The dumbest objections against statelessness #3
"It just doesn’t work!" - a question of belief
Yes, statelessness indeed does not work under present conditions. With the majority of people currently not believing it can work, then of course it doesn’t and won’t work. Every social concept, every institution, every organization, every house of cards, every value of reputation, trust, and goodwill, is based on faith; whether warranted or not.
Every single economic transaction, the bluff of authority, the imagined “social contract,” the value of money -the value of anything - is a matter of subjective belief, because there is no undeniable objectivity to be had with these matters. Even appeals to “natural law” are void because even definition of natural law is subject to anyone’s interpretation. Who is to say what is natural, anyway?
What system of governance or self-governance works depends solely on belief. The fact that vastly disparate systems of governance exist and have existed in history shows this.
If, then…
If the vast majority of people in a certain region believe that slavery is an acceptable way by which to organize society, then slavery becomes viable and sustainable - it “works.” Slavery was the norm for the vast majority of human history. Slavery practically still exists today, but with a loosened noose and extra steps (i.e. taxation, mandatory “healthcare,” and asking for your masters’ permission to travel). The fact that we need to fool ourselves “it’s different from actual slavery” goes to show that belief is key.
If the vast majority of people accept the non-values of socialism, then they will create a Soviet Socialist utopia, and accept to be allocated jobs and living quarters on a whim by corrupt government administrators. People would accept having no right to own property, and allow a group of elite corporatist bureaucrats to own all property in the region, supposedly in the name of the non-existent entity of “the people.” If enough people accept socialism as “the best system they’ve got,” then this becomes sustainable: USSR, Cuba, North Korea. Yes, socialism/communism “works” until people decide it doesn’t, hence the fall of the USSR.
If the family of an abusive father tolerate him, and believe it’s OK for the father to be abusive, then guess what… the abusive household becomes sustainable, and “it works.” Every nightmare can “work” and be feasible; it doesn’t make it ideal.
It is always with the complicity of the victim that abuse keeps repeating.
If the vast majority of people believe in sharia law, then guess what… you’ll get workable sharia law, such as in the case of Middle-Easter theocracies currently in existence. If I gave the US constitution to current-day Syria, it wouldn’t work because not enough people would believe in a bill of rights and individual freedom; instead they’d prefer the oppressive rule of caliph tyrants. As we saw from the recent takeover of Syria by Israeli-backed Islamist theocrats, the vast majority of Syrians celebrated the further islamisation of Syria, and its plunging into sharia law and jihadist militarism. Even such insane systems of government can work, as long as enough people naively believe they can work.
If the vast majority of people believe in the scam of democracy by representation, then guess what… the scam of democracy by representation becomes sustainable, with all the delusion of freedom it represents. This is the case with Western hypocritical democracies, the self-righteous cult of state-worship.
If enough people believe that intangible digital bits have value, then you get cryptocurrencies that actually have value for people, and even for the people who still don’t believe those bits have value. Just as I don’t believe the state has any authority, I still reluctantly submit to it; the belief of others in its bluff of authority made this “authority” real.
If enough people believe that an investment will yield value, then they will invest, and so this act of investing becomes the catalyst that gives the investment value.
If enough people “believe” that inflation is coming, then guess what… inflation will become a reality. Why? Because they will all rush to buy more now when things are cheaper, thus becoming the catalyst for a spike in demand, and therefore, increase in prices.
Belief
Belief is a driver. Belief is a self-fulfilling prophecy.
If you believe you can succeed in something, then, assuming that something is within your biological potential and your social capacity, you stand a real chance of succeeding. If you don’t believe you can succeed, then even if it’s staring you in the face, you stand no chance of succeeding.
If you don’t believe you are worthy of good things in life, then guess what… not a single good thing will come to you. If you don’t believe you can get the girl/boy, then you won’t get the girl/boy. This is not some “law of attraction” new-age nonsense: this is how you interact with the world around you based on what you believe is possible, and what is not. If you don’t believe in yourself, then no one has any reason to believe in you.
The question is not what people believe, but why they believe what they believe. Who taught them to believe so little in themselves so as to always look to authority figures rather than to themselves? Who taught us to place more faith in strangers than in ourselves? Who conditioned us to believe that corrupt pedophile politicians can give us a better world than what we can create without them?
If not enough people believe in voluntary systems of self-governance, then guess what… no one will actively trust and rely on voluntary systems of self-governance. They will instead rely on an oppressive state, which they subjectively believe is “better.”
So, “it doesn’t work” isn’t an argument against statelessness. It’s just a confession of our beliefs. It’s an observation that the majority of people currently occupying this planet are predisposed to believing in oppressive rule by threat of force. This objection is just an argument signifying that belief is the driver behind every economic system. It’s an argument illustrating our reality of economic and historical illiteracy; otherwise people would have known that statelessness does indeed work - just not now with the current hopelessly traumatized population of humans.
If we don’t believe we are capable of going to the stars, we won’t.
Conclusion
All systems of social organization work when a critical mass of people believe they do. Belief is a self-fulfilling prophecy. If a society as a whole - a critical mass of people - believes in a system of governance, then it will “work.” This feasibility doesn’t prove that a given system of governance is efficient or moral or ideal. We have had and do have vastly different systems of governance, and they are all fraught with corruption, inefficiencies, and atrocities. But we don’t believe in anything different.
The type of system of governance or self-governance that works relies only on belief.
The question is not what we, as a whole, believe…
The true question is why we came to believe it in the first place, and whether we understand that other systems can yield more utility, peace, and ethos.
The question is whether our lack of belief in self-governance is a lack of belief in the self, as we put more faith in people whom we don’t know; people we know will abuse the liberties we relinquish to them.
By proclaiming “I don’t believe stateless self-governance can work,” we confess that we don’t believe we are able to self-govern. Why is that?
Statism works until people believe it doesn’t. Statelessness doesn’t work until people believe it does.
Thank you for reading. I appreciate your time. All my work here is free.
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Recommended reading
‘Chaos Theory: Two Essays on Market Anarchy’ by Robert P. Murphy
‘No Treason: The Constitution of No Authority’ by Lysander Spooner
‘For a New Liberty: The Libertarian Manifesto’ by Murray N. Rothbard
‘Power and Market: Government and the Economy’ by Murray N. Rothbard
‘Man, Economy, and State with Power and Market’ by Murray N. Rothbard
‘The Enterprise Of Law: Justice Without The State’ by Bruce L. Benson
‘The Machinery of Freedom: A Guide to Radical Capitalism’ by David Friedman
Excellent article, beliefs are powerful. What beliefs are truly your own? We are molded by parents, teachers, clergy, TV etc, so what are our core beliefs. We have been told by clergymen we are sinners and not worthy enough for the kingdom of Heaven. Schools test us to see who is the brightest and the “best”. I don’t know for sure but I imagine that even the brightest individuals have their own demons with their beliefs. The truth is we are extremely powerful beings who have the ability to turn this around. We are not weak, we are strong. 81 million voted , just think if 81 million joined together for true freedom. 81 million to disengage from the system. Now that’s a belief I want to believe in. Power in the people not just a catchy phrase from the 60’s.
Brilliant !