A Stateless Society By 2020

[srqrebel]

A Stateless Society By 2020

by Menno Troyer


I have a vision for the future.

I envision a world where I can interact peacefully with you, in whatever manner you and I consent; and not have to look over my shoulder to make sure no one with an ulterior motive is watching.

I envision a world where I can be secure in retaining the fruits of my labor; and not be confronted with the non-choice of either being a labor slave to the State, being forced to live in a cage, or dying at the hands of federal agents.

I envision a world where I can purchase a piece of land with my hard-earned money, and own it fair and square; and not live in danger of armed thugs usurping it because I refuse to pay them rent on land that belongs to me.

I envision a world where my home and auto are respected by all as my personal space; and I need not fear an invasion by a gang of thugs, on suspicion of breaking any one of their countless arbitrary rules.

I envision a world where friendly, professional security services compete for my business and exist to protect me; and roving bands of gangsters with badges and egos exist only as fading memories.

I envision a world where it is commonly recognized that where there is no victim, there is no crime.

I envision a world where I, and I alone, choose who provides me with whatever healthcare and health advice I seek; and neither I nor the practitioner of my choice needs to worry about intrusive bureaucrats ending our voluntary relationship by force, for not having obtained their permission first.

I envision a world where healthcare is cutting edge, fast, and affordable -- thanks to a universal environment of creativity and healthy competition that can only exist in a truly free market.

I envision a world where I, and I alone, choose what goes into my own body, and what stays out; with no danger of being assaulted for simply minding my own business.

I envision a world where schools are private enterprises where I and my (future) children and grandchildren can obtain a quality, customized education at an affordable price, and attendance is voluntary; rather than mandatory propaganda mills that drain the economy.

I envision a world where chronic poverty is the just consequence of laziness and incompetence; rather than the unfair condition of being trapped under a crushing economic burden imposed by a class of elite parasites that owe their existence to a combination of cunning deceit and brute force.

I envision a free and prosperous world with a vast voluntary safety net of both insurance services and private charities; instead of the incompetence of the nanny state, where laziness is rewarded and the least fortunate among us receive minimal assistance or none at all.

I envision a world where the Earth's environment is jealously guarded by sovereign property owners who are highly motivated to preserve their own little piece of it; in place of artificial stewards in Washington, who not only have no incentive to preserve it -- they do not think twice about striking a deal with the devil for personal gain.

I envision a world permanently at peace, where 'war' is an obsolete, forgotten word; and national boundaries are curious relics of the dark ages.

I envision a world where disease and aging are things of the past, rendered obsolete through the fierce competition of profit-motivated scientist-entrepreneurs who face neither intimidation by a State, nor the immense economic burden of a parasitic elite.

I envision a world where solutions are developed virtually in advance of the problems themselves, through the sheer competitive energy of master entrepreneurs who are driven to spot an opportunity for profit before the competition, and act on it; instead of a world where entrepreneurs are routinely drained of their energy and motivation by the futility of operating at the pleasure of those who neither produce anything of value nor understand the dynamics of value production.

The first-class world I envision can only exist in the complete absence of State.  Period.

That world is a free-market civilization.

Goals help transform visions into reality.  I have a goal.

It is a goal that supersedes the oft-repeated goal of freedom in our lifetime.  Instead of freedom at some undefined point in my lifetime, I want a lifetime of freedom beginning while I am yet in my prime!

More importantly for both you and me, we are locked in a struggle to the death between good and evil.  Right now it is only a matter of time before the evil forces of State destroy human civilization, thereby tragically setting back the clock of human progress by possibly tens of thousands of years.  Civilization simply cannot survive another world war, fought with today's weapons.  It must either abandon the institution of State, or itself soon cease to exist.

The goal is a Stateless, free-market civilization by the year 2020.  That is only thirteen years away.

When I look around, I see absolutely no mechanism in place, or being developed, which offers even a remote possibility of achieving such an ambitious goal.  Yet there exists an urgent need for such a mechanism.

One individual designing this mechanism, acting alone, would have to be nothing less than an absolute genius.  There is no time to wait for such an individual to emerge.  We must generate our own alternative to genius -- many minds working in unison toward a singular goal have a synergistic effect.  It is up to us, the few who share this vision, to come together and design the mechanism – quickly!

I am certain that this goal is well within the realm of possibility.  In the immortal words of Napoleon Hill, "Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve."

If you share this vision, and find inspiration in the goal of a free-market civilization by 2020, I invite you to join me at the drawing board to help design the mechanism for bringing about the most spectacular revolution since the Industrial Age:

http://newhampshireunderground.com/forum/index.php?topic=10944.0

This call to action may be reposted in its entirety including hyperlink and without changes in wording.  -MT

[srqrebel]

Am I really the only one here who is interested in such a lofty goal?

I was going to wait and see what kind of suggestions and comments come in, then throw in some of my own.  Since there have been none so far, I will offer some of mine for discussion:

1) Dismantling State institutions "legitimately" from within by electing large numbers of free marketeers/anarchists to office.

2) Outcompeting the State through the development of advanced, secret John Galt-like technology, (reversing the technology gap).

3) A worldwide, universally accessible, free-market driven Criminal Ostracism Database, independent from the State.   There would be an honor score for each participant, similar to one's credit score, based upon total estimated values produced for others, as well as harm done to others (true crime).

4) New monetary system, as described in Larry K. Mason's online book, Invisible Hand: http://www.unc.edu/~mason/hand.html

5) Uncompromising civil disobedience, i.e. refusing to submit to the State's demands under any condition.  If enough people did this, the State would vanish rapidly.

One option that I will not discuss in this thread is violent resistance.  While I am not opposed to self-defense in principle, and the State certainly does routinely violate the rights of individuals, resisting the State by force is almost certainly the surest and fastest route to defeat.  I am in this to succeed.

Let the discussion begin!

[David]

There is a few anarchists on this board.  Me included.   

[Rosie the Riveter]

I appreciate your beautiful well thought out post and I'm all about anarcho-capitalism, but to be honest, I'm just too busy working on promoting freedom and a free market, small step by small step, to have a huge philosophical discussion about it.

What ever civil disobedience, non-violent non-cooperation, civic or political action you wish to take is only yours to decide.

[srqrebel]

I appreciate your beautiful well thought out post and I'm all about anarcho-capitalism, but to be honest, I'm just too busy working on promoting freedom and a free market, small step by small step, to have a huge philosophical discussion about it.

What ever civil disobedience, non-violent non-cooperation, civic or political action you wish to take is only yours to decide.

Awesome... keep up the good work!

I am not interested in endless debate, either.  My objective here is to bring a hard-nosed business-like discipline to the process, in order to outflank the State as quickly as possible.  This requires (IMO) brainstorming and refining of the resulting ideas through mutual discussion, followed by carefully planned action ASAP. 

I just feel that I have been coming up short on a good strategy myself, and I do not see anyone else having an adequate solution to this very real and urgent problem.  This is why I am now turning to the free market for the answer.

[Rosie the Riveter]

I appreciate your beautiful well thought out post and I'm all about anarcho-capitalism, but to be honest, I'm just too busy working on promoting freedom and a free market, small step by small step, to have a huge philosophical discussion about it.

What ever civil disobedience, non-violent non-cooperation, civic or political action you wish to take is only yours to decide.

Awesome... keep up the good work!

I am not interested in endless debate, either.  My objective here is to bring a hard-nosed business-like discipline to the process, in order to outflank the State as quickly as possible.  This requires (IMO) brainstorming and refining of the resulting ideas through mutual discussion, followed by carefully planned action ASAP. 

I just feel that I have been coming up short on a good strategy myself, and I do not see anyone else having an adequate solution to this very real and urgent problem.  This is why I am now turning to the free market for the answer.

I got'ca strategic plan with a little SWAT analysis and an action plan.... You would enjoy taproom tuesdays. It seems like that is where so many great ideas are hatched. http://newhampshireunderground.com/forum/index.php?topic=8812.0

[J’raxis 270145]

There are hundreds of little pieces of the movement that are working toward a stateless (or otherwise anti-state or at least state-ignoring) society. Perhaps trying to coördinate some of them might be helpful, or perhaps it could just make each piece needlessly dependent on others, and make it easier to attack and disrupt the movement. Each piece being independent should probably be considered a strength.

[picaro]

Dismantling State institutions "legitimately" from within by electing large numbers of free marketeers/anarchists to office.

Subverting existing institutions is a great idea... but there are a number of obstacles.

Many anarchists view the political process as a distraction, or worse, a black mark on their purity

These people may be right.  Few people are strong enough to escape absorption into institutional culture.   Remember Robespierre.  Hell, Greenspan once advocated the gold standard.

How do you remain focused on long-term political gains? 

Or understand whether acceptance or rejection of a half-measure will deplete political capital or stunt progress toward your goal?

How do you keep the enemy outside his experience in the political arena?  (Their home turf -- an area outside our experience.)

Does the foundation exist for effective political change?  If not, what needs to be built?

How do you garner publicity and provoke amusement/ridicule?

[srqrebel]

There are hundreds of little pieces of the movement that are working toward a stateless (or otherwise anti-state or at least state-ignoring) society. Perhaps trying to coördinate some of them might be helpful, or perhaps it could just make each piece needlessly dependent on others, and make it easier to attack and disrupt the movement. Each piece being independent should probably be considered a strength.

That is certainly possible.  The best solution may well be one that is carried out without any central organization, yet operates with a common basic goal and strategy.  A perfect example of that is the Ron Paul revolution taking place currently.

The solution or mechanism resulting from this effort could be implemented alongside existing efforts.

[srqrebel]

Dismantling State institutions "legitimately" from within by electing large numbers of free marketeers/anarchists to office.

Subverting existing institutions is a great idea... but there are a number of obstacles.

Many anarchists view the political process as a distraction, or worse, a black mark on their purity

These people may be right.  Few people are strong enough to escape absorption into institutional culture.   Remember Robespierre.  Hell, Greenspan once advocated the gold standard.

How do you remain focused on long-term political gains? 

Or understand whether acceptance or rejection of a half-measure will deplete political capital or stunt progress toward your goal?

How do you keep the enemy outside his experience in the political arena?  (Their home turf -- an area outside our experience.)

Does the foundation exist for effective political change?  If not, what needs to be built?

How do you garner publicity and provoke amusement/ridicule?

These are the very reasons I tend to think the political approach is not a very viable option for actually getting rid of the State.  A Ron Paul presidency, and Free Staters in office throughout NH, probably only buys us some time at best.

Does anyone have any good answers to the questions posed by Picaro, to show how the political approach could be a viable option?

[picaro]

I don't mean to dismiss politics... just draw attention to the pitfalls.

Involvement in politics doesn't need to be dirty -- if your goal is education and not exercising power.   It is a decent platform for spreading ideas.   Though, the people here involved in newspapers, radio, and television may be even more effective.  One truly excellent YouTube clip may be more persuasive yet.

[J’raxis 270145]

What you say about compromise undermining our own support is a very valid concern, however. The example I always think of is what happened to the Socialists (the anti-state, libertarian-minded ones) in the nineteenth century: they had a pretty big movement going in Europe, major support among the ordinary people, and then the government stepped in with their "welfare state" idea, which gave the peasants the same material benefits Socialism promised—alleviating poverty, providing care for people out of work or retired, &c.—but without overthrowing the state in the process. Needless to say, the ordinary people abandoned Socialism, and even began to resist the idea of overthrowing the state—after all, who's providing for them now?

So we definitely need to make sure any half-measures and incrementalism we engage in isn't leaving behind supporters, or perhaps even making them resist our future direction.


Ron Paul seems to be a good example of someone who hasn't been corrupted by being part of the system. He's a strict constitutionalist despite being surrounded by 434 corrupted, power-hungry bastards.

I think getting involved in legislative politics is good in the short term, and will be most effective at overturning bad laws, but beyond that, probably not so much. Can we get the state to overturn such-and-such a tax, or this-or-that law? With enough effort, certainly. Will we ever get them to vote themselves out of existence after accomplishing all of the rest of this? Of course not.

Small-government conservatives have this saying about shrinking the government down until it's weak enough to "strangle the government in the bathtub." I think this is a good strategy: if we reduce their funding enough, and repeal enough of the bad laws, and get laws passed that strengthen privacy, strengthen religious freedom, strengthen parental rights (especially with regards to educational choice), we're on our way to simply leaving the government behind. If they can't watch us to see what we are doing, or can't stop us when they do see us, to hell with them, right?

Imagine this scenario:—

There are still laws forbidding certain business transactions, but if the government is forbidden from monitoring bank transactions or receiving yearly income statements from people, how are they going to enforce these?

There are still laws forbidding certain chemical substances, but if anyone can claim "it's a religious ceremony!" to use them, how are they going to enforce these? Oh, and the local PDs have been stripped of all drug-enforcement funding, too.

There still statutory rape laws, but if the parents don't mind their 15 year old daughter dating a 19 year old, and the state can't prosecute unless there's an actual complaint filed by the "victim," how are they going to enforce these?

[srqrebel]

Thank you! That is excellent food for thought.

[Braddogg]

I refuse to make my life's goal something I cannot control.  The foundational aspect of government is illusion: people believe it has authority, so it does.  These illusions don't start with the government, they start in our own lives.  We need to start being libertarians in our own lives before we become libertarians politically.  We have to join the Free Self Project before we worry about the Free State Project.  Taxation is evil because it is an unchosen positive obligation -- I didn't sign a social contract obliging me to pay taxes.  We need to apply that principle -- no unchosen obligations -- to our own lives first if we want to be really effective and to really create a stateless society.  There are NO "have to"s.  The fundamental, core illusion that allows the state to exist is the belief that there ARE "have-to"s.  Freedom starts at home, it starts with our personal relationships.  Our priests, our parents, our teachers, our friends, our lovers.  Try to be free with them.  Try to be free with yourself.  Release yourself of all the "have-to"s in your personal life, because you can do that TODAY.  Then try to be free in society.

And THAT is how a truly free society will come about.  We're focused on dismantling the illusion of the state, but in communities without strong states there are and have historically been strong, oppressive families and religions.  Is the object to dissemble the state, or to be free?  I'd rather have 50% or 80% taxation than have to continue seeing my abusive parents, or date women who don't respect me, or believe in religious fairy tales.  We don't have to wait for the collapse of the government to be free.  And if you make "a stateless society by 2020" your goal, if you make that your master, you will be frustrated and disappointed, and you may become so full of bitter rage for the "sheeple" that you will be less free than they are.

I guess my answer to your poll is "Absolutely not!", I cannot in good conscience support that goal.  What I will support is "Liberty in our lifetime" -- personal liberty, personal freedom, not by 2020, but today!

[srqrebel]

These are all good points.  You see, in my personal life I have already separated myself from everyone who would restrict my freedom in any way.  I was raised in a fanatically christian home and am now atheist.  I have long refused to tolerate any external authority in my personal life.

The only thing left standing between me and natural freedom, as human life was meant to be lived, is the State.  Being the freedom seeker that I am, I have been quite entrepreneurial in the past, in order to escape external authority even in the workplace.  I have since lost interest in owning my own business due to all the State regulations and paperwork involved, and harsh penalties for "disobedience".  My latest dream is to own a small acreage and master the art of self-sufficiency at every level (food, energy, etc.).  Yet I run headlong into oppressive property taxes, which means that as long as the State exists, I cannot realize my dream of true self-sufficiency.

I am at the point now where I am ready to drop everything and get this monkey off my back.  If you are not at that point in your life, that is fine.  The goal of a stateless society by 2020 is for those who have reached that point, and are ready to forge ahead and claim their rightful heritage.