Pushing The Button
(Orginally posted at Mises)
Button, Button, Who's Got the Button
Everyone has probably seen the commercials for the office supply company were all the person has to do is push the "easy" button and all their problems are solved. Every time I see that commercial I think about what Rothbard said in "Toward a Theory of Strategy of Liberty". He is talking about the classic liberal, Leonard Read who, after World War II was advocating the immediate end to price controls. In a speaking engagement he said, "If there were a button on this rostrum, the pressing of which would release all wage-and-price controls instantaneously I would put my finger on it and push!" Now that sounds like an easy choice to make. And maybe on an issue by issue basis, people could easily say if they would push a button to do away with something. But how many people are totally committed to freedom?
To quote Rothbard in that same piece, "The libertarian, then, should be a person who would push a button, if it existed, for the instantaneous abolition of all invasions of liberty — not something, by the way, that any utilitarian would ever be likely to do." I see this hesitancy to "push the button" in the minarchist vs. anarchist debates. Personally I am tired to death of the debate, but it is a lingering question that will not go away. Roderick Long has already addressed the ten most common objections to libertarian anarchy and they are a great starting point for investigating the possibilities. But there is still reluctance on the part of some to "push the button". Since we know what the objections are, I was wondering what the motivation behind those objections could be.
Our Father Who Art in DC
The first one I can come up with is the belief that people are basically "bad" and need a higher power to guide their interactions. This is an old belief and seems to be totally engrained to religious schools of thought. More often than not the people that tend to make this argument are religious, so I don't find it that strange that they would feel a higher authority is needed to guide human interactions. What I do find strange is that these same people (if they are of the minarchist camp) find the "leftist" devotion to the state to be a form of religion and atheism to be a religious devotion to secular humanism. All the while arguing that a higher power, this in the form of the state, is necessary to keep people from being "bad".
Interestingly enough, there are plenty of Christian Anarchists and anarchists that practice other religions as well. I remember having a conversation with a Christian friend of mine and discussing Christian Anarchism. He is not a minarchist or a libertarian, but he was dumbfounded at how anyone could be both a Christian and an anarchist. To him they were mutually exclusive. I am not an expert on the subject so I pointed him in the direction of some research material on the subject. A few days later get got back with me. He said he could understand the standpoint, and in a perfect world he would agree with it, but he still disagreed with the idea that you could be a Christian and not support government, at the very least that you wouldn't make yourself into subjection to the government. This is by no means the only time I have had this conversation with Christians.
So, again, I am not surprised when I see this ingrained belief carried into the realm of politics. The belief in people being "bad" by nature is hard to overcome from this standpoint. It calls into question a complete belief system that many hold onto for dear life. I don't blame them for their beliefs. They feel there is a higher greater good than even the "collectivists" argue for and that adherence to that is the only true salvation. It is hard to blame someone for their core beliefs.
The Emperor Wears No Clothes
The next belief is that "might makes right" which is another one that is hard to overcome. The group that takes this approach is often the same group that praises the foreign policy of Ronald Reagan. The have no problem with foreign intervention as long as it is in the best interest of the US. They buy into the "myth of self defense" even in the face of contrary evidence. They have what seems to be an overwhelming belief that every country in the world wants to invade the US and would do so as soon as the government ceased to be. An interesting argument they put up for this is the "invasion" by immigrants from other countries. To me, that is quite a leap. The idea that people will invade us without a government is an interesting one to say the least.
Right now we annually spend more than the next 24 countries combined on our military. Adding the growing cost of actions in the Middle East to the mix and the budget is staggering to say the least. We have bases in over 100 foreign countries, we GIVE weapons to different despotic regimes, we engage in clandestine operations all over the world, we place economic sanctions on a number of countries, all in the name of providing security for our country. All these actions are OFFENSIVE, not DEFENSIVE in nature. So the idea that we have enemies around the world is not hard to swallow. But are they the enemy of "the people" or of "the state"? This brings us to the first problem with this group.
