaries’ actions are-no longer seen as being in any way legitimate, or rational, or moral. Those who have escaped the myth begin to see that those whose actions are influenced by their “official” badge are as dangerous as people who are high on PCP, and for the same reason: because they are hallucinating a reality which is not there, which leads them to act out violently, unrestrained by a rational thought process. Those who have escaped the “authority” superstition, when confronted by a “police officer,” may still act as they would if confronted by a rabid dog: speaking softly, behaving in a submissive manner, and not making sudden movements. But it is not out of respect for either the “law enforcer” or the rabid dog; it is out of fear of the danger posed by a brain that is malfunctioning because it is infected by a destructive disease, be it rabies or the belief in “authority.”

When believers in “authority” commit acts of aggression, imagining such acts to be righteous because they are called “law,” their targets have few options. When a “tax” collector, or a police officer, or some other enforcer of the will of politicians, attempts to extort, harass, control or assault those who have escaped the myth of “authority;’ the targets of the “legal” aggression can either go along with what they know to be injustice, or they can try to somehow circumvent or hide from the “legal” aggressors, or they can forcibly resist the aggressors. It is unfortunate that the last option is ever necessary, because, though using defensive force is morally justified (even when “illegal”), it is sad that one good person would ever have to use violence against another good person simply because the latter has had his perception of right and wrong twisted and perverted by an irrational superstition. Even the murderous thugs of the most brutal regimes in history, due to their faith in the “authority” myth, thought they were doing their duty; they thought, on some level, that their actions were noble and righteous, or they would not have committed them. Such mindless loyalty to “authority” often leaves the intended victims with only two options: submit to tyranny or kill the deluded “law enforcers.” It would be far better for everyone if, before forcible resistance becomes necessary, the mercenaries of the state could be deprogrammed out of their delusion, so as to avoid the necessity of having to scare, hurt or even kill them to stop them from committing evil.

(Author’s personal note; The nicest thing you can do for anyone who has been duped into acting as a pawn of the oppression machine called “government” is to do whatever you can to persuade him to rethink his loyalty to the myth of “authority.” If all else fails, give him a copy of this book. As uncomfortable as that might be, you might be doing a lot of his potential future victims a huge favor, and you might even be doing the enforcer himself a huge favor, by negating the need for one of his future intended victims to maim or kill him.)

A World Without Rules

One who has been deprogrammed looks out at the world, and instead of seeing hierarchies of different ruling classes within different jurisdictions, sees a world of equals-not in talent, ability, or wealth, of course, but in rights. He sees a world in which each person owns himself, and he comes to the realization that he has no rightful master, that there is no one above him, and that that is true of everyone else, as well. He is beholden to no “government,” no “country,” and no “law.” He is a sovereign entity. He is bound by his own conscience, and nothing else.

Such a realization is incredibly freeing, but also can be quite disturbing to those who have always measured their conduct by how well they obeyed others. Obedience not only is easy, as it allows someone else to make all the decisions, but it also allows the one who blindly obeys to imagine that the consequences, whatever they may be, are always someone else’s responsibility. To have to figure out right and wrong, and to know that you alone are responsible for your decisions and actions, can feel like a huge burden. Essentially, losing the belief in “authority” means growing up, which has advantages and drawbacks. The un-indoctrinated person can no longer face the world as a care-free, irresponsible child, but at the same time, he will possess a level of freedom and empowerment he could not have imagined before.

Statists often have a deep-seated terror of a world in which every person decides for himself what he should do. Unfortunately for them, that is all that has ever existed, and all that ever will exist. Everyone already decides for himself what he will do.

That is called “free will.” Many assume that if an individual is not bound by any “authority,” and has the attitude “I can do whatever I want,” he will behave like a selfish animal. Some even imagine that they themselves would become animals if they were not governed by a master. Such a belief implies that people feel a strong moral obligation to do as they are told, but otherwise have no moral compass at all. But most people obey “the law” because they believe that it is good to do so. There is no reason to think that, without being subservient to a master, those same people would no longer care about being good. Yet many still imagine human beings to be stupid savages, kept in check only by controllers. So they expect that, if unrestrained by a belief in “authority,” most people would become like unchained animals.

Those who have given up the “authority” delusion know better. There are, of course, consequences to actions, with or without “authority.” Aside from moral issues, most people usually choose to behave in ways that do not incur the wrath of others. Even if no one believed in right and wrong, being a habitual thief or murderer would be dangerous, and finding ways to peacefully coexist benefits the individual and the group. But aside from that, most people try to be good. In fact, that is why they obey “the law”: because they were taught that doing so is good. The problem is not that people do not want to be good; it is that their judgment of what is good and what is bad is horribly twisted and perverted by the belief in “authority.” They are taught that funding and obeying a gang of thugs is a virtue, and resisting is a sin. They are taught that asking those thugs to rob and control their neighbors (via “legislation”) is perfectly moral and legitimate. In short, when it comes to “authority,” they are taught that good is evil and that evil is good. Initiating violence via “the law” is seen as good, and resisting such assaults (”breaking the law”) is seen as bad.

Without the myth of “authority,” people would still have disagreements, and some would still be malicious or negligent, and would still do stupid or hostile things. The main difference in how human beings would interact without the “authority” superstition is quite simple: If someone did not feel justified in doing something himself, he would not feel justified in asking someone else to do it, nor would he feel justified doing it himself on someone else’s behalf. The concept is so simple, almost to the point of sounding trivial, but would lead to a huge change in human behavior.

To wit, if someone would not feel justified in paying for his children’s education by forcibly robbing his neighbors, he also would not feel justified in “voting” for local “government” to impose a “property tax” to pay for “public” schools. And if someone would not feel justified in stealing his neighbor’s property to fund a school, he still would not feel justified in doing so even if he was given a badge, and told to do so), in the name of “the law.” As another example, if someone would not feel justified in kicking down someone’s door and dragging him away and putting him in a cage for years, for having possessed a plant with mind-altering properties, then he would not feel justified in supporting “anti-drug laws” either. Nor would he suddenly feel justified in engaging in such trespassing, assault and kidnapping just because some “authority” gave him a badge and told him to do so, in the name of some “law.” As yet another example, if someone would not feel justified using violence to keep a complete stranger from setting foot anywhere in an entire “country,” then he would still not feel justified in doing so if someone gave him an l.eE. badge, nor would he feel justified in supporting “immigration laws” which instruct others to do so.

In a society without the myth of “authority” there would still be thieves, murderers, and other aggressors. The difference is that all of the people who view theft and murder as immoral would not advocate and condone “legal” theft and murder, which every statist now does. Again, to advocate any “law” is to advocate the use of whatever level of authoritarian force is required, up to and including deadly force, to achieve compliance. And the people who perceived theft and murder as immoral would not commit such acts simply because some “authority” or “law” told them to.

How much of what police do on a daily basis would they do on their own, without a “law” or a “government” telling them to? Very little. How much of what “soldiers” routinely do would they do on their own, without an authoritarian military leader telling them to? Very little. How much of what “tax collectors” do now would they do on their own, without any “government” telling them to? None of it. Everything good that the people who are called “law enforcers” now do-i.e., trying to stop genuinely hostile, destructive people from harming innocents-they could continue to do without the myth of “authority.” And they could do so out of the kindness of their hearts, or as a paid career, in the likely event that other people would want :0 voluntarily pay them for doing so. At same time, everything bad that “law enforcers” and soldiers now do-e.g., terrorizing or shooting people they know nothing about, aggressing against those who commit victimless “crimes,” detaining, interrogating and assaulting complete strangers-most of them would stop doing.

How many people were assaulted, tortured and murdered by the population of Germany as a whole, or the population of Russia as a whole, or the population of China as a whole, before the respective “governments” of those countries, under the regimes of Hitler, Stalin and Mao, enacted “laws” pretending to legitimize such atrocities? Almost none. And how many atrocities were committed after “authority” issued commands directing people to commit them? The numbers are staggering: tens of millions murdered, hundreds of millions assaulted, oppressed or tortured. Obviously, the people of those countries (and just about every other country) were far less inclined to commit acts of aggression on their own than they were to commit acts of aggression when commanded to do so by an imagined “authority.”

Ironically, when faced with the concept of a purely voluntary society, in which every service, even defense and protection, is funded by willing customers instead of by coercive “taxation,” many statists predict that private security firms would evolve into new, abusive, oppressive “governments,” or that competing security companies would end up being engaged in perpetual violent conflicts with each other. Such predictions fail to recognize that most people do not want to attack and rob their neighbors, and do not want to be attacked and robbed themselves, and it is only through the belief in “authority” that the majority ever feels okay about advocating robbery via “taxation,” or ever feels obligated to go along with being attacked and robbed themselves via “obeying the law.” Without the notion that “government” has rights that individuals do not, no malicious, aggressive private security firm would ever have popular support. If they were seen merely as private employees of average people, no one involved-neither the customers nor their hired protectors would imagine the employees to have any right to steal, harass, terrorize, or do anything that anyone else does not have the right to do.

To look at it another way, and to make it more personal, imagine living in a world where none of your neighbors felt justified in advocating that you be “taxed” to fund things which you object to. Imagine if every cause, every plan, every program, every idea, every proposed solution to all sorts of problems, was something you could either voluntarily support, or not. Imagine living in a world where none of your neighbors felt that they had the right to forcibly impose their ideas, choices and lifestyles upon you. They would feel justified (as they do already) in using force to stop you if you decided to attack them or rob them, but very few would feel good about committing any sort of aggression against you.

Contrary to what most people assume, this is exactly what a “world without rules” would look like. Each person would be guided by his own conscience-which could be thought of as self-imposed “rules” or “self-government”-and even though some people acting on their own would still make stupid or malicious choices and commit acts of aggression, no longer would anyone imagine that calling something a “law” or a “rule” can make an inherently unjustified act into something good. And if you were to resist such an act of aggression, your neighbors would praise you for doing so, instead of condemning you as a “criminal,” which nearly all of them would today if you resisted an act of aggression which happened to be “legal.”

Thinking Differently, Talking Differently

Many of the terms people use and the discussions they have on a daily basis are based upon the assumption that “authority” can exist. By constantly hearing and repeating the superstition-based dogma, nearly everyone unwittingly reinforces the myth, in their own minds and in the minds of those they talk to. Authoritarian propaganda is so ubiquitous that it does not feel to the masses like a “message” at all; it just feels like “talking about what is.”

Most of every history book is about who ruled what area when, which authoritarian regime conquered another authoritarian regime, which individuals or political parties came to power, which forms of “government” and types of “public policy” various empires have had, and so on. They speak about elections, who wielded the power behind the scenes, what “laws” were passed, what “taxes” were imposed, and what the people thought about their “leaders.” The underlying premise, which comes through loud and clear even if it is never openly stated, is that it is both inevitable and legitimate for there to be a ruling class-some variety of overlord with the right to forcibly control everyone else.

That message continues to be a constant underlying theme of nearly everything written in the newspapers, or broadcast on the radio or television. The news reports, whether local or national, talk about what “legislation” the “representatives” or “congressmen” have passed, what “law enforcers” did that day, which candidates are running for “public office,” what “public policies” they support, and so on. The way every bit of it is reported is heavily tainted by the superstition of “authority.” Of course, the way people think affects the way they talk, and each person is constantly expressing his 0\\711 fundamental beliefs, even in seemingly trivial discussions.

Compare how the same exact situation and events would likely be reported, first by one who believes in “authority,” and then by one who does not:
With Superstition: “Today the local government of Springfield put into place a four percent increase in local building permit fees, the proceeds of which are intended to fund a program to provide certain medical assistance for the elderly.”

Without Superstition: “Today a group of Local extortionists issued a formal threat to anyone doing construction or renovation in Springfield, demanding four percent more than the group had previously demanded from such people. The thieves say they intend to give some of the money they seize to the elderly.”

When someone escapes the superstition of “authority,” his thought patterns, and therefore his speech patterns, change dramatically. He.does not use the euphemistic terms which assign legitimacy to “legal” violence. He describes “tax collectors” as what they actually are: professional extortionists. He describes “law enforcers” as what they actually are: the politicians’ hired thugs. He describes “laws” as what they actually are: threats from politicians. He does not proudly describe himself as a “law-abiding taxpayer,” because he recognizes what that term actually means: one who allows himself to be robbed and controlled by power-hungry megalomaniacs.

