Distasteful Communities Are a Feature, Not a Bug

A criticism others have made against my political philosophy (decentralism) is that a racist, theocratic, or other problematic form of government could establish itself in a given region. However, I try to point out to people that what they call a bug is more of a mutually beneficial feature.

Let me first elaborate on my political philosophy. I used to call myself an anarcho-capitalist, and I still have sympathies toward that ideology. However, years ago a commie tried to convince me that I wasn’t a true anarchist since I was okay with private property and someone establishing rules on their land. It made me think a little bit and I realized I don’t care if people have governments. I only support two main principles: freedom of travel; and governments not claiming large swathes of unused land. The logistics of my political philosophy can be complex,  but I don’t wish to debate those in this post.

So let’s imagine a town having bigoted laws against Pakistani people. People would think this is shitty, as would I. I would dislike this town and opt not to live in it. However, my underlying principle would say Pakistani people must be able to leave (if the town wouldn’t allow for that, I would happily pay negotiators/mercenaries to solve the problem).

The idea that this town can exist within my philosophical framework is so offensive to certain people. However, this is a benefit to most everyone. Not only do these anti-Pakistani people get to live their values, but it will lure other anti-Pakistani people out of the communities I want to live in. Pakistani people will know to stay away and their intentions will be obvious and clear.

I believe a town with these given values will likely have many problems and over time will likely lose wealth and citizens. This will set an example for others. Eventually people will realize that Pakistani people weren’t the problem.

The great virtue of this society is that it allows people to have shitty ideas. It got them out of my community. It let them experiment with it. Then it let them fail with it. A racist or theocratic society is not a bug of my political beliefs. It is a feature.

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Aaron White, married to a swell girl, is a business owner and unschooling father of two, going on three. His hobbies are music and poker. He resides in Southern California.