Imagine that you are in living in anarchy - a stateless society. A salesman from a group called YourNation tells you that they creating a startup government. He says governments are wonderful, and asks you to sign the following contract.
Would you sign it?
The Government Offer:
- You are NOT to make any money without telling me.
- You are NOT to leave my fief territory without permission.
- You WILL pay me a percentage of your income, the amount determined by me. If you do not pay me, you will get locked in the cage.
- You will NOT own anything I don't approve of or get locked in the cage.
- If you trade, you can ONLY do it With MY permission slips (unless I've given you permission). Trading with other kinds of currency could land you in my cage.
- If you get a job, your employer will owe me money.
- If you want to have friends come over from another place, they'll have to wait in line for my permission. Maybe for years.
- You WILL let me listen in on phone calls, texts, emails, or any other communications. If you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear.
- I WILL take your money as I see fit and spend it how I want. My friends will get a cut. If you complain about my behavior, it's a sign you don't love me. My friends will tell you to move to Somalia.
Obviously not!
This exercise demonstrates that anarchy, the condition of statelessness, is a stable equilibrium once it is achieved. People accustomed to liberty would generally not opt for servitude. The bad news is: archy (statism) is also a stable equilibrium. It will be very difficult to get from archy to anarchy.
This page is based on a popular meme called Relationship Rules.