Most statists have a hard time imagining a world in which there is no centralized machine attempting to control everyone else. However, some find it equally difficult imagining a world in which they themselves are not being forcibly controlled. The thought of looking out at the world and feeling beholden to no one, feeling no obligation to obey the “laws” of others, is utterly foreign to anything they have ever contemplated. As sad as it is, many people find it very hard to even imagine a world in which there is no one they must bow to, no legislature they must subjugate themselves to, no “law” or “rule” that can ever outrank their own consciences. Such ideas are worlds away from what nearly everyone has been taught to believe, and accepting such a drastically different view of reality feels like a profound, existential awakening. He who has escaped the myth says to himself something like this:

“Does any person, or any group of people, have the right to demand payment [rom me for something I did not ask for and do not want to fund? Of course not. If I am not committing aggression against anyone (via force or fraud), does anyone have the right to force me to make the choices they wish I would make? Of course not. Do I have the right to resist such aggression? Of course [do. Does any person, or any group of people, possess any rights that I do not possess? Of course not. (How and from where would they have gotten such rights?) Do I, at any time or in any place, under any circumstances, ever have an obligation to do anything other than what my own conscience dictates? Is there any situation in which the decrees or ‘laws’ of any supposed ‘authority’ could ever obligate me, in any way and to any degree, to abandon my free will, or ignore my own sense of right and wrong? Of course not.”

Teaching Morality vs. Teaching Authority

It is commonly held that unless children are taught to respect and obey “authority” they will be like wild animals, stealing, assaulting, and so on. But being obedient, in and of itself, merely means that, instead of the individual using his own judgment, he will defer to the judgment of those who seek and acquire positions of power – some of the most immoral, corrupt, callous, malicious, dishonest people on earth. Training people to be merely obedient only prevents animalistic behavior if the supposed “authority” does not itself condone and command theft and assault, as every “government” in history has done in the name of “taxation” and “law enforcement.” Obviously, teaching obedience does not help civilization if those giving the orders are commanding the very behaviors that harm society: acts of aggression against innocents. The idea that widespread subservience is good for society rests upon the patently false assumption that people in positions of power are morally superior to everyone else. It should be self-evident that having most people disregard their own consciences, instead entrusting politicians to make their choices for them, is not going to make society any safer or more virtuous. Instead, it will simply legitimize the very acts that interfere with peaceful human coexistence.

Consider the analogy of a robot, which is programmed to do whatever its owner tells it to do, whether productive or destructive, whether civilized or aggressive. This is akin to a child learning to respect “authority.” Whether the obedient robot or child ends up being a tool for destruction and oppression depends entirely upon who ends up giving the orders. If, instead, children are taught the principle of self-ownership – the idea that every individual belongs to himself, and therefore should not be robbed, threatened, assaulted, or murdered-then the supposed virtue of obedience is completely unnecessary. Consider which of the following is more likely to lead to a just, peaceful society: billions of people being taught the basics of how to be moral human beings (e.g., the principle of nonaggression), or billions of people being taught merely to obey, in the hopes that the few people who end up in charge will happen to give good orders. If there is any difficulty imagining what would happen in the two scenarios, one need only look to history to see what has happened.

Even randomly selected “rulers,” when given permission to forcibly control everyone else, will quickly be corrupted, and will become tyrants. But average, decent people are not the ones who desire power over others. The ones who seek and obtain power are usually already narcissists and megalomaniacs, people with a never-ending lust for power, who love the idea of dominating others. And the desire for dominion is never driven by a desire to help those who are being dominated, but always by a desire to empower the controller, at the expense of those whom he controls. Yet people continue to echo the claim that the average person, if guided purely by his own conscience, would be less trustworthy, less civilized and less moral than if he sets aside his own conscience and just blindly does whatever the tyrants of the world tell him to do. If each person relied on his own judgment, that would, by definition, be “anarchy,” while widespread obedience to authoritarian tyrants, by definition, constitutes “law and order.” Note the drastic contrast between the usual connotations of those terms-”anarchy” sounding scary and violent, “law and order” sounding civilized and just-and the real-world results of following conscience versus following rulers. The level of evil committed by individuals acting on their own is completely dwarfed by the level of evil committed by people obeying a perceived “authority.”

Though many imagine teaching obedience to “authority” to be synonymous with teaching right and wrong, the two are actually opposites. Teaching children to respect the rights of every human being, and teaching them that committing aggression is inherently wrong, is very important. But teaching them that obedience is a virtue, and that “respecting authority” is a moral imperative, will make them grow up to either advocate widespread, large-scale aggression, or to participate in widespread, large-scale aggression. Every statist does one or the other (or both). In fact, teaching obedience dramatically hinders the social and mental development of children. After having grown up in a situation where they were controlled by others, rewarded for obedience and punished for disobedience, if they ever escape that situation, they will have had little or no training, and little or no experience or practice, in how to think and act from morals and principles. Having never exercised their individual judgment and personal responsibility, knowing only how to do as they are told, they will be like trained monkeys that have escaped, but that have no way to cope with a life of freedom. If their upbringings have been molded mainly by controlling “authority” figures, people become existentially lost if that control vanishes.

In short people trained to obey “authority” do not know how to be independent, sovereign responsible human beings, because all their lives they have been intentionally and specifically trained not to follow their own consciences and not to use their own judgment. So the indoctrinated, when they escape one institutionalized control setting (“school”), hallucinate another “authority” to take its place: “government.” The escaped monkeys simply build a new cage, and eagerly jump into it, because that is all they know, and all they have ever known.

In a world without the “authority” myth, on the other hand, children could be taught to be moral instead of merely obedient. They could be taught to respect people, instead of respecting the inhuman, violent monster called “government.” They could be taught that it is up to them, not only to do the right thing, but to figure out what “the right thing” is. As a result, they could grow up to be responsible, thinking, useful adults, members of a peaceful and productive community, instead of growing up to be little more than cattle on the farms of tyrants.

No Master Plan

If tomorrow, by some miracle, everyone in the world let go of the belief in “authority,” the vast majority of theft, assault, and murder in society would immediately cease. All wars would end; all robbery in the name of “taxation” would stop; al oppression carried out in the name of “law” would cease. The people as a whole  – including the perpetrators, victims, and spectators of oppression – would no longer view such acts of aggression as legitimate.

But there would be another, less immediate change as well. The belief in “authority” is, in essence, a psychological cage. It trains people to believe that they do not need to judge what is right and wrong; that they do not need to take it upon themselves to fix society; that all that is required of them is that they “play by the rules” and do as they are told while looking to “leaders” and “lawmakers” to handle the problems of society. In short, the belief in “authority” trains people to never grow up, to always view the world as children view it: an incomprehensibly complicated place that is, and will always be, someone else’s responsibility. Whatever the problem-poverty, crime, disease, economic or environmental trouble-the indoctrinated statists are always on the lookout for some new “leader” to elect, who will promise to fix things. In one way, a world of authoritarians functions exactly the way a kindergarten classroom does: if anything goes wrong-if anything outside of the predictable, preplanned, centrally-controlled agenda occurs-the “children” call on the “teacher” to fix everything. The entire authoritarian environment of a classroom teaches the children that they are never in charge; it is never up to them to decide what to do. In fact, they are strongly discouraged from ever thinking or acting on their own. After all, if they were allowed to think and make their own decisions, the first decision most of them would make would be to walk out of the classroom.

Likewise, adult authoritarians are constantly told that one should not “take the law into his own hands.” The people are trained to call “the authorities” whenever there is a conflict or other problem, and then meekly do whatever the “government” enforcers tell them to do. If there is any dispute between people, the people are told that they should always run to the masters, whether by calling the “police” or by going to authoritarian “courts” to settle disagreements. When discussing societal challenges, the well-trained subjects of the state talk in terms such as: “They should pass a law ...” or “They should make a government program ...” They view their lives as part of a giant, centralized, master plan, so it logically follows that if they want their lives improved, the solution is to petition the planners to change the plan. This view is so ingrained in the masses that many people literally cannot comprehend the idea of individuals living their lives without being part of anyone else’s master plan.

This is demonstrated by the common response authoritarians have to the idea of a society without rulers. Almost without exception, a statist who ponders a stateless society will begin by asking how things will “work” without a ruling class. He does not ask this simply because he is curious about how roads, defense, trade, dispute resolution, and other things might function without “government.’ He asks this because he has always been trained to view human existence inside the framework of some centralized, forciblyimposed master plan, and is literally incapable of thinking outside of that paradigm. And so he will ask how things will work “under anarchy” and will refer to it as a “system,” imagining it as a new type of master plan to be inflicted upon the masses, when, of course, it is the exact opposite: a complete lack of a centralized, forcibly-imposed plan. But an overall plan for humanity is all that the statist has ever considered, and often it is all that he can comprehend. The idea that no one will be “in charge,” that no one will be making “the rules” for everyone else, that no one will be planning or managing mankind as a whole, and that no one will be telling the statist what to do, is simply something most authoritarians have never even imagined. The concept is so unfamiliar that they do not even know how to process it, so they desperately try to fit the idea of “anarchy” (a stateless society) into the mold of a master plan.

(Such contradictory thinking is only reinforced by those who wear the label of “anarchocommunist.” The term implies that there would be no ruling class, and that society would be organized into a collectivist system. Of course, if some group claims the right to forcibly impose such a system on everyone else, that is authoritarianism, and so the “anarcho-” part of the term would not apply. Another option is that those calling themselves “anarcho-communists” are merely hoping that, in the absence of a ruling class, every single individual on the planet will freely choose 10 participate in communes or collectives-which, of course, would not happen. As a final possibility, perhaps the “anarcho-communists’’ would, for themselves, choose to be part of a commune, but would allow others to choose different arrangements. In the end, the term “anarchocommunist’’ makes little sense, and is actually a symptom of authoritarianism: even when advocating a stateless society, some people automatically imagine that there must be some over-arching system or plan, some grand scheme, some form of societal management which must be imposed upon mankind as a whole.)

The truth is, with or without the myth of “authority,” no one can guarantee justice or prosperity, or predict everything that might occur, or know every problem that might arise, or how to solve them all. The difference is that those who believe in “authority” continue to pretend, despite constant overwhelming evidence to the contrary, that an authoritarian system of control can guarantee safety, security, prosperity, fairness and justice. Meanwhile, those who have given up the most dangerous superstition no longer pretend that it is possible to control everything and everyone via any “system.” Bizarrely, despite the nearly incomprehensible degree of economic disaster, human suffering, and mass oppression which the belief in “government” has repeatedly caused, proponents of authoritarianism still insist that those who oppose statism must be able to describe in minute detail exactly how everything in society would work in the absence of “government,” so that nothing bad could possibly happen. And if they cannot-as of course no one can-the statist then proclaims that as proof that “anarchy will never work.”

Rather than being a rational conclusion, such an idea is the symptom of deep-seated mental dependency and fear of the unknown. Statists want the promise that some allknowing, all-powerful entity will take care of them and protect them from all possible misfortune and from all of the bad people in the world. The fact that politicians have been making such promises forever, and have never once actually fulfilled such a promise (because the promise is patently ridiculous), does not stop statists from wanting to hear the promise. No matter how many times authoritarian “solutions” fail horrendously, most people still think that some other “government” plan is the only answer. What they want is a guarantee that some all-powerful entity outside of themselves will make sure that their lives are comfortable and safe. They do not seem to care, or even notice, that such “guarantees” never come true, and that anyone claiming the power to make such a guarantee is either an amazingly bold liar or a lunatic. Nonetheless, because anarchists and voluntaryists would never make the absurd promise that, without “government,” nothing bad will ever happen, most statists remain terrified of the idea of a stateless society.

(Author’s personal note: I have found that, whenever the topic of a stateless society comes up in my discussions with statists, almost without fail they begin asking questions in the passive voice: how will this get done, how will that be handled? They speak as if, even when it comes to their own lives, they are little more than spectators, waiting to see what will happen. This is because, for many of their formative years, especially while in “school, “ they were little more than spectators. The scripts of their lives were written by others; their destiny was determined and decided by “authority,” not by themselves. So, in an effort to get them to escape that mindset, when they ask me something like, “Under anarchy, how will this be dealt with?” I respond, “How would you deal with it?” When they ask, “What would be done about this potential problem?” I ask, “What would you do about it?” And they can usually come up with ideas, off the top of their heads, that are better than any authoritarian solution. The problem is not that they are incapable of being in charge of themselves, their futures, and in fact the future of the world; the problem is that it has just never occurred to them that they already are in charge of themselves, their futures, and the future of the world.)

