The blog will get a little less attention than it's been getting because I've started Fallout: New Vegas. My last Fallout character sucked up 65 hours of my life. In keeping with my libertarian convictions I plan on helping out the self-governing, non-militant, state free societies factions. The New California Republic (NCR) for example will have a hard time finding a friend in my character.
Statehood is only viable when the productive capacity of a people can support the parasites of the state. Small towns, tribes, and our ancient ancestors were stateless for this reason. Slaves are desirable because their output is greater than their consumption, if a slave only produced as much as he consumed then there would be no point in having a slave. Similarly, the state exists when production of others is great enough that it can support a state and when the state's burden is small enough as to prevent an uprising.
These ideas were most recently brought my attention by Jeff Riggenbach when he reviewed this book in his "The Libertarian Tradition" podcast: "The Art of Not Being Governed: An Anarchist History of Upland Southeast Asia" by James C. Scott. Riggenbach's only complaint is that Scott does not distinguish between government and the state. If you've read "Our Enemy the State" by Albert J. Nock then you'll be able to sort out the differences and not be confused by this otherwise great book (according to Jeff Riggenbach, I haven't read it).
No comments:
Post a Comment