Extracted from the pre-released book Creating Peace and Abundance Through Stateless Economics by John G. Vibes.
Human beings have made some pretty remarkable advancements and discoveries throughout the course of history, despite the fact that incompetent central planners have put themselves in charge of the most vital aspects of civilization. As I discussed earlier, the governments of the world may have monopolized certain services like infrastructure, education, law and defense, but that does not mean that a government is the only kind of organization that can provide these services. When it comes down to it these services are all made possible by people, they are only paid for and delegated by governments. Even then the money that is used for these projects doesn’t come from the government to begin with, but comes from people in the community who have had their money stolen by the government.
Most of the money that is collected through taxation is used to line the pockets of politicians and establish bureaucracies that add to the size and power of government. A very small fraction actually ends up being spent on worthwhile public services. With this being understood, it should be obvious that if given the opportunity to allocate their own resources amongst themselves voluntarily, communities would be able to provide services that are far superior to those that are forcefully imposed by central planners.
The world does not need authority figures to dictate the course of human history, if anything the brutality and callousness of past regimes should serve as a reminder of how dangerous it is to give people authority over the lives of others. Rulers of the past have taken the credit for the hard work of the average people who have built civilizations on their command, leaving a historical myth that we owe our entire progression to figures of authority. In reality when it comes to the positive aspects of our existence, we have the ingenuity of our ancestors to thank, not the tyrants who rode on their backs. The history books may glorify warlords, monarch and aristocrats as being the founders of our modern way of life, but this is only a result of the warlords writing the history books.
Every world changing invention, enlightening philosophy and leap in human development has been brought forth by those who spent their lives under the boots of authority, not those wearing the boots. Typically, authority figures have actually done their best to stagnate this process and prevent the general population from empowering themselves with technology and philosophy.
The power structures of the past were well aware that the peasants had the potential to rise above oppression peacefully through the advancement of philosophy and development of advanced technology. This was very pronounced during the times of the Middle Ages, where people could risk losing their lives on counts of witchcraft if they were caught developing unknown technology or discussing any philosophy that may have undermined the existing establishment. The power structures of the world today are no different, preventing research into alternative energy and stifling the process of technological advancement with stiff regulations and intellectual property laws.
There is a lot of talk about the “free market” in terms of economics, but a free market has never existed anywhere in the world aside from some small pockets of land for short periods of time. There have been some periods in history where there has been significantly less government intervention in the economy, but these situations could hardly be referred to as “free market”. Anytime where you have central banks, government mandated currency, taxation, bailouts , and regulations you are dealing with a very tightly controlled market, not a free one.
Through the government mandated schools and regulated media, we are presented a story where economic sanctions and controls are necessary to keep people safe from the evil corporations who have monopolized the economy. This is a pretty clever trick, because most people don’t take a few steps back to see that these corporations have been created and protected by government, and are all exempt to the regulations and taxes that are hoisted upon the smaller businesses who are trying to compete.
These are the policies that have created the completely unfair and unsustainable economic environment that has forced so many people into poverty and hopelessness. Companies like Monsanto and Goldman Sachs would not survive a day in a free market, because without the political mechanisms that they use to stomp out competition
The very concept of a “corporation” is a government created entity, which acts as a legal shield that prevents CEO’s from being held accountable for the messes that their companies create. It is this loophole and others like it that has allowed the monopolization of certain industries, creating mega corporations that no small business can possibly contend with. In the pro-government propaganda put out through schools and the media the root causes of corporate corruption are never discussed, leading people to believe that the fascist economic model that dominates the world today was a natural result of people doing business, when in fact it was actually the result of government intervention.
In a world where people were actually allowed to trade freely without government intervention, everyone would be an entrepreneur. Sure, workers would still be needed, but my guess is that in a free society most labor jobs would be filled with people trying to earn some extra money, working a summer job, getting some start-up money for their own business and things of that nature. It seems that the wage slave kind of lifestyle where you are stuck in a dead end job for your entire life is due to the lack of choices currently present in the marketplace. There is definitely something to be said for picking something you're good at and sticking to that throughout the years, but in a truly decentralized and free economy, there would be far more options for work within your own field, and limitless potential for you to branch off and start your own business which may then also employ others.
In a world like the one I’m describing, the quality of life and creativity on the planet would explode and create a futuristic civilization of peace and abundance. Different currencies would be tested all throughout the world, different ways of doing business and structuring society would develop in different areas until the optimum solution for health and well-being was discovered, then it would be adopted by others voluntarily if it brought that much value to people’s lives.
It should be common sense that anytime you bring violence into the equation you are going to greatly diminish the quality of whatever it is that you’re dealing with, the economy and everywhere else that the government reaches is no different. When force is brought into any kind of human interaction you are bound to get dishonest, unproductive and uncreative encounters. People may think violence is a strong word to describe government policy, but as I have outlined in some of my other work, threats of violence that are hidden in culture are still acts of violence.
As many researchers have described, when you disobey the government in any way, the end result is ultimately your death. If you disobey the government, chances are they will want you to appear in one of their courts. If you don’t show up for court there is a good chance that they will come to your house and try to put you in a cage. At that point if you refuse to go they will use force on you, and if you attempt to defend yourself you will be killed.
Our culture has taught us to think that it is the trait of the “bad guy” to resist an arrest, but what if that arrest was really an unjust kidnapping? Who is to say that the court laying the charges is in any way legitimate? Were the courts and laws in Soviet Russia or Nazi Germany legitimate?
Were the people who disobeyed them “bad guys?” Just because someone puts on a uniform and works for the king, or the state, or the country doesn’t mean that he has the right to kick down the doors of nonviolent people and attempt to kidnap them, just because they broke some arbitrary government code or edict. The fact that people generally accept the government’s ability to kick down peoples doors, or the fact that they vote on it still does not make it any less wrong to do what they’re doing, which is essentially committing acts of violence against nonviolent people.
I am making such a point of this idea because the legalized violence that the state makes possible is the primary thing that is holding our species back from peace and abundance. The systematic violence that I am referring to disrupts the process of spontaneous order while at the same time stifling human will power and creativity. Spontaneous order is just a way of describing the complex building process that takes place all throughout nature, as well as in interactions between human beings. When applied to human interaction this building process is set into motion by people trying to solve problems and improve their quality of life.
Human beings have an incredible ability to find solutions for any problems that may stand in our way. Just as a rushing river will forge a new path around a boulder that has fallen in its midst, groups of voluntarily
Due to this compartmentalization so many of us have come to believe that there will be no food if the grocery store closes down, that there will be no electricity without a government power grid, that there will be no safety without Caesar’s guards patrolling the community. However, all of these needs can and will be much better filled by able and kindhearted people in our community who would step up to the challenge if they had the freedom to do so.
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