One who understands that “authority” is a myth does not have any obligation to explain how every aspect of a free society would work, any more than someone who says that Santa Claus is not real has some obligation to explain how Christmas will work without him. However, statists often insist, as a condition of even considering the possibility of a stateless society, that someone tell them how every aspect of everyone’s life will work without “government.” Of course, no one knows-with or without the myth of “government”-what all will happen, and clinging to a provably false, self-contradictory myth, which itself has led to large-scale murder, extortion and oppression, because someone failed to describe in detail a perfect world without the myth, is absurd. People can make suggestions or predictions about how different aspects of a free society would work without the involvement of “authority”-and many scholarly treatises do exactly that-but once someone truly understands the insanity inherent in any belief in “authority,” he will never go back to accepting the myth regardless of what he thinks might happen without it, any more than an adult would go back to believing in Santa Claus because he does not know whether Christmas would work without him.

You Rule You, I Rule Me

By definition, in the absence of “authority,” no one would have the power or the right to proclaim, “This is how things will be done.” Yet that is the only template of thought which most authoritarians have ever considered. Those who realize that they have neither the ability nor the right to control all of humanity do not think in terms of a master plan for the human race. Instead, they think in terms of the only thing they can truly control: their own actions. They think in terms of, “What should I do about this?” instead of, “What should I ask the masters to do about this?” They are not so arrogant or delusional to think they have the right or the ability to make choices for all of mankind. They make their own choices, and accept the unavoidable reality that other people will make different choices.

On a practical level, it is absurd to expect that a system of centralized control, wherein a handful of politicians, with their limited understanding and experience, come up with a master plan and then force it on everyone else, would work better than comparing and combining the knowledge, ingenuity and expertise of hundreds of millions of individuals, via a network of mutually voluntary trade and cooperation. No matter what the goal iswhether it is food production, road building, protection against aggressors, or anything else-the ideas that come from the “chaos” of millions of people trying different inventions and solutions will always be better than the ideas which a handful of politicians will come up with. This is especially true in light of the fact that while politicians force their ideas on everyone via “the law,” even if they are lousy ideas that no one else likes, free market ideas have to be good enough that others will voluntarily support them.

Despite the amazing prosperity already created by relatively free, “anarchistic” trade and mutual cooperation, the though: of people coexisting without all of them being controlled and regulated by some master plan is still incomprehensible to most statists. Most statists have never even begun to contemplate the possibility of truly being in charge of their own lives. Everything about modem authoritarian society trains people to be loyal subjects of a system of control, instead of training people to or what they should be: sovereign entities, figuring things out for themselves, interacting with others as equals, answerable to their own consciences above all else. To most, the idea of a world where they are the ones who have to solve problems, settle disputes, help those who need help, protect themselves and others, without being able to run to an all-powerful “authority” instead, is a completely foreign and terrifying concept. They love to advocate authoritarian solutions, but do not really even want to be in charge of themselves, much less to be personally responsible for making society work. And their belief in “authority” is what they use to attempt to evade that responsibility and avoid the realities of life.

The life of a caged animal is, in many ways, easier than life in the wild, Likewise, life as an unthinking human slave can be more predictable and feel safer than a life of responsibility. But, just as living in the wild makes animals stronger, smarter, and far better able to care for themselves, letting go of the “authority” myth will force human beings to be smarter, more creative, more compassionate, and more moral. That is not to say that all people will, without the belief in “government,” be wise, kind and generous. But if millions of individuals each understood that it is up to them personally to make the world a better place, instead of merely obediently playing an assigned part in someone else’s master plan while crying to “government” to fix everything, it would unleash a level of human creativity, ingenuity, and cooperation beyond what most people could possibly imagine.

A Different Society

Today, most people associate the idea of “everyone doing whatever he wants” with chaos and death, and associate everyone being obedient and “law-abiding” with order and civilization. Without the “authority” myth, however, people would have a very different mindset. Without an “authority” to blindly follow and obey, without being able to whine to “the powers that be” to fix everything, people would have to figure out for themselves what is right and wrong, and how to solve problems. Some might claim that human beings are too short-sighted, lazy and irresponsible to run their own lives, but it is precisely the belief in “authority” that has allowed them to become so lazy and helpless. As long as they believed that making things right was not their job, that fixing problems was not their job, and that all they needed to do was to obey their masters, acting as unthinking pawns in someone else’s master plan, they had no need to grow up. But shedding the superstition forces one into the position of realizing that there is nothing on earth above him, which means that he is responsible for his own actions (or inaction); he is the one whose job it is to make the world a better place; he is the one who has to make society work.

There are certainly already statists who are trying to make a positive difference, but more often than not their belief in “authority” converts their good intentions into evil actions, perverts their compassion into violence, and turns their productivity into the fuel of oppression. For example, many people who join the armed forces start with the noble goal of defending their countrymen from hostile foreign powers, and many of those who become “police officers” do so with the intention of helping people, and protecting the good people from the bad people. However, once they become agents of the mythical beast known as “government;’ they immediately cease to be advocates of their own values and their own perceptions of right and wrong, and instead become enforcers of the arbitrary whims of politicians. In every “government” in history, those purporting to be “defenders” have quickly, if not immediately, transformed into aggressors. The first act of almost every regime is to impose some sort of “taxation,” to forcibly rob its subjects, usually under the asinine excuse that it must do so in order to be able to protect the people against robbers. It is, therefore, ironic that so many people accept the idea that “government” is the only entity capable of protecting the good from the wicked. In truth, only in the absence of the superstition of “authority” can the good intentions of would-be protectors and defenders actually serve humanity.

A private militia, for example, formed for the purpose of defending a certain population against foreign invaders-which is not imagined, by its members or by anyone else, to have any special “authority” whatsoever-will be guided by the personal conscience of each individual member. Such an organization can be an extremely effective means of exerting justified defensive force, while being immune to the usual corruptibility of authoritarian “protection” rackets. A private militia member who did not suffer from the “authority” delusion could not and would not ever use the excuse of “just following orders” to try to deny responsibility for his own actions. If he uses violence, he, and everyone around him, knows that he personally made the choice, and that he is personally responsible for it, and should personally be held accountable for his actions. In short, the only time a private, non-authoritarian militia could become oppressive is if every individual in it personally chose to act that way. In contrast, “government” militaries can become oppressive as a result of even one genuinely malicious person in the chain of command, if those beneath him have been effectively trained to faithfully follow orders.

Without the myth of “authority,” not everyone will act responsibly or charitably. Bat when each person accepts that he is in charge of himself, it is far less likely that good people will be doing the bidding of evil people, as happens constantly now, by way of the belief in “authority.” Statists are often afraid of what some individuals may do if not restrained by “government.” What they should fear, however, is what those individuals may do if they become “government.” The amount of damage which one hostile, malicious individual can do by himself is nothing compared to the damage that one hostile, malicious “authority figure” can do, by way of obedient, but otherwise good people. To put it another way, if evil was only committed by evil people the world would be a far better place than it is today, with basically good people constantly committing evil acts, because a perceived “authority” told them to.

A Different Kind of Rules

Without a belief in “government,” communities would almost certainly develop “rules” which, at first glance, might resemble what are now called “laws.” But there would be a fundamental difference. It is both legitimate and useful to write down, and publish for all to see, statements about the consequences of doing certain things. People in one town may, for example, make it known that if you get caught stealing in their town, you will be subjected to forced labor until you pay back your victim three-fold for what you stole. Or the people of some neighborhood may make it known that if you are caught driving drunk there, they will take your car and roll it into a lake. But, while such decrees would constitute threats, they would be fundamentally different from what are now called “laws,” for several reasons:

1)    The ones actually making the threats-the ones who decided what retribution they personally would feel justified in inflicting on those who harm or endanger their neighbors-would alone bear the responsibility for making and carrying out such threats.

2)    The threats would not require any election or consensus. One person, or a thousand people jointly, could issue a warning in the form of, “If I catch you doing this, I will do this to you.” The threats would not be seen as “the will of the people,” but only as a statement of the intentions of those actually issuing the warning.

3)    The legitimacy of such threats would be judged, not by who made the threats, but by whether the threatened consequence is (in the eyes of the observer) appropriate for the crime committed. No one would feel any obligation to agree with, or abide by, such a threat if they deemed it to be unfair or unjustified.

4)    Such warnings would not pretend to alter morality, or make up any new “crimes,” nor would anyone imagine such warnings to be legitimate simply because they were issued (the way people now view authoritarian “laws”). Instead, such warnings would simply constitute statements about what those making the threats believe to be justified. Therefore, instead of being in the authoritarian formula of, “We hereby make the following illegal,” the warnings would fit into this template: “I believe that if you do this, I have the right to respond in this way.”

Many people, having been trained into “authority-worship, would be terrified of such a non-centralized “free for all” method of human interaction. “But what if,” the statist will ask, “someone writes a threat that says, if I don’t like your religion, or your hair style, or your dietary choices, I’ll kill you?” Examining that question, in the context of a society still suffering from the superstition of “authority,” and in the context of a society without such a belief, shows just how dangerous the “authority” superstition really is. It is true that in the absence of the belief in “government,” an individual could threaten violence in unjustified situations. The point is not that everyone will automatically think and behave properly if there are no rulers, but that such malicious tendencies in human beings would be far less dangerous and destructive without the belief in “authority” to legitimize them.

For example, compare what happens when some individuals vehemently oppose alcohol consumption, and when “authority” forbids it. It is possible (if unlikely) that an individual in a stateless society could, on his own, declare, “I consider consuming alcohol to be a sin, and if I find out you’ve been drinking, I’m coming to your house with a gun to straighten you out.” Any person who did so would almost certainly be persuaded, if not by polite reasoning, then by the threat of retaliatory violence, that he should not carry through on his threat, and should stop making such threats. Obviously one person could not, by himself, inflict oppression upon millions of beer-drinkers. Even among others who also considered drinking alcohol to be a sin, even if it was a majority, few would feel justified in trying to forcibly impose their views onto others. Whether they recognized that such aggression is unjustified! or whether they were simply scared of what might be done to them if they tried, either way violent conflict would be avoided.

In contrast, suppose a group of people, wearing the label of “government,” declared alcohol to be “illegal,” and created a heavily armed gang of enforcers to hunt down and imprison any caught possessing alcohol. Since that actually happened, there is no need to theorize about the results. With the promise of fixing most of society’s ills, and with public support, the U.S. ruling class enacted alcohol prohibition in 1920. Alcohol consumption continued, slightly reduced, and there immediately sprang up a black market in alcohol production and distribution. A hugely profitable but “illegal” market led to violent conflicts, a jump in organized crime and other crime, and widespread corruption in “government,” as well as brutal attempts to crush the alcohol trade. Seeing the actual results of prohibition, a majority of the people soon opposed it, and demanded the repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment, which authorized prohibition at the federal level. And of course, after prohibition ended, all of the related violence-“government” violence and private violence-ended.

In this example, and countless others, it can be seen that, left to their own devices, most people will not try to forcibly impose their preferences upon others, but will go out of their way to avoid violent conflicts. However, if there is a “government” that people can use to coercively inflict their values upon others, they will gladly beg it to do so, and feel no shame or guilt for having done so. If every person who made or attempted to enforce a threat (or “rule,” as it might be called) had to take personal responsibility for having done so, and had to assume the risk himself, very few people would be so eager to threaten their neighbors. But given the vehicle of “authority,” everyone who believes in “government” threatens all of his neighbors on a regular basis, and accepts none of the responsibility and assumes none of the risk for having done so. In short. the belief in “authority” makes everyone who believes in it into a thug and a coward.

Organization Without “Authority”

Having mentioned the ways in which human society would change absent the “authority” myth, it is equally important to note the things which would not change. For some reason, some people seem to think that “anarchy”-a society without a ruling class-equates to “every man for himself,” with every person having to grow his own food, build his own house, and so on. The implication of such a belief is that human cooperation and trade occur only because someone is “in charge.” Of course this is not the case, and never has been. People trade and cooperate for mutual benefit, as can be seen in the many millions of businesses and transactions which already occur without any “government” involvement.

