An Argument for a Stateless Society

Written by Magnus Freeborn.

Government is the single most destructive force on Earth, responsible for all its major problems.

If we’re truly honest with ourselves about what it is, what becomes irrefutable is it’s a monopoly on force, using coercion as a means to its ends. No different than the mob, it’s an extortion racket that steals from people with the threat of violence, known as taxes, which is inherently immoral. No matter how virtuous the cause, theft is theft. It cannot be ethically justified. And, as hopefully most of us know, government is hardly virtuous anyway.

I’m advocating for the complete abolishment of statism worldwide, replaced by a society based on the non-aggression principle.

If you haven’t heard of it, the non-aggression principle asserts the initiation of force is never legitimate; that only the use of force in self-defense is acceptable. A simpler translation which resonates with me is do no harm, but take no shit.

All human interactions should be voluntary.

It should be easy for most people of every nation and all walks of life to see the soundness of this logic. Only those who wish to unjustly impose their will on others would deny it. Whether they know it or not, such people are transgressors. No matter how great the majority, you cannot rightfully oppress a minority. Every individual should be free to govern themselves as they see fit so long as they’re not violating the rights of others.

The state fundamentally violates the non-aggression principle. Only its death can absolve its infringement, and I think this simple fact alone is more than enough justification for its termination.

A total free market is the natural, harmonious flow of goods and services. Government disrupts this flow by trying to regulate the market, which inhibits competition, significantly lowering the quality and raising the prices of goods and services the market provides. In fact, the extent our quality of life is being held back by government is so enormous it’s incalculable.

A free market actually regulates itself, more efficiently, through something known as “spontaneous order”; order that’s completely decentralized. It’s organic. Think natural selection. The consumers are now the authority, not the government, and the producers have to meet their demands, rather than consumers meeting the demands of the producers and government. No longer would the masses be subject to the whims of the few, which is undeniably the current state of affairs and always will be, until we’re free.

Common Rebuttals

But without government, who would build the roads?!

…but without slaves, who would pick the cotton? It’s absurd to think things such as roads, a vital organ of our society, can’t be built just as well, if not better, through peaceful cooperation, without the threat of kidnap, imprisonment, and even death if people don’t help pay for them. The free market will ensure the demand for premium roadways and all other necessary infrastructure is more than appropriately met.

Without government, crime will run rampant!

This notion’s also absurd. Government is crime. Organized crime. It’s the biggest criminal of them all, so putting it in charge of our lives makes no sense whatsoever. We’re letting crime run rampant right now.

That’s just never going to happen!

That’s not an argument. That’s an attitude. If a critical mass of people subscribe to this thought process, the government will simply cease to exist by default. If you don’t know what a critical mass is, it’s when an innovation’s growth becomes self-sustaining and exponential, leading rapidly to its universal adoption. Examples are fire, the wheel, the lightbulb, telephones and the internet. All we have to do is keep sharing these ideas until enough people want a world without government, and in the blink of an eye we’ll have one. It’s really that simple, and for the first time in human history, thanks to the internet, this is possible.

What would protect local communities from foreign invaders?!

Again, this would essentially be a completely decentralized, peaceful society, worldwide. Any attempt to openly create a centralized authority or initiate force within it would immediately be met with overwhelming resistance.

We’ve been conditioned to believe it’s in our best interest to give agency over our lives to something outside ourselves. Nothing could be further from the truth. Government always leads to tyranny and oppression. History has absolutely proven this. The only solution is its orderly dissolution as soon as possible before it’s too late.

That this isn’t common sense shows just how indoctrinated into a false reality we are. We’ve been thoroughly duped. Hard as it may be, admitting’s the first step.

In my opinion, you can already see the curve. The world’s growing increasingly smaller. We’re approaching the proverbial singularity. Not a matter of if, but when, every day the elephant in the room gets bigger and bigger: government is obsolete.

I know my argument seemingly leaves more questions than answers, but I’m confident it’s actually technically the only answer to every question, because by removing government from the equation, whatever spontaneously, voluntarily, peacefully manifests in its wake, will be the best possible solution to any of the challenges we face. It has to be. How could it not?

Originally published and subsequently removed from reddit.com.