Most People Act in a Peaceful, Friendly, Voluntary Way

A helpful thing to keep in mind is that, in almost every setting and every medium, what you hear about is not at all an accurate representation of what all is actually happening.

The news might report the one horrible car crash today near where you live. They won’t report how many thousands of people got to where they were going without crashing. The newspaper will tell the story of some sadistic sociopath getting caught doing some evil crap or other. It won’t describe what millions of decent people did today. And so on.

And the world is so damn big, and has so many people in it, that the sheer scale of things makes it impossible for the average person to really grasp. If we hear five horrible stories that happened in a city of two million, that can easily make it feel like stupidity and evil are everywhere, and constant. But they aren’t.

What you personally experience on a daily basis is a far more accurate indication of reality than what you will see or hear almost anywhere else, including right here. I talk about examples of authoritarian evil and injustice all the time, and there is certainly no shortage of examples. But hearing about that so often can make one feel depressed, overwhelmed, discouraged and hopeless. So I’m flinging this message out there to give a bit of balance.

The number of people practicing peaceful coexistence is massive, and growing all the time. The vast majority of people will not be committing fraud or aggression today. And yes, there are even some cops and soldiers whose consciences are doing battle with their statist indoctrination, and winning. They are choosing humanity over blind obedience. You won’t hear about it very often, because almost no one has a reason to know about it, or to talk about it.

I’m not saying we should stop pointing out and condemning evil. I won’t. But it’s good to also remember how much actual humanity happens every day – normal people interacting in a peaceful, friendly, voluntary way. That is already most of society. Now we just need to make it all of society.

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Larken Rose is an anarchist author best known for challenging the IRS to answer questions about the federal tax liability of citizens, and being put in prison with no questions answered. He is the author of The Most Dangerous Superstition.