Supermarkets are examples of highly organized, amazingly efficient means of distributing food, which involve many thousands of individuals, none of whom is coerced into participating, but each of whom does so for his own benefit. Everyone from the farmers, to the truck drivers, to the stock boys, to the checkout clerks, to the store managers, to the owner of entire store chains, does what he does because he receives personal gain for doing so. No one is “legally” required to produce one bite of food for anyone else, and yet hundreds of millions of people are fed, and fed well, with a large variety of food products, of high quality but at a low price, by what is essentially an anarchistic system of food production and distribution.

This is the result of human nature and simple economics. Where there is a need for some product or service, there is money to be made providing it. And where there is money to be made, there will be a number of people-or groups of people-competing for that money, by trying to make products that are better and cheaper. Such a “system”-which is really no system at all-automatically “punishes” those whose products are inferior or too costly, and rewards those who find a way to provide people with what they want at a better price. And giving up the “authority” myth would not hamper that in the slightest.

In fact, the “authority” superstition is constantly interfering with people who attempt to organize for mutual benefit, by throwing “taxes,” licensing requirements, regulations, inspectors, and other “legal” obstacles in the way. Even “laws” supposedly intended to protect consumers usually do nothing but limit the options available to consumers. The end result is that many businessmen who otherwise would have to focus on making a better product at a better price instead focus on lobbying those in “government” to do things which handicap or destroy competing businesses. Because the mechanism of “government” is always the use of force, it can never help with competition; it can only hinder it. In other words, rather than being essential to an organized society, the myth of “authority” is the biggest obstacle to human beings organizing for mutual benefit.

Defense Without “Authority”

Those who insist that “government” is necessary often raise the issue of defense and protection, claiming that society without “government” would mean that anyone could do anything, there would be no standards of behavior, no rules, no consequences for those who choose to commit theft or murder, and that society would therefore collapse into constant violence and mayhem. Such concerns, however, are based on a profound misunderstanding of human nature, and of what “government” is, and what it is not.

Defending against aggressors requires no special “authority,” no “legislation,” no “law,” and no “law enforcers.” Defensive force is inherently justified, regardless of who does it, and regardless of what any “law” says. And having a formal, organized means of providing such defensive force for a community also does not require “government” or “law.” Each individual has the right to defend himself, or defend someone else. He may choose to hire someone else to provide defense services, either because he is physically unable to defend himself, or just because he would rather pay someone else to do it. And if a number of people choose to pay to have an organization of trained fighters, with the weapons, vehicles, buildings, and other resources they need to defend an entire town, the people have that right, as well.

At this point, most believers in “government” will protest, saying, “That’s all government is.” But that is not the case. And this is where the difference becomes apparent. What an individual does not have the right to do-what no group of people, no matter how large, has any right to do-is to hire someone else (individual or group) to do something which any average individual does not have the right to do. They cannot rightfully hire someone to commit robbery, even if they call it “taxation,” because the average individual has no right to steal. They cannot rightfully hire someone to spy on and forcibly control the choices and behaviors of their neighbors, even if they call it “regulation.” Those in a stateless society would feel justified in hiring someone to use force only in the very limited ways, and in the very limited situations, in which every individual has the right to use force: to defend against aggressors. In contrast, most of what the so-called “protectors” in “government” do is commit acts of aggression, not defend against them.

Some of what is now classified as “police work”-in fact, all of what the “police” do that is actually legitimate, noble, righteous, and helpful to society-would exist without the “authority” myth. Investigating wrongdoing and apprehending actual criminals-meaning people who harm others, not merely people who disobey politicians-would continue without the “authority” myth, as something that almost everyone would want, and would be willing to pay for. This is demonstrated by the fact that there are already private detectives and private security companies, in addition to the “protection” services of “government” that everyone is forced to fund.

There would be only one difference, though it is a major difference: those doing the job of investigating and protecting, in the absence of the “authority” superstition, would always be viewed as having exactly the same rights as everyone else. While presumably they would be better equipped and better qualified to do their jobs than the average citizen, their actions would be judged by the same standards that the actions of anyone else would be judged, which is not at all the case with so-called “law enforcers.” Private protection providers would also judge their own actions, not by whether some “authority” had told them to do something, or whether their actions were deemed “legal” by “government,” but by whether those actions, in their own personal view, were inherently justified. Not only would an excuse of “just following orders” not convince the general public, but the agents themselves could not, even in their own minds, use such an excuse to evade responsibility for their actions, because no one would be claiming to be an “authority” over them.

Non-authoritarian “police”-if they would even be called that-would be viewed very differently than “government” agents are now. They would not be seen to have the right to do anything that any other person did not have the right to do. They could only go places, question people, use force, or do anything else, in situations where anyone else would be justified in doing the same thing. As a result, the average person would have no reason to feel any nervousness or self-consciousness in their presence, as most people now do when in the presence of “law enforcers.” People would feel no more obligation to submit to questioning, or searches, or anything else requested by private protectors, than they would if some stranger on the street made such requests. And if a private protector became abusive, or even violent, his victim would have the right to respond the same way he would if anyone else was behaving that way. More importantly, the individual who resisted aggression from a private protector would have the support of his neighbors if he did so, because his neighbors would not be imagining any obligation to bow to someone because of any badge or any “law.”

The best check against a defense organization becoming corrupt or “out of control” is the ability of customers to simply stop paying. Obviously, no one wants to pay for some gang to oppress him, but most people also do not want to pay a gang to oppress someone else either. As much as the average person wants to see thieves and murderers caught and stopped, he also wants to see to it that the innocent are not harmed. If the customers of some private protection company discovered that their “protectors” were harassing and assaulting innocent people-the type of behavior they were hired to prevent-the customer base would instantly disappear, and the thugs would be out of business. And if, in the absence of any claimed “authority,” the thugs decided to try to force their former customers to keep paying, the backlash from the people would be swift and severe, as no one would feel any “legal” obligation to allow themselves to be oppressed.

A non-authoritarian protection system would also lack another particularly ludicrous aspect of nearly all “government” forms of “defense.” It is standard, not only for “governments” to force people to fund “defense” schemes, but to refuse to even tell the people what all they are funding. The U.S. “government,” and in particular the CIA (though many other agencies also engage in secret operations), has spent decades, and trillions of dollars, much of which still remains unaccounted for, on operations its “customers”-the American people-are prohibited from knowing about. Indeed, anyone who tried to tell the American people what all they are funding would be imprisoned-or worse-for causing a breach of “national security.” With nearly unlimited power, nearly unlimited funds, and permission to do all of its deeds in secret, it is utterly absurd to imagine that the military and the CIA would only do useful, righteous things. Indeed, more and more, the American people are learning that the CIA has for decades engaged in drug-running and gun-running, torture, assassination, buying influence with foreign governments, installing puppet dictators, and all sorts of other destructive and evil practices. Even President Harry Truman, who created the CIA, later stated that he never would have done so if he had known it would become the “American Gestapo.” Any private company that offered protection or defense services would get no customers at all if its sales pitch was: “If you give us huge sums of money, we will protect you; we just won’t tell you what you’re paying for, and we won’t tell you what we do or how we do it.” The only reason “government” gets funding based on such a ridiculous premise is because it gets its money through violent coercion, not voluntary trade. The people are not given a choice of whether to fund it or not.

There is another preposterous aspect of “protection” via “government” which would never occur with private defense and protection providers. Under the guise of “gun control” and other weapons “laws,” authoritarian regimes often forcibly prevent the people from being able to defend themselves, while making the ridiculous claim that it is being done for the safety of the very people being disarmed. Those in power know full well that a disarmed public is a helpless public, and that is precisely what tyrants want. The idea that a person who does not mind violating “laws” against theft or murder is going to mind violating weapons “laws” is absurd. Crime statistics and common sense both demonstrate that passing a “law” against private weapon ownership will effect only the “law-abiding,” with the result being that the basically good people will end up less able to defend themselves against aggressors. And that is exactly what politicians want, because they have the biggest, most powerful gang of aggressors around. Needless to say, if someone is looking for protected against aggressors, he will not voluntarily pay a company to forcibly take away his own means of self defense.

Furthermore, violent clashes between the police and civilians would obviously be reduced or non-Existent if the people could simply stop funding any “protectors” that became aggressors. For example, much of the racial tensions and violence in U.S. history were the result of white “law enforcers” oppressing and abusing black civilians. Rather than “law” acting as a civilizing influence, it was used as the excuse for violent aggression. Given a choice, the inhabitants of a black neighborhood obviously would not have voluntarily paid to have racist, sadistic white thugs intimidating and assaulting them on a regular basis. Many other violent clashes, in the U.S. and elsewhere, have also been the result of people upset with what their ruling class was doing to them.
This would include the massacre of thousands of protesters in Tiananmen Square by the Chinese Army in 1989, the killings of several anti-war protesters by the National Guard at Kent State in Ohio in 1970, and so on. More and more often in the United States, public demonstrations and protests over “government” policies end in authoritarian attacks against protesters, with tear gas, batons, tasers, rubber bullets, and so on. Obviously, no group of people would willingly pay for a gang that forcibly stops those same people from speaking their minds. More importantly, the motivation behind such protests is almost always displeasure with what “government” officials are doing against the will of the people (at least some of :he people). If each person was allowed to spend his own money, instead of being forced to fund a centralized, authoritarian agenda, there would be no reason for most of this type of protest, and the resulting clashes, to occur at all.

A non-authoritarian protector would do only things that he and his customers viewed as justifiable, which would probably be spelled out in contract form, where the protector agrees to provide specific services for a specific fee. Compare this to the standard “government” version of “protection”: “We will forcibly take as much of your money as we want, and we will decide what, if anything, we will do for you.” Most people want aggressors stopped and the innocent protected. In a free market, the way for a company to succeed is by giving the customers what they want. Unlike ‘government,” if a private defense company had to rely on willing customers, it would have a huge incentive not to be careless, wasteful, abusive, or corrupt. If people could take their business elsewhere, there would always be a competition to see who could provide actual justice most effectively. For a private protection company to succeed, it would have to demonstrate to its customers that:

1) it is very good at figuring out who is guilty and who is not;
2) it is very good at making sure that the innocent are not harassed, assaulted, or slandered;
3) it is very good at making sure that the truly dangerous people are caught and prevented from doing further harm;
4) it is very good at making sure that the victims of crimes receive whatever restitution is possible; and
5) it is very good at making it so that those who have done something wrong but do not need to be completely removed from society are put into an environment where their attitude and behavior can actually improve.

In contrast, “government” prosecutors specialize in always demonizing the accused, and always have an incentive to get convictions (or the coerced confessions known as “plea bargains”), regardless of the guilt or innocence of the accused; “government” courts constantly release people who still pose an obvious danger to others, while keeping millions of people locked up who have harmed no one; the “government” prison system, because of how prisoners are degraded, abused, and assaulted, by “guards” as well as other inmates, makes frustrated, angry people into people who are even more frustrated and angry, making innocent people into criminals, and making criminals into worse criminals. And the American people are coerced into funding that destructive system, whether they want to or not.

Another important point is that, in the case of a private protection company, if one “protector” becomes abusive, the reputation and career of every other protector depends upon exposing and routing out the thug. In contrast, it is now universally understood that “government” police forces will, first and foremost, protect their own. When one cop is caught doing something corrupt “illegal,” or violent, almost without exception, all of the other cops will help to cover it up or defend it. They function based upon gang mentality, because the people who are forced to pay their salaries are not the people they actually have to answer to. Like most “government” employees, they answer to the politicians, and view the general public as cattle, not customers. In contrast, the general public would view private defenders as their friends, their allies, and their employees, and more importantly, as their equals. They would not view them as an “authority” they must grovel before, nor as a constant potential threat to be feared. Everyone, including the hired protector, would recognize that the protector has no more rights than anyone else. Everyone would know that if a hired protector ever committed theft, or assault, or murder, he would be viewed and treated exactly as any other thug would be viewed and treated.

