“Political
theory and political practice are dominated by a myth, the myth of
the necessity and the legitimacy of the State.”
Gerard
Casey, Libertarian Anarchy.
One of the most common objections raised to the idea of a stateless society is that government is necessary to look after the poor and the vulnerable, whom without its protection would be dying on the streets! Professor Casey is going to tackle this problem head on in a new lecture he's preparing called 'Let the Poor Starve!', which is an examination of the welfare state. In this context, 'the poor' include the biggest welfare recipients of all, the big banks and corporations (or hotels on the Isle of Man!). He will also examine how a stateless society might come up with creative solutions for caring for the real poor and vulnerable, solutions that don't include the inefficiency and violence of the state.
You can listen to Gerard Casey being interviewed on this and other aspects of anarchism on the Tom Woods Radio Show-
And to give you more of an idea of what to you might expect if you come along to his lecture next Saturday, here are some quotes from his book 'Libertarian Anarchy'
On Drug Prohibition -
"Some
will reject the charge of false Imprisonment or kidnapping that I lay
against the state. People are put In gaol, they will say, only if
they are convicted of committing a crime; the fact that they are in
gaol means they are criminals The state is not only not doing
anything wrong In putting them there, it is doing something
positively good by protecting us from these miscreants. This
objection, of course, draws our attention firmly to the question of
which courses of conduct actually constitute crime. While most people
will agree that murder, robbery, kidnapping and assault are crimes
involving, as they do, gross interference with the lives, liberties
and properties of others, it is not entirely clear just what awful
deed is being done by Tom, Dick and Harriet when, for example, they
smoke pot in the privacy of their rooms and why it should require
violent intervention by the state to prevent it."
and
“While
libertarians may be willing to concede that the use of many chemical
substances is individually and socially harmful, they will oppose
attempts to proscribe or regulate either drug-taking or drug
commerce. This for two reasons The first, principled, reason is that
such proscription or regulation is a violation of individual liberty;
the second, consequentialist, reason, is that history shows that such
attempts at proscription and regulation inevitably make a bad
situation worse. Alcohol prohibition of the 1920s was an unqualified
disaster and today's so-called war on drugs is no more successful in
reducing the incidence of drug-taking. (Isn't It remarkable that
whereas in the good old days we used to wage war on countries,
nations or states, now we wage war on inanimate objects like drugs
and abstract nouns like terrorism?) The 'war on drugs' merely
increases the price of drugs to consumers and profits to retailers,
corrupts those charged with enforcing the anti-drug laws and ensures
that large numbers of people who otherwise would not come to the
attention of the police receive a first class criminal training at
the public expense in state-run penal facilities. Legal and physical
compulsion is not a sound foundation upon which to build the moral
character of individuals or a better society.”
On Immigration -
"Immigration?
Libertarians, for the most part, will support immigration There's
nothing special about the territory of a particular state. If someone
Is willing to hire or sponsor an immigrant that should be the end of
the matter."
On Bailouts -
"Bailouts
for businesses? Libertarians reject them No one Is entitled to demand
that others be forcibly required to support his business, whatever
that business may be, whether farming, shoemaking or banking."
On Compulsory School Attendance and Military Conscription -
"What
of compulsory school attendance? Libertarians reject It State-
enforced school attendance Is a form of involuntary incarceration
that violates the rights of both parents and children. Only the
parents or guardians of children and the children