On Hierarchy III

I love left anarchist Michael Bakunin’s essay on natural law and authority. In it he wrote, “Does it follow that I reject all authority? Perish the thought. In the mater of boots, I defer to the authority of the bootmaker; concerning houses, canals, or railroads, I consult the architect or the engineer… But I allow neither the bootmaker nor the architect… to impose his authority on me.” Absent state protection of property title and incorporation, your employer is, like the bootmaker and engineer, a natural authority, not of boots or engineering, but of value production. Taking an employment contract is a demand for consultation in producing value for the employer, and ultimately the consumer. He is not imposing his authority on you anymore than you are imposing your authority (skills) on him. Business-based organizational echelony (misnomer: hierarchy) is merely layers upon layers of unimposed natural authority serving as value-producing consultation. And that’s today’s two cents.

Skyler.

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Founder and editor of Everything-Voluntary.com and UnschoolingDads.com, Skyler is a husband and unschooling father of three beautiful children. His writings include the column series “One Voluntaryist’s Perspective” and “One Improved Unit,” and blog series “Two Cents“. Skyler also wrote the books No Hitting! and Toward a Free Society, and edited the books Everything Voluntary and Unschooling Dads. You can hear Skyler chatting away on his podcasts, Everything Voluntary and Thinking & Doing.