A genuine protector, who defends liberty and property, not only does not require a belief in “authority,” he requires an absence of that belief. One who imagines himself to have the right to forcibly control everyone else--even if only in a “limited” way-is going to treat people accordingly. The “law enforcer” who hands out tickets for obscure infractions, detains and interrogates people without just cause, and seems always looking for a reason to interfere with people’s daily lives, is not a protector, and deserves no respect or cooperation. A non-authoritarian protector, on the other hand, would be nothing more than a normal human being, with the same rights as everyone else, though perhaps more often armed and better trained in physical combat than most. He would be viewed as the neighbor to call if there is trouble, rather than the agent of a gang of thugs which, first and foremost, serves the ruling class. And the job of protector, absent any special “authority,” power or status, would mainly attract those who truly want to protect the innocent, but would not attract those who merely want the chance to exercise power and control over others-a human short-coming which the job of modern “law enforcement” feeds. This is not to say that private protectors would never do anything wrong. They would still be human, capable of bad judgment, negligence, and even malicious intent, just like everyone else. However, they would not have “legal” permission to do wrong, and would have no “system,” no “law,” no “authority” which they could blame for their actions or which they could hide behind to avoid the wrath of their victims. If they ever acted as aggressors, retribution against them would be certain and swift. In a population that has given up the superstition of “authority,” any group of protectors which decided to become a group of extortionists, thugs and tyrants would not be “voted” against, or sued, or complained about to some “authority.” They would be shot. The only thing that allows for the prolonged, widespread oppression of any armed populace is the belief in “authority” among the victims of oppression. Without that, it is impossible to subdue or dominate them for long.

Deterrents and Incentives

Some assume that, if not for “government,” crooks would be free to do as they please without any repercussions. Again, this shows a profound misunderstanding of human nature, and of what “government” is. In truth, the belief in “authority” adds nothing to the effectiveness of any system of defense and protection.

People who use aggression against others, such as assault, theft, and murder, obviously are not restrained by their own morality or respect for the self-ownership of their victims. However, they may choose not to commit a particular crime if they imagine a risk of harm to themselves. That is called “deterrent.” And deterrents, by definition, do not depend upon appealing to the conscience of the attacker, but instead make use of the attacker’s instinct for self-preservation. To put it bluntly, the message which works on true criminals is not, “Do not do that, because it is wrong”; the message is “Do not do that, or you will get hurt.” The supposed moral righteousness or “authority” of the threat against a would-be aggressor is irrelevant to the effectiveness of the deterrent. Whether it is a “police officer,” a dog, an angry homeowner, or even another thief, the only question in the attacker’s mind is whether he is likely to suffer pain or death if he attempts to rob or attack someone.

Deterrents to other types of bad behavior, which are not so severe or blatant as theft or assault, also do not require “authority.” Some assert that without “government” inspectors and regulators, every business would be putting out shoddy, dangerous products. But such a claim is again based upon a profound misunderstanding of human nature and economics. No matter how greedy or selfish a businessman may be, he cannot be successful in the long run if he sells products which do not please his customers. Someone who knowingly sells a defective product, or tainted food, will have few if any customers. The many highly expensive “recalls” which many companies voluntarily carry out, even for relatively trivial defects or problems, attests to this fact. Unlike in the current situation, in which the power of “government” is used to prop up and protect irresponsible and destructive corporations, in a truly free market, with informed consumers and open competition, corruption and crime would not pay, and businesses would be unable to insulate themselves from the consequences of their irresponsibility.

“Government” inspectors and regulators are driven by the incentive to impose fines on people and to enforce “laws” and “regulations,” regardless of whether they make any sense. In contrast, a system of private inspectors, which answers only to the people who want to know what is safe and which has no enforcement power, has no incentive to interfere with business or to make up things to complain about. Businesses could voluntarily invite private reviews of their products or facilities, such as is already done by Underwriters Laboratories (”UL”), Consumer Reports and others, in order to be able to show the public an unbiased opinion of how safe and reliable their products are. Many companies do this today, on top of having to jump through all of the bureaucratic hoops which “governments” put in their way.

Many other matters could be handled in similar, non-authoritarian ways. Private building inspectors, already used by many realty companies, would have the job of determining, on behalf of potential buyers, how safe and sound a building is. In addition to private inspectors, restaurants could simply invite potential customers to examine their facilities themselves. All of these actions would be voluntary. A business could choose not to allow any inspections, and potential customers could choose whether or not to patronize that business.

The fact that so many things are assumed to be problems for “authority” to handle is a sign of intellectual laziness. Customers want quality products, and businessmen who want to be successful must provide quality products. It is in the interests of both, therefore, to be able to objectively demonstrate the quality of the products being offered. Contrary to the stereotype of the evil, greedy, profiteering businessman, the way to become rich in a free society is by providing products and services which actually benefit the customer. Almost all of the dishonest schemes that are profitable in the long term are those that are forcibly created or endorsed by “government,” such as the “fractional banking” scam, the “legal” counterfeiting scam called “monetary policy,” the litigation racket, and so on.

Even without “government” there would occasionally be serious conflicts. For example, suppose a factory was dumping toxic waste into a river, killing all the fish downstream on the property of others, which would constitute a form of trespass and property destruction. The absence of “authority” would not preclude the victims from doing anything about it; in fact, it may make it easier for them to do something about it. Instead of suing in a “government” court, where the judge can be bribed into supporting the billion-dollar business, the response might be something more effective, even if it appears less civilized. The people who live on the river may do something as simple as telling the factory-owner that if he keeps allowing his pollution to flow onto their properties, they will physically destroy his factory.

Obviously, there may be more polite, peaceful ways the problem could be solved, such as boycotts or publicizing the wrongdoing. Either way, the people can create an effective deterrent to improper behavior, especially when there is no “government” involved that can be paid off and corrupted. Many campaign contributions now amount to little more than bribes to have “government” regulators “look the other way.” Likewise, “government” courts can easily find reasons to dismiss almost any lawsuit, thereby allowing wealthy criminals (the kind with real victims) to prosper.

The cliche of the greedy, evil businessman often omits the fact that large-scale crimes are usually done with the cooperation of “government” officials. Without protection from “government,” even the most greedy, heartless businessman would have a huge incentive to not anger his customers to the point where they stop buying his products, or to the point where they react violently against him.
Most people, most of the time, would be reluctant to use force, knowing that they alone would bear both the responsibility and the risks of doing so. There would be a huge incentive to settle disputes and disagreements peacefully and by mutual agreement. When the belief in “government” is prevalent, on the other hand, there is no incentive to settle things peacefully, because winning the “political” battle poses no risk to those who advocate violence via “government.” Without a ruling class to whine to, to legislatively impose some central agenda on everyone, people would be forced to deal with each other as rational adults, instead of as whiny, irresponsible children. People would be far better served by attempts at cooperation and peaceful compromise, than they are by fighting over who can get hold of the sword of “government.” When bullying and aggression are no longer recognized as legitimate forms of human interaction, human beings will, out of necessity, learn to “play nice.”

Anarchy in Action

While many people dread the thought of “anarchy,” the truth is that almost everyone experiences “anarchy” on a regular basis. When people go food shopping, or browse at the mall, they are seeing the results of non-authoritarian, mutual cooperation. No one is forced to produce any of the products offered, no one is forced to sell anything, and no one is forced to buy anything. Each person acts in his own best interest, and everyone involved-producer, seller and buyer-profits from the arrangement. All of the individuals benefit, and society in general benefits, without any coercion or rulers involved. There are countless examples of mutually voluntary, cooperative, peaceful, efficient and useful events and organizations that do not involve “government.” Nonetheless, though there are a myriad of readily available examples of how efficient, organized and productive “anarchistic” interaction is compared to nearly all “government” endeavors, people still imagine that human beings interacting with each other as equals all the time would lead to chaos and mayhem.

When cars meet at a four-way stop, or when people pass on the sidewalk, that is ‘anarchy” in action. Billions of times every day, people take turns, leave room for others, and so on, without any “authority” commanding them to. Sometimes people are inconsiderate, but even then, only very rarely does a serious conflict occur-anything more serious than a rude gesture, or an angry word. Potential conflicts, from very minor things to more serious matters, happen billions of times every day, and in the vast majority of cases, they are resolved without violence, and without the involvement of any “authority.” Even regarding more significant problems, people often find ways to reach mutual agreements. While organized, non-governmental methods of dispute resolutionusing arbiters, investigations and negotiations-can peacefully solve even major disagreements, most conflicts of interest never get that far. Most people, most of the time, go out of their way to avoid, or quickly settle, potential clashes with others.

Though some people would point to such things as an indicator of the inherent goodness of mankind, there is often another factor at work. Most people simply do not want the hassles and the stress that comes with confrontations, and especially do not want the risks that come with violent confrontations. Many people “turn the other cheek” quite often, not necessarily because they are patient and loving, but simply to avoid being bothered with time-wasting, futile bickering. Many, when they encounter someone doing something obnoxious, simply “let it slide,” because they have more important things to worry about. There is, in most people, a strong tendency to “get along,” even if just for one’s own benefit. And if there were no “authority” to run to-no giant mommy or daddy state to cry to-people would handle matters like adults far more often than they do now. This is not to say that every difference of opinion would end peacefully and fairly without “authority,” but the availability of the giant club of “government” is a constant temptation to anyone who holds a grudge, or wants to hurt someone else, or wants to obtain unearned wealth via “litigation.” If it were not there, fewer people would drag out or escalate disagreements or disputes. Whether because of charity, cowardice, or just a desire to avoid the headaches of a prolonged conflict, many people-even those who have a legitimate complaint against someone else-will simply let bygones be bygones, and get on with their lives.

Even without such examples it is utterly irrational to claim that people could not “get along” without “government,” when everything “government” does, using violence and the threat of violence to control people, is the precise opposite of “getting along.” The notion that peaceful coexistence requires aggression and coercion is logically ridiculous. The only thing that bringing “authority” into a situation guarantees is that there will not be a non-violent, peaceful resolution to the matter. When someone describes the society he wants to see, he will almost always describe a state of nonviolence, of mutual cooperation and tolerance. In other words, what he will describe is the complete antithesis of the violence and coercion of “authority.” Yet, having been raised to imagine “authority” to be a vital and positive part of society, people still constantly try to achieve peace by way of war, try to achieve cooperation by way of coercion, try to achieve tolerance by way of intolerance, and try to achieve humanity by way of brutality. Such insanity is the direct result of the people being taught to respect and obey “authority.”

Anti-Authoritarian Parenting

Parenting is so often based on authoritarianism that many cannot even image what nonauthoritarian parenting would look like. It is important to distinguish what effect losing the “authority” superstition would have on parenting. It would not mean that parents would put no restrictions on what their children could do, nor would it rule out parents controlling children against their will in many situations. But it would dramatically change the mindset of both parents and children.

These days, teaching children right and wrong, and teaching them to obey, are seen by most people as the same thing. However, a parent can command a child to do something wrong just as easily as he can command him to do something right. Contrary to what authoritarian parenting teaches, the fact that a parent issued a command does not make it automatically right, and does not make the child obligated to obey. If, for example, a parent commands his child to shoplift, the child has no moral obligation to do so, and disobedience would be perfectly justified (though probably hazardous). Of course, the child might not understand that stealing is wrong, if his parents told him to steal.

On the other hand, a parent may impose a necessary, justified restriction on his child, which the child does not like and does not believe is justified. In either case, the child is only obligated to do whatever he deems right. The alternative would be that he has a moral obligation to do what he deems is wrong, which is impossible. And this is where the difference lies: the authoritarian parent teaches the child that obedience, in and of itself, is a moral imperative, regardless of the command (e.g., “Because I’m your father and I said so!”). The non-authoritarian parent may also impose restrictions upon the child, but he does not demand that the child like it, nor does he pretend that such restrictions are just, simply because the parent imposed them. In other words, the non-authoritarian parent may see the need, because the child does not yet have the knowledge or understanding to be competent enough to make all of his own choices, to force certain restrictions upon a child (regarding bedtime, diet, etc.), but he does not claim that the child has any moral obligation to obey without question. The sooner the child can be taught the reason for the “rule,” the sooner he can understand why doing what his parent says will benefit him. Of course, that is not always possible, especially when children are very young. The parent who stops the child from eating a box of candy is benefitting the child, who does not yet have enough understanding or self-control to serve his own interests. But to teach the child that he should feel a moral obligation to abide by rules which seem to him to be unfair, unnecessary, pointless, stupid, or even hurtful, just because “authority” told him to, is to teach that child the most dangerous lesson there can be: that he is morally obligated to put up with unfair, unnecessary, pointless, stupid, hurtful things if they are done by “authority.”