There must be a difference between what a government does and can do, and what the people can do. Thomas Paine said, " Some writers have so confounded society with government, as to leave little or no distinction between them; whereas they are not only different, but have different origins ... Society is in every state a blessing, but Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one." This seems to be a lesson forgotten by many. We tend to base our beliefs on a certain society on the actions of their government. In Iran a looney tune religious fanatic has the bully pulpit. He spits venom at Israel on a continual basis, at the US on a continual basis, pretty much just about anyone in the world might be on his shitlist at any given time. Does that mean that is the general consensus of the people of Iran? What leads us to believe that they are any different than we are? Truthfully, there is no reason to think that any larger numbers of the Iranian people support their president than the numbers that support the US president. But that doesn't sell the fear that is needed to keep the imperial war machine oiled. People tend to be people no matter where you go in the world. By virtue of birth within the imaginary lines that are the borders of the US we are not endowed with a secret knowledge on how to live life better than the rest of the world. Iran tops the list of likely candidates to "invade" the US if there was no government, but what do they have to gain? What do any of the possible candidates have to gain?
First and foremost, without a government, those countries would be free to pursue business with US companies that up until this time they might have been barred from trading with. China makes a ton of money off the US already, what purpose could an invasion serve them? Cuba, don't make me laugh. Cuban soldiers on US soil would be more likely to buy a house and settle down. Russia? What Russia. Hugo Chavez, who can't even get enough support in his own country to stage a revolution going to come here, among the most armed people in the world, and try to pull it here. I don't think so. The people that fall into this category have fully bought into the idea that somewhere out there, someone is just around the corner waiting to enslave them. They are right in a way, but the thing they are missing is that the corner they are right around is in Washington DC.
The only purpose our military superpower status has is to maintain American firepower all over the world. Unfortunately it has backfired and no amount spending is going to change that. We haven't been able to use that force to maintain our financial standing in the world. We haven't been able to use that force to stop terrorists from hijacking planes with box cutters. And we won't be able to, sometime in the future, repeal an imaginary invasion. Its time to quit calling these people whatever it is they want to be called this week and call them what they are, imperialists. And just like every other empire, eventually theirs will fall too.
One point that I will barely touch on, but an objection I hear often, is that a citizen militia couldn't repel an invading army. First, I would have to see some concrete evidence that someone somewhere WANTS to invade the US. Than, I would want an explanation on how a superior force, one that is larger than the next 24 countries in the world, has such a hard time in places were a guerilla force is offering resistance. I want to know what makes people think that anyone in the world would sit around and allow another country to invade us. Once you pass those questions, I will discuss how a citizen militia can defend us.
The Button Theory
The reality of the situation is that there is no "easy" button that could instantaneously abolition anything, much less invasions of our liberty. But if there was such a button, I would push it in a heartbeat. I don't have any fears or qualms about freedom and liberty. I also don't have blinders on to the fact that there would indeed be problems to work out. I lack no faith, however, in believing that those problems could and would be solved by what have proven to be some of the most industrious people in the world.
I believe what Jefferson said when he said, "The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground." Putting faith in the government to shrink its own size, to return liberties it has stolen, to return to a minarchist wet dream are pretty unrealistic. Anarchists are constantly being called "utopian dreamers", that anarchy is unachievable. I say, not only is it not achievable, it is inevitable. No empire lasts forever. Eventually under its own weight, even this one will fall. When that collapse comes there are liable to be many types of societies built among the remnants, and that is just fine. Some of us are trying to work out the kinks in one that will be based on freedom and liberty, free from the force of a coercive state. Some of us are working towards ways to hasten that arrival, because we don't have a button we can push to do it now, but we are not giving up on wanting it NOW. If you do find the easy button that will transform the leviathan to a mouse, let me know.
I used to be of the opinion that minarchist and anarchists could work together to achieve a certain acceptable amount of government. However, that would make anarchists minarchists instead. The goal and the strategies for getting to that goal are different. I looked around the libertarian movement and found that I felt like I was on the outside of a right wing conspiracy to overthrow the collectivist empirical government that is in place in the US. I have no intention or desire to replace the current government with one of my own making, so that struggle is not for me. If that places me outside of the political libertarian movement, if those ideas I hold dear, freedom from government and liberty for all, if those are too radical, than just call me a Free Market Radical from now on. It is more apt anyway.
