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Politics : Libertarian Discussion Forum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: MeDroogies who wrote (477)	7/8/1998 8:24:00 AM
From: Liatris Spicata	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 13060

MeDroogies- <<Nobody here (I would be amazed if they did) wants to eliminate gov't. >> Will wonders never cease! There are serious people whose long term vision is to eliminate government entirely. It may surprise you that there are historical examples of societies that functioned without government- and a lack of government does not necessarily entail a lack of discipline: arguably the opposite is true. David Friedman has published extensively on Iceland's anarchic society which I think existed for at least several generations- you could check out back issues of "Liberty" magazine for a "lite" version of his history. My understanding is that the American Plains Indians were essentially anarchic. The chief operated by virtue of his personal prestige and that of his office, and his wishes were generally respected, but with only one exception he had no power to force anyone to do anything. (The exception, I believe, was that he could assign you a role in major hunting expeditions and you had no choice but to comply). The Inuit Indians operated in a similar fashion. Of course, there were ways of dealing with troublemakers. For example, the entire tribe could move in the middle of the night (relatively simple for a nomadic people) and leave you alone. Or, if I decided I'd had enough of MeDroogies and wanted to do him in, well there is no law to stop me. However, I do have to worry about what MeDroogies kin will do. So I may go to Mrs. MeDroogie and ask what she would do if I slew the cad. The reaction might range from she'd bless me and my family for getting rid of the wife beater to saying she'd demand two seal skins to weighing in with a threat of massive retaliation against me and my family and friends (might make you careful about the friends you keep!). I have to weigh the response I get from MeDroogies' kin and circle of friends before I proceed. In a more contemporary vein, you might want to consider the role insurance companies- with whom one maintains purely voluntary associations- might play in regulating human interactions. You might, for instance, have a contract with your insurance company that your homicide will be investigated and some form of "appropriate action" taken. You also might be impressed with the power of custom- something our modern society tends to undermine. The best line from Atlas Shrugged (not an exact quote, but it gives the idea) came when Dagny crash landed in Galt's Gulch. When, as I recall, she mentioned the possibility of giving something to someone, she was admonished with, "Miss Taggart, we don't have laws here, but we do have certain customs." So, while for the foreseeable future I find it difficult to envision a large society without some form of government, I do not rule out the possibility of anarchy. Serious people with much more knowledge than I on the subject claim that such societies have existed and have provided thought-provoking theoretical investigations into how anarchy could be adapted in the modern world. Larry