To avoid passing on the “authority” superstition, parents should never cite “because I said so” as the reason a child should do something. The parent should express that there are rational reasons for the restrictions, even if the child cannot yet comprehend those reasons. In other words, the justification for the rules is not that parents have the right to forcibly impose any rules they want on their children, but that parents (hopefully) have so much more understanding and knowledge than the children that the parents must make many of a child’s choices for him, until he becomes competent to make his own choices.

Even more important is how a parent controls his child’s behavior toward others. It is extremely important to teach a child that it is inherently wrong to intentionally harm another person (except when necessary to defend an innocent). But if, instead of that principle, the parent teaches “obey me,” and then commands the child not to hit others, he has taught the child obedience, but not morality. If the child refrains from hitting others, not because he understands that doing so is wrong, but only because he was told not to, then he is functioning in the same manner as an amoral robot, and has learned nothing about being a human being. The short-term practical result may look the same-i.e., the child refrains from hitting others-but the lessons learned are very different. When the child who was merely taught to obey grows up, and some other “authority” tells him that he should harm others, he almost certainly will, because he was trained to do as he is told. On the other hand, the child who was taught to respect the rights of others, and was taught the principles of self-ownership and non-aggression, will not lightly abandon those principles just because someone claiming to be “authority” tells him to.

Children learn by example. If a child sees his parents always acting as unquestioning subjects of a ruling class, the child will learn to be a slave. If, instead, the parents demonstrate in their daily lives how to use and to follow one’s own heart and mind, the child will learn to do likewise. The child must understand that it is his duty, not merely to follow the rules of being a good person, but to figure out for himself what the rules of being a good person are. The standards which a “self-owner” lives by may still be described as “rules,” but the worth of such “rules” does not come from the fact that an “authority” issued them, but because the individual believes that such “rules” describe inherently moral behavior. This is not to say that everyone agrees upon what is moral, though there is wide consensus on some basic principles. But even with each person’s behavior guided by his own imperfect, incomplete understanding of right and wrong, the overall results would be drastically improved compared to the authoritarian alternative, in which basically good people do things they know to be wrong, because they feel compelled to do whatever “authority” tells them to do (as demonstrated by the Milgram experiments).

Again, though many people falsely assume that a society without a centralized, rulemaking “authority” would mean “every man for himself,” group cooperation and agreements do not require “authority,” and those children who spend their formative years learning to interact with different people of all ages on a mutually voluntary basis, instead of learning to blindly do as they are told, are far better equipped to form relationships and enter into joint efforts based upon agreement, compromise and cooperation. Such voluntary interaction can take place between two people, or between two million. Even the limited freedom experienced by Americans has demonstrated that even extremely complex industries can be based entirely upon the willing participation and voluntary cooperation of everyone involved. And history has also demonstrated that the moment a method of organization based upon centralized, coercive control is used, such as occurs in a so-called “planned economy,” productivity crashes, and poverty and enslavement appear. Yet most children are still raised in authoritarian environments, with the claim that that will best prepare them for life in the real world. In truth, it prepares them only for a lifetime of enslavement.

Halfway There

In any group of people that has given up the “authority” myth-whether they are just a small group of friends, or the inhabitants of a town, or the population of an entire continent-the frequency and severity of violent conflicts and acts of aggression inside that group will be dramatically lower than it is elsewhere, where most people, by way of “voting” and other “political” actions, advocate and perpetrate aggression on a regular basis. However, though the individuals in such a group would have little to fear from each other, they still would likely have to deal with acts of aggression from those outside of the group who still adhere to the belief in “government.” An individual whose mind has been freed, but who still lives in a society plagued by the delusion of “authority,” will be at constant risk of being the target of authoritarian aggression. Being free in one’s mind-understanding the concept of self-ownership-does not necessarily cause one to be physically free. However, it can make an enormous positive difference, by opening up countless new means through which people can try to cope with, avoid, or even resist authoritarian attempts to control them.

The individual who takes pride in being a “law-abiding citizen” has only one way to even attempt to achieve freedom, which is almost never effective: begging his masters to change their “laws.” On the other hand, one who understands that he owns himself, owes no allegiance to any supposed master, and needs no “legislative” permission to be free, has many more options. And the more people who have escaped the superstition, the easier avoidance or resistance becomes. For example, even a small number of “selfowners” can create channels of commerce which circumvent the usual controls and extortion schemes imposed by “governments.”

Ironically, this entirely legitimate and moral form of voluntary interaction is often referred to as “the
black market,” or as doing business “under the table,” whereas the usual system of aggression, coercion and extortion is viewed as legitimate and righteous by the believers in “government.” In reality, the legitimacy of any trade (or any other human interaction) does not depend upon whether some “authority” knows about it and controls it, as the concept of “black market” implies, but depends only upon whether what occurs is mutually consensual. Those who understand this can find many ways in which to circumvent or defeat attempts by “government” to coercively control and exploit them.

Many acts of aggression done in the name of “the law” can be avoided or defeated fairly easily by a relatively small number of people, if they feel no automatic moral obligation to do as they are told. Of course, this is not always the case. If the gang called “government” does anything well, it is exerting brute force, whether in the form of military actions or domestic “law enforcement.” However, in almost all cases, most of the power wielded by those in “government” is the result, not of guns and tanks and bombs, but of the perceptions of their victims. If 99% of a population obeys the ruling class out of a feeling of obligation or duty to do so, the remaining 1% can usually be controlled by brute force (with the approval of the 99%). But if a more substantial percentage of the population feels no duty to obey, the amount of brute force needed to control them becomes enormous. To wit, many of the inhabitants of the United States now surrender about half of what they earn in “taxes” at various levels, and most feel obliged to do so. But if a foreign power somehow invaded and conquered the land, imposing a 50% “tax” would be utterly impossible because the people would feel no moral, legal, or patriotic duty to comply. Two hundred million workers would find two hundred million ways to use evasion, deception, secrecy, or even outright violence, to avoid or defeat such attempts by foreign thieves to enslave the people.

Today, there is only one gang capable of oppressing the American people, and that is the American “government.” This is because it is the one gang imagined by most people to have the right to coerce and control (“regulate”), and rob and extort (“tax”) the American people. A common concern among statists is that without a strong “government” to protect them, some foreign power would just come in and take over. But such fears completely overlook how large a role perception plays in the ability to oppress. An area of land the size of the United States, inhabited by a hundred million gun owners-in addition to two hundred million other people who would likely become gun owners if an invasion occurred-would be impossible to occupy and control by brute force alone. History gives many examples (e.g., the Warsaw Ghetto in World War II, the Vietnam War, and the aftermath of the war in Iraq) of how even an enormous, technologically advanced standing army can be indefinitely frustrated by a relatively small number of armed “insurgents.” And a land inhabited by “self-owners” has another huge advantage, in that it is literally impossible for them to collectively surrender. If there is no “government” pretending to represent the population, and no one who claims to speak on behalf of the people as a whole, there is literally no way for them to “give up,” without each and every individual surrendering.

A good way to grasp the reality of the situation is to consider the matter from the perspective of the leader of the invaders. How would one even begin to try to invade and permanently occupy an area in which many millions of the inhabitants, who could be hiding anywhere, can kill anything within at least a hundred yards, as any decent hunter can do? An aspiring tyrant would have a far better chance of gaining power over the people by running for office, thereby obtaining the perceived right, in the minds of his victims, to rule and control them.

Large scale oppression, especially since the advent of firearms, depends a lot more on mind control than it does on body control. Those who crave dominion gain much more power by convincing their victims that it is wrong to disobey their commands than by convincing their victims that it is merely dangerous (but moral) to disobey. No matter how much the people complain and protest, as long as the people continue to obey “the law” (the commands of politicians), the tyrants have little to fear. As long as their attempts to control and extort are seen as “legal” acts of “authority,” and as long as the people therefore feel an obligation to comply, unless and until the ruling class changes such “laws,” the people will remain enslaved in body, because they remain mentally enslaved. Ironically, many people still believe that a strong “government” is the only thing that can protect the people as a whole, when the belief in “government” is actually the only thing which can oppress the people as a whole. Brute force alone cannot do it on any large scale, or for any prolonged period of time. Even a gang with tanks, planes, bombs and other weapons has no power to control an armed populace for long unless it first dupes the people into believing that it has the right to control them. In other words, only a gang imagined to be “authority” can get away with long-term oppression and enslavement. As a result, “government” (or the belief in it), instead of being essential to the protection of individual rights, is essential only for the prolonged and widespread violation of individual rights.

Ironically, even most of those who recognize “government” as the biggest threat to liberty today still insist that “government” of some type is necessary for protection. The belief in “authority” is so strong that it can convince otherwise rational people that the very thing which routinely robs, coerces and assaults them is needed to protect them from robbery, coercion and assault. The fact that “government” has always been an aggressor, and has never been purely a protector, anywhere in the world at any time in history, does not shake them of their cult-like belief in the magical powers and virtues of the abstract, mythical entity called “authority.”

The Road to Justice

Many large-scale injustices in history would have quickly collapsed-or never would have started-if not for “authority” condoning and enforcing such injustices. The evils of slavery, for example, are often blamed on racism and greed, but “authority” played a huge role in making slavery economically feasible. If there was not a huge, organized network of “law enforcers” to capture escaped slaves, and any who helped them escape, how long would slavery have continued? If freeing slaves was not “illegal,” and thus immoral in the eyes of authoritarians, how much larger and more effective would the “underground railroad” have been? (It probably would not have been known as an “underground” anything, if it was not “illegal.”)

The “abolitionist” movement consisted of people who thought slavery was immoral, and who wanted the “laws” changed to officially declare slavery to be immoral and “illegal.” If, instead of petitioning for a change in “laws,” the abolitionists were actively freeing slaves, the slave trade most likely would have collapsed decades earlier, if it ever happened at all. Shipping slaves halfway around the world would be a very risky business indeed if, the moment you landed, your “cargo” might be forcibly liberated. The problem is that most people believe that even immoral, unjust “laws” should be obeyed until the “law” is changed. Clearly this means that such people’s loyalty to the myth of “authority” is stronger than their loyalty to morality, and doing what the masters tell them is more important to them than doing what they know is right. And mankind has suffered greatly because of it.

The ability of people to resist tyranny depends largely upon whether they accept the myth of “authority” or not. Those who can see the injustice committed by “government,” but who continue to believe that they must “follow the law” and “work within the system,” will never achieve justice. ~ the other hand, those who do not view the political megalomaniacs as rightful rulers, those who do not feel an obligation to obey an immoral “law,” those who do not feel the need to treat what is actually a parasite class – a gang of political thieves and thugs – as untouchable, respectable and honorable, have a far better chance of defeating “legal” tyranny. (And most tyranny and oppression which has occurred throughout history was done “legally.”)

There are many methods available to those willing to ‘illegally” resist injustice and tyranny, including everything from passive resistance, to non-violent sabotage, to things such as assassination and other forcible resistance. Depending upon the severity of the oppression, and the individual’s own values, conscience, and beliefs about when (if ever) the use of violence is appropriate, one may choose any number of ways to defeat tyranny. Some will simply try to stay “under the radar,” living in such a way as to avoid the attention of “authority’s” enforcers. Some may choose open civil disobedience, such as hundreds of individuals openly smoking marijuana in front of a police station. Some may choose a more active, but non-violent method, such as slashing the tires of police GUS, or destroying other property used to commit acts of authoritarian aggression. Others may choose the method of openly violent resistance, such as occurred in the American Revolution.

By analogy, the intended victim of a robbery (the non-“governmental” kind) may try to evade the thief, or outsmart him, or even kill him if it comes down to that – whatever it takes to avoid being victimized. Likewise, those who recognize that “legal” evil is still evil, and resisting it is still justified, would not waste time on elections and lobbying politicians for a change in legislation; they would simply do whatever they could to protect themselves, and possibly others, from being victimized by such “legal” aggression. Beyond a certain point, the more people who resist, the less violence is necessary to do so. If a local police force has a dozen “narcotics officers”-people whose main job is to commit acts of aggression against others who have committed neither force nor fraud-and several hundred civilians let it be known that they believe that they have the right to use whatever it takes, including deadly force, to stop any attempted kidnappings, home invasions, or similar acts of aggression committed by “narcotics officers,” the aggressors (the police), if they did not have any bigger authoritarian gang to appeal to for help, would simply give up to avoid being exterminated. The deterrent effect that works against private criminals can work just as well against “government” criminals.

In India, Mahatma Gandhi and his followers used widespread passive disobedience to undermine British control of that country. Alcohol prohibition in the United States is another example of an immoral “law” that was basically disobeyed out of existence. The high levels of disobedience, along with the refusal of most jurors to give their blessing to the ‘’legal’’ aggression, along with some acts of violent resistance (e.g., tarring and feathering “revenuers”) made the immoral “law” unenforceable. The legislatures eventually repealed it in an attempt to save face, because having an unenforceable law on the books goes a long way toward destroying the ruling class’s legitimacy in the eyes of its victims. Anywhere the people feel no moral obligation to comply with authoritarian demands, any “legal” acts of aggression can be ignored out of existence. When the number of self-owners is smaller, however, sometimes violence is necessary to defeat “legal” acts of aggression. (If only a few people recognize the illegitimacy of “legal” oppression, forcible resistance often backfires.)

Where there is oppression, there is always violence. It is usually one-sided, with the agents of “authority” committing most or all of the violence.’ The man who passively cooperates while claiming to be against violence is in fact rewarding the violence of the state. When an act of aggression is committed-whether by “authority” or anyone elsenon-violence, by definition, ceases to be an option. The only question is whether the aggressive violence will go unchallenged, or whether defensive force will be used to counter it. Either way, violence will occur.

Of course, the thieves, thugs and murderers who declare their crimes to be “legal”which every tyrant in history has done-will always brand any who resist them as criminals and terrorists. Only those who feel no shame at being labeled “criminals,” because they have shed the myth of “authority” and recognize that the term “law” is often used to try to characterize something evil as something good, have any chance at all of achieving freedom. Again, somewhat ironically, the more people there are who understand selfownership and the mythical nature of “authority,” and who are willing to fight for what is right, and fight against what is “legal” but wrong, the less violent the road to true civilization (peaceful coexistence) will be.

Side Effects of the Myth

Looking back in history, there is no shortage of examples of man’s inhumanity to man, examples of oppression and suffering, violence and hatred, and situations and events which do not reflect well on the human race in general. And, though many of the most blatant injustices in history were the obvious product of the belief in “government,” such as war and overt oppression, many other injustices which are not usually attributed to “government” action would also have been impossible without the involvement of “authority.”

In addition to the example of whether slavery could have existed had it not been “legally” enforced (as mentioned above), similar questions could be asked about the treatment of the American Indians. If not for the authoritarian “government” edicts and the state mercenaries to enforce them, would there have been such a large-scale, concerted effort to exterminate or forcibly evict the natives from the lands they had inhabited for generations? No doubt there would still have been smaller conflicts due to the clash of cultures and demands for farming and hunting lands, but would it have been in anyone’s personal interest to engage in large-scale violent combat?

After open slavery was ended in the United States (at about the same time that “legal” slavery, the “income tax,” first came into being), racial tensions and violent conflicts continued. Many believe that “government” then carne along and saved the day. In reality, violent conflict between the races was encouraged by “authority.” For many years racial segregation was forcibly imposed via “laws.” Ironically, racial tensions were later exacerbated further by “government”-mandated integration, which sought to coerce people of different races and cultures to mix, whether they wanted to or not.
Again, the result was violence. During the entire fiasco, some businesses and schools, if left in freedom, would have chosen segregation and some would have chosen integration. If not for “government” trying to forcibly impose one “official policy” on everyone, parents could simply have chosen which schools to send their children to (segregated or not), and shoppers could simply have chosen which businesses to patronize (segregated or not). Not only was much of the violence committed against blacks done directly by “government” enforcers (“the police”), but even much of the privately committed violence was the result of anger over people being forced by “government” to deal with people of another race and culture. It is silly to think that forcing people apart, or forcing people together, will make people happier, nicer, or more open-minded and tolerant. In neither case was the peace or security of either race served by authoritarian intervention. While it is impossible to say exactly how widespread or prolonged segregation and racism would have been without “government” involvement, it is common sense that if people of all races and religions are allowed the freedom to choose who to associate with, it at least makes it possible for very different cultures to peacefully coexist. But when “government” gets involved, and the debate is between forcing races to remain separate, or forcing races to mingle, obviously some people will be angered either way, and rightly so.

This is not to say that every point of view is equally valid. The point is that people of vastly different world views-however “vise or stupid, open-minded or bigoted, informed or ignorant their views may be--can usually coexist peacefully, even in close proximity, unless “government” gets involved. Different people may not like each other, may not approve of each other’s beliefs and lifestyles, and in fact may harshly criticize or condemn other cultures. But that does not mean they cannot peaceful coexist, with both sides refraining from violent aggression But whenever “government” gets involved, the coercion inherent in all “law” makes certain that people will not just “get along.”

Another example of the indirect, deleterious effects of “government” action is the fact that the violence associated with the “drug trade” (the production and distribution of “illegal” substances) exists only because of “narcotics laws.” By “outlawing” a substance, or a behavior, even when all of the participants are willing adults, the politicians create a black market, which not only has a huge profit potential due to limiting the supply, but creates a situation which specifically deprives customers and suppliers of any “legal” protection. For example, if a drug dealer is robbed or assaulted, by the police or by anyone else, he is unlikely to call “law enforcers” to help him. “Outlawing” something consensual-whether it be prostitution, gambling, or drug usealmost guarantees that the market will be controlled by whichever gang is the most violent, or has paid off the most cops and other officials. Again, a perfect “before and after” example of this was alcohol prohibition in the United States. When alcohol became “illegal” it was immediately taken over by organized crime, which was renowned not only for its violence but also for its ability to bribe “government” agents and officials. When alcohol became “legal” again, all of the related violence stopped almost instantly.

Despite that crystal clear example of the horrible results of enacting “laws” to prohibit “vices,” most people still support “laws” against behaviors and habits they find distasteful. As a result, the related violence continues. Instead of being recognized as a problem which exists because of “government” and its “laws,” it is still imagined to be a problem which “government” must fight against. The same could be said of the infamous violence of loan sharks, who deal with “illegal” gambling, and the violence of “pimps” in places where prostitution is “illegal.” In such cases, even better than a “before and after” comparison is a side-by-side comparison: does gambling lead to more violence in Atlantic City, where it is “legal,” or in places where it is “illegal”? Does prostitution pose a bigger threat to all involved in Amsterdam, where it is “legal;’ or in all of the places where it is “illegal”? This is not to say that prostitution, gambling and drugs (including alcohol) are good things, but that, good or bad, introducing the coercion of “government” into the situation does not do away with such “vices,” but only makes them more dangerous for everyone involved, and often for people who are not involved.
Lest anyone still imagine that such “vice laws” are the result of good intentions, the politicians are well aware that gambling, prostitution, and “illegal” drug use still occur in “government” prisons.
The politicians know full well that if even constant captivity, surveillance, random searches and harsh punishments cannot prevent such behaviors in people who are kept in closely monitored cages, “laws” obviously cannot eradicate such behaviors from an entire country. But they can, and do, supply tyrants with a ready excuse for ever-expanding power, and that is exactly why “governments” enact “vice” laws to begin with: to create “crime” where there was none, in an attempt to justify the existence of authoritarian power and control.

In a world without the myth of “authority,” many people (including this author) would still strongly disapprove of drug use, prostitution, and other “vices,” but they would be unlikely to support efforts to have such behaviors violently suppressed. Not only would they usually feel unjustified in advocating violence if they did not have the excuse of “authority” to hide behind, but they would be unlikely to want to provide the billions of dollars necessary to wage a large-scale, violent campaign against such widespread activities. Even the most judgmental person would have both economic and moral incentives to leave others in peace, as well as the fear of retaliation from any he chose to commit acts of aggression against. Of course, open criticism of lifestyles and behaviors, and attempts to persuade people to change their ways, are a perfectly acceptable part of human society. In fact, if people had to try to use reason and verbal persuasion to win people over, instead of using the brute force of “government,” perhaps the targets would be more open to listening. At the very least, people would no longer turn an issue of bad habits into an issue of bloodshed and brutality, as happens now with all attempts to “legislate” morality.

The flip side to the notion that, “If it’s illegal, it must be bad,” is “If it’s legal, it must be okay.” Perhaps the biggest example of this is the fact that, in 1913, the U.S. “government” not only “legalized” slavery via the “income tax,” directly and forcibly confiscating the fruits of people’s labor, but also, by way of the Federal Reserve Act, legalized a level of counterfeiting and bank fraud which boggles the mind. In short, the politicians gave bankers “legal” permission to make up money out of thin air, and to loan such fake, fabricated “money” out, at interest, to others, including “governments.” Though most people are unaware of the specifics of how such huge frauds and robberies occur via “fiat currencies” and “fractional reserve banking,” many people now have a gut instinct that “the banks” are doing something deceptive and corrupt. What they fail to realize is that it was “government” which gave the banks permission to defraud and swindle the public out of literally trillions of dollars.

Another particularly controversial example of how a debate of “legality” can trump a debate about facts and morality is the issue of abortion. One side lobbies for “authority” to make or keep abortion “legal,” and then defends the practice based upon its “legality: The other side pushes for abortion to be “outlawed;’ in the hopes of having the violence of “authority” used to prevent the practice. In logical terms, the only relevant question, which is a religious /biological/ philosophical question, not a “legal” question, is: At what point does a fetus count as a person? The answer to that question dictates whether abortion amounts to murder, or is the equivalent of having a kidney removed.
However, instead of addressing the only question that actually matters-as complex and controversial as it may be-both sides usually focus instead on trying to get the violence of “authority” on their side.
As another example of “legalized” injustice, almost everyone is aware of how outrageous and irrational “lawsuits” have become (e.g., trespassing criminals successfully suing property owners after injuring themselves during a break-in), but they fail to realize that it is the decrees of “government”-appointed “judges” which allow it to happen at all. In addition to “government” being able to “legally” steal from one person to give to another, “government” also creates, via the current system of litigation, a mechanism whereby one person can directly and “legally” rob another.
“Laws” in the name of environmentalism are also used for immoral power-grabs in both directions.
With enough money, a company ‘which is actually polluting, and thus infringing on the property rights of others, can trade “campaign contributions” for “legal” permission to pollute. At the same time, they can use environmental “laws” to crush competition, by creating and enforcing a maze of environmental “regulations”-many of them unnecessary or counter-productive, sometimes idiotic-to keep smaller companies out of the market. Additionally, politicians can use vague threats of environmental dangers as excuses to gain control of private industry, to control the behavior of millions, or to extort more money for their own purposes.

In many industries, success now depends less upon providing a valuable service at a reasonable price than it does upon obtaining special favors and preferential treatment from “government.” This can be in the form of direct handouts (e.g., grants or subsidies), political trading (e.g., no-bid “government” contracts), licensing schemes (such as in the medical industry), tariffs on international trade, regulatory control and favoritism, and many other means. The results of all of these-higher prices, inferior products and services, fewer choices, and so on-is often assumed to be the result of the short-comings of private industry, instead of being recognized for what it is: the adverse consequences of authoritarian control over human interaction.

Major economic crashes are always the result of “government” tampering with commerce, credit and currencies. Short of total physical destruction, the only way to destroy an entire economy is to meddle with the medium of exchange, the “money,” through “legalized” counterfeiting, via the issuance of fabricated credit and the issuance of fiat currency. Most people, being ignorant of even basic economics, view inflation and other economic problems as natural, unfortunate but unavoidable occurrences. In truth, they are symptoms of large-scale, “legalized” fraud and theft.

Immigration “laws” give another example of indirect damage and secondary problems caused by “government.” Aside from the obvious direct coercion involved, such “laws” cause other problems that would not exist otherwise, including: 1) the lucrative, often vicious racket of smuggling “illegals” into the country; 2) “illegals” being easy targets for human trafficking and other forms of exploitation, because they do not dare to speak out or seek help; and 3) people being forced to live under tyrannical regimes, because they cannot physically escape. And because “illegals” are already classified as “criminals” and often viewed as “undesirables” simply for being in the country, and receive neither respect nor protection from much of the citizenry, there is less of an incentive for them to otherwise behave in a “law-abiding” manner.

Even many problems that seem to be non-governmental in nature exist because of some “law.” Of course, there are, and always will be, instances of fraud and theft committed by unscrupulous individuals acting on their own, but most people are completely unaware of how many seemingly private swindles, schemes and rackets are not only allowed by “authority,” but encouraged and rewarded by the “laws” of “government,” whether intentionally or accidentally. Having no truly free market to compare it to, many continue to assume that state coercion is necessary, when all it actually does is hinder and interfere ‘with human productivity and progress.

What Might Have Been

It is impossible to even begin to imagine in how many ways history would have been different if the superstition of “authority” had collapsed long ago. Obviously the atrocities of Nazi Germany, Stalin’s Russia, Mao’s China, Pol Pot’s Cambodia, and many more, would never have happened. Furthermore, while there could still be violent regional cultural or religious clashes, large-scale wars simply could not and would not happen without soldiers blindly obeying a perceived “authority.” If the enormous amount of resources, effort and ingenuity that have been poured into mass destruction (war) had been put into something productive, where would we be today? If, instead of spending such a huge amount of time and effort struggling Over who should have the reins of power and what that power should be used for, people had spent all those years being inventive and productive, what might the world now look like? What if every person had been allowed to support what he wanted, instead of having “government” robbing everyone and then having a never-ending argument over how those “public funds” should be spent? What if, instead of arguing over which centralized, authoritarian plan should be forcibly imposed on everyone, people lived their own lives, and pursued their own dreams? Who can even imagine how far humanity as a whole could have progressed by now?

This is not to say that without the belief in “authority” personal conflicts would never arise. They would, and they would sometimes end in violence. The difference is that, with the belief in “government,” they always end in violence, because coercion is all that “government” ever does. Whereas people, even people of very different viewpoints and backgrounds, can usually find ways to peacefully coexist, any situation which “authority” becomes involved in is automatically “solved” by fore.

With the issue of “same-sex marriage,” what if, instead of an ongoing argument over what views and choices should be forced upon everyone, every church minister, every employer, and every other individual, could decide for himself how to liv, what he wants to call “marriage,” and so on? With the issue of “prayer in school” what if, instead of “government” creating a hostile conflict by forcibly confiscating money from all property owners to fund one big, homogeneous “public” school system, each person (Christian, Jewish, Muslim, atheist, etc.) was allowed to choose which schools, if any, he wanted to support? This does not mean that people f different views would like each other, or end up believing the same things. It do> mean that without believing the same things, they could still peacefully coexist-a situation which “government” does not allow. What if, instead of “government” agencies deciding what drugs and medical treatments it would “legally” allow people to try, and which practitioners would be “licensed” to practice, people could make their own choices? (In such a scenario, the business of providing customs with unbiased information about various products and services would flourish.)

“Government” solutions are always about politicians deciding how to deal with different situations, and then forcibly imposing their ideas on everyone else. But it is neither morally legitimate, nor effective on a practical basis, to have politicians making everyone else’s choices for them. And that is true of all sorts of aspects of human society. What would the world look like if, for the past hundred years instead of arguing over how to forcibly limit people’s options (which is what every “law” does), people had spent their time and effort trying new ideas, and coming up with new approaches to problems, each person having been allowed to devote his own time, effort and money to whatever he personally chose to support?

What if, instead of a centralized system of forced wealth redistribution (“government welfare”), people had been left in freedom to decide for themselves the best, most compassionate ways to help the needy? Instead of a system that rewards laziness and dishonesty, and breeds dependency, we might have a system that actually helps people. What if, instead of “government” forcing businesses to do whatever the politicians and bureaucrats declared to be “safe,” people could come up with new ideas and inventions, set their own priorities, and make their own decisions about how to best protect themselves? What if, instead of having a centralized control machine trying to force people to be “fair,” people could choose for themselves who to associate with, what deals to make, and so on?
Everything “government’ pays for creates a conflict. Every “public” project-from “grants” given out by the “National Endowment for the Arts,” to grants for certain studies or businesses, to schools, to parks, to everything else “public”-amounts to robbing thousands or millions of people, in order to give the money to a few people. Why would anyone expect everyone in an entire country-or even a hundred people-to all exactly agree on how their money should be spent? What if, instead of many trillions of dollars in spending power being diverted and hijacked every year to fund the agendas of politicians and their bureaucracies, that wealth had gone into whatever things the people who earned the money actually cared about, and wanted to support? What if, for the last several thousand years, each person had minded his own business, and not tried to use “government” to force his ideas and priorities on everyone else? What if, instead of a giant, centralized monster violently limiting everyone’s choices, everyone’s options, everyone’s creativity and ingenuity, trying to force conformity and sameness, while draining the producers of their ideas and their wealth, different people and different groups had been trying new ideas, and figuring out the best ways to solve problems and create a better world, guided by their own beliefs and values?

Sadly, the idea still terrifies a lot of people, who still imagine that a world forcibly controlled by politicians would be more safe and civilized than a world inhabited by free human beings exercising free will and individual judgment. The fact is that those people who put their faith in “government” to make things work, though they are by far the majority, and though they may mean well, are the problem. As a result of their indoctrination into the cult of “authority,” they continue to believe and push the profoundly insane idea that the only road to peace, justice and harmonious civilization comes from constant, widespread coercion and forcible “government” controls, perpetual oppression and enslavement done in the name of “law;’ and the sacrificing of free will and morality at the altar of domination and blind obedience. As harsh as that may sound, that is the basis of all belief in “government.”

Accepting Reality

Statists often say, “Show me an example of where society without government (anarchy) has worked.” Of course, since they are speaking of societies consisting almost entirely of thoroughly indoctrinated authoritarians, human society without a ruling class is rarely even contemplated, much less attempted. Yet the statists use the fact that they have never tried true freedom-because the concept is completely foreign to their way of thinking-as proof that a stateless society “wouldn’t work.” This would be akin to a group of medieval doctors who all use leeches for every ailment, arguing, “Show me one case where a doctor has cured a headache without the use of leeches.” Of course, if none of them had ever considered any treatment other than leeches, there would not be an example of alternative methods “working.” But this would be a testament to the ignorance of the doctors, not the ineffectiveness of treatments which have never been tried.

But the more important point is that “anarchy” is what is. To say that society cannot exist without “government” is exactly as reasonable as saying that Christmas cannot occur without Santa Claus. Society already exists without “government,” and has from the beginning. It has been the people imagining an entity with the right to rule-hallucinating a thing called “authority”-which has made the story of mankind consist largely of oppression, violence, suffering, murder and mayhem.
Ironically, statists often point to the death and suffering which occurs when two or more groups are fighting over who should be “in charge,” label that as “anarchy” and cite it as evidence that without “government,” there would be chaos and death. But such bloodshed and oppression is the direct, obvious result of the belief in “authority,” not the result of a lack of “government.” It is true that, compared to life under a stable, entrenched authoritarian regime, life in a country where the people are fighting over who the new “authority” should be (via rebellions, civil wars, one nation conquering another, etc.) can be a lot more dangerous and unpredictable. As a result, people living in war-torn areas often wish only for there to be an end to the conflict, for one side to win and become the new “government.” To such people, a stable “government” may represent relative peace and security, but the underlying cause of the oppression committed by stable regimes and the bloodshed which occurs during struggles for power is the belief in “authority.” If no one believed in a legitimate ruling class, no one would fight over who should rule. If there was no throne, no one would fight over it. All civil wars, and nearly all revolutions, rest on the assumption that someone should be in charge. Without the superstition of “authority,” there would be no reason for such things to happen at all.

By its very nature, “government” adds nothing positive to society. It creates no wealth and generates no virtue. It adds only immoral violence and the illusion that such violence is legitimate. Allowing some people to forcibly dominate all others – which is all that “government” ever does-does not contribute to society one speck of talent, or ability, or productivity, or resourcefulness, or ingenuity, or creativity, or knowledge, or compassion, or any other positive quality possessed by human beings. Instead, it constantly stifles and limits all of those things through its coercive “laws.” It is destructive and insane to accept the notion that civilization requires the forcible limiting of possibilities, and the violent restraint of the human mind and spirit-that civil society can exist only if the power and virtue of every individual is forcibly overcome and suppressed by a gang of masters and exploiters-that the average man cannot be trusted to govern himself, but that politicians can be trusted to govern everyone else-that the only way for the morality and virtue of mankind to shine through is to crush the free will and self-determination of billions of human beings, and to convert them all into unthinking, obedient puppets of a ruling class, and a source of power for tyrants and megalomaniacs-that the path to civilization is the destruction of individual free will, judgment, and self-determination.

That is the foundation, the heart and soul, of the superstition called “authority.” When people are ready to recognize that heinous lie for what it is, and begin to accept personal responsibility for their own actions, and for the state of society-and not one moment before-then true humanity can begin. People can desperately wish for “peace on earth” until they are blue in the face, but they will never see it, unless and until they are willing to pay the price, by giving up one tired, old superstition.
The solution to most of society’s ills is for you, dear reader, to recognize the myth of “authority” for ‘what it is, give it up in yourself, and then begin efforts to deprogram and wake up all of the people you know who, as a result of their indoctrination into the cult of “authority-worship. and in spite of their virtues and noble intentions, continue to support and participate in the violent, anti-human, destructive and evil oppression and aggression machine known as “government.”

The Punch Line Revisited

Contrary to what nearly everyone has been taught to believe, “government” is not necessary for civilization. It is not conducive to civilization. It is, in fact, the antithesis of civilization. It is not cooperation, or working together, or voluntary interaction. It is not peaceful coexistence. It is coercion; it is force; it is violence. It is animalistic aggression, cloaked by pseudo-religious, cult-like rituals which are designed P make it appear legitimate and righteous. It is brute thuggery, disguised as consent and organization. It is the enslavement of mankind, the subjugation of free will, and the destruction of morality, masquerading as “civilization” and “society.” The problem is not just that “authority” can be used for evil; the problem is that, at its most basic essence, it is evil. In everything it does, it defeats the free will of human being controlling them through coercion and fear. It supersedes and destroys moral consciences, replacing them with unthinking blind obedience. It cannot be used for good, any more than a bomb can be used to heal a body. It is always aggression, always the enemy of peace, always the enemy of justice. The moment it ceases to be an attacker, it ceases to fit the definition of “government.” It is, by its very nature, a murderer and a thief, the enemy of mankind, a poison to humanity. As dominator and controller, ruler and oppressor, it can be nothing else.

The alleged right to rule, in any degree and in any form, is the opposite of humanity. The initiation of violence is the opposite of harmonious coexistence. The desire for dominion is the opposite of love for mankind. Hiding the violence under layers of complex rituals and self-contradictory rationalizations, and labeling brute thuggery as virtue and compassion, does not change that fact. Claiming noble goals, saying that the violence is “the will of the people,” or that it is being committed “for the common good” or “for the children,” cannot change evil into good. “Legalizing” wrong does not make it right. One man forcibly subjugating another, no matter how it is described or how it is carried out, is uncivilized and immoral. The destruction it causes, the injustice it creates, the damage it does to every soul that it touches – perpetrators, victims, and spectators alike-cannot be undone by calling it “law,” or by claiming that it was necessary. Evil, by any name, is still evil.
The ultimate message here is very simple. All of recorded history screams it, yet few have, until now, allowed themselves to hear it. That message is this:

If you love death and destruction, oppression and suffering, injustice and violence, repression and torture, helplessness and despair, perpetual conflict and bloodshed, then teach your children to respect “authority:’  and teach them that obedience is a virtue.
If, on the other hand, you value peaceful coexistence, compassion and cooperation, freedom and justice, then teach your children the principles of self-ownership, teach them to respect the rights of every human being, and teach them to recognize and reject the belief in “authority” for what it is: the most irrational, self-contradictory, anti-human, evil, destructive and dangerous superstition the world has ever known.

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to two people: the first person who, because of reading this book, disobeys an order to harm someone else, and the person who, as a result, is not harmed.

About the Author

Larken Rose, a self-described “enemy of the state,” lives with his wife and daughter in eastern Pennsylvania.  The author of several other books, including The Iron Web and
How to Be a Successful Tyrant (The Megalomaniac Manifesto), Mr. Rose is an outspoken, nationally known proponent of individual liberty, self-ownership, and a
voluntary society.  For more information, visit

A Note About the Copyright ...

A “copyright” is usually an implied threat (“Don’t copy this, or else!”). While I hope that anyone who likes this book will buy additional copies from me, if someone does copy this book without my permission, that would not make me feel justified in using force against that person, or, my own or via “government.”  I copyrighted the book primarily so that no one else could copyright it and thereby use the violence of the state to prevent me from distributing it.