Button, Button, Who's Got the Button
Everyone has probably seen the commercials for the office supply company were all the person has to do is push the "easy" button and all their problems are solved. Every time I see that commercial I think about what Rothbard said in "Toward a Theory of Strategy of Liberty". He is talking about the classic liberal, Leonard Read who, after World War II was advocating the immediate end to price controls. In a speaking engagement he said, "If there were a button on this rostrum, the pressing of which would release all wage-and-price controls instantaneously I would put my finger on it and push!" Now that sounds like an easy choice to make. And maybe on an issue by issue basis, people could easily say if they would push a button to do away with something. But how many people are totally committed to freedom?
To quote Rothbard in that same piece, "The libertarian, then, should be a person who would push a button, if it existed, for the instantaneous abolition of all invasions of liberty — not something, by the way, that any utilitarian would ever be likely to do." I see this hesitancy to "push the button" in the minarchist vs. anarchist debates. Personally I am tired to death of the debate, but it is a lingering question that will not go away. Roderick Long has already addressed the ten most common objections to libertarian anarchy and they are a great starting point for investigating the possibilities. But there is still reluctance on the part of some to "push the button". Since we know what the objections are, I was wondering what the motivation behind those objections could be.
Our Father Who Art in DC
The first one I can come up with is the belief that people are basically "bad" and need a higher power to guide their interactions. This is an old belief and seems to be totally engrained to religious schools of thought. More often than not the people that tend to make this argument are religious, so I don't find it that strange that they would feel a higher authority is needed to guide human interactions. What I do find strange is that these same people (if they are of the minarchist camp) find the "leftist" devotion to the state to be a form of religion and atheism to be a religious devotion to secular humanism. All the while arguing that a higher power, this in the form of the state, is necessary to keep people from being "bad".
Interestingly enough, there are plenty of Christian Anarchists and anarchists that practice other religions as well. I remember having a conversation with a Christian friend of mine and discussing Christian Anarchism. He is not a minarchist or a libertarian, but he was dumbfounded at how anyone could be both a Christian and an anarchist. To him they were mutually exclusive. I am not an expert on the subject so I pointed him in the direction of some research material on the subject. A few days later get got back with me. He said he could understand the standpoint, and in a perfect world he would agree with it, but he still disagreed with the idea that you could be a Christian and not support government, at the very least that you wouldn't make yourself into subjection to the government. This is by no means the only time I have had this conversation with Christians.
So, again, I am not surprised when I see this ingrained belief carried into the realm of politics. The belief in people being "bad" by nature is hard to overcome from this standpoint. It calls into question a complete belief system that many hold onto for dear life. I don't blame them for their beliefs. They feel there is a higher greater good than even the "collectivists" argue for and that adherence to that is the only true salvation. It is hard to blame someone for their core beliefs.
The Emperor Wears No Clothes
The next belief is that "might makes right" which is another one that is hard to overcome. The group that takes this approach is often the same group that praises the foreign policy of Ronald Reagan. The have no problem with foreign intervention as long as it is in the best interest of the US. They buy into the "myth of self defense" even in the face of contrary evidence. They have what seems to be an overwhelming belief that every country in the world wants to invade the US and would do so as soon as the government ceased to be. An interesting argument they put up for this is the "invasion" by immigrants from other countries. To me, that is quite a leap. The idea that people will invade us without a government is an interesting one to say the least.
Right now we annually spend more than the next 24 countries combined on our military. Adding the growing cost of actions in the Middle East to the mix and the budget is staggering to say the least. We have bases in over 100 foreign countries, we GIVE weapons to different despotic regimes, we engage in clandestine operations all over the world, we place economic sanctions on a number of countries, all in the name of providing security for our country. All these actions are OFFENSIVE, not DEFENSIVE in nature. So the idea that we have enemies around the world is not hard to swallow. But are they the enemy of "the people" or of "the state"? This brings us to the first problem with this group.
There must be a difference between what a government does and can do, and what the people can do. Thomas Paine said, " Some writers have so confounded society with government, as to leave little or no distinction between them; whereas they are not only different, but have different origins ... Society is in every state a blessing, but Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one." This seems to be a lesson forgotten by many. We tend to base our beliefs on a certain society on the actions of their government. In Iran a looney tune religious fanatic has the bully pulpit. He spits venom at Israel on a continual basis, at the US on a continual basis, pretty much just about anyone in the world might be on his shitlist at any given time. Does that mean that is the general consensus of the people of Iran? What leads us to believe that they are any different than we are? Truthfully, there is no reason to think that any larger numbers of the Iranian people support their president than the numbers that support the US president. But that doesn't sell the fear that is needed to keep the imperial war machine oiled. People tend to be people no matter where you go in the world. By virtue of birth within the imaginary lines that are the borders of the US we are not endowed with a secret knowledge on how to live life better than the rest of the world. Iran tops the list of likely candidates to "invade" the US if there was no government, but what do they have to gain? What do any of the possible candidates have to gain?
First and foremost, without a government, those countries would be free to pursue business with US companies that up until this time they might have been barred from trading with. China makes a ton of money off the US already, what purpose could an invasion serve them? Cuba, don't make me laugh. Cuban soldiers on US soil would be more likely to buy a house and settle down. Russia? What Russia. Hugo Chavez, who can't even get enough support in his own country to stage a revolution going to come here, among the most armed people in the world, and try to pull it here. I don't think so. The people that fall into this category have fully bought into the idea that somewhere out there, someone is just around the corner waiting to enslave them. They are right in a way, but the thing they are missing is that the corner they are right around is in Washington DC.
The only purpose our military superpower status has is to maintain American firepower all over the world. Unfortunately it has backfired and no amount spending is going to change that. We haven't been able to use that force to maintain our financial standing in the world. We haven't been able to use that force to stop terrorists from hijacking planes with box cutters. And we won't be able to, sometime in the future, repeal an imaginary invasion. Its time to quit calling these people whatever it is they want to be called this week and call them what they are, imperialists. And just like every other empire, eventually theirs will fall too.
One point that I will barely touch on, but an objection I hear often, is that a citizen militia couldn't repel an invading army. First, I would have to see some concrete evidence that someone somewhere WANTS to invade the US. Than, I would want an explanation on how a superior force, one that is larger than the next 24 countries in the world, has such a hard time in places were a guerilla force is offering resistance. I want to know what makes people think that anyone in the world would sit around and allow another country to invade us. Once you pass those questions, I will discuss how a citizen militia can defend us.
The Button Theory
The reality of the situation is that there is no "easy" button that could instantaneously abolition anything, much less invasions of our liberty. But if there was such a button, I would push it in a heartbeat. I don't have any fears or qualms about freedom and liberty. I also don't have blinders on to the fact that there would indeed be problems to work out. I lack no faith, however, in believing that those problems could and would be solved by what have proven to be some of the most industrious people in the world.
I believe what Jefferson said when he said, "The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground." Putting faith in the government to shrink its own size, to return liberties it has stolen, to return to a minarchist wet dream are pretty unrealistic. Anarchists are constantly being called "utopian dreamers", that anarchy is unachievable. I say, not only is it not achievable, it is inevitable. No empire lasts forever. Eventually under its own weight, even this one will fall. When that collapse comes there are liable to be many types of societies built among the remnants, and that is just fine. Some of us are trying to work out the kinks in one that will be based on freedom and liberty, free from the force of a coercive state. Some of us are working towards ways to hasten that arrival, because we don't have a button we can push to do it now, but we are not giving up on wanting it NOW. If you do find the easy button that will transform the leviathan to a mouse, let me know.
I used to be of the opinion that minarchist and anarchists could work together to achieve a certain acceptable amount of government. However, that would make anarchists minarchists instead. The goal and the strategies for getting to that goal are different. I looked around the libertarian movement and found that I felt like I was on the outside of a right wing conspiracy to overthrow the collectivist empirical government that is in place in the US. I have no intention or desire to replace the current government with one of my own making, so that struggle is not for me. If that places me outside of the political libertarian movement, if those ideas I hold dear, freedom from government and liberty for all, if those are too radical, than just call me a Free Market Radical from now on. It is more apt anyway.
posted by Unknown at
9:14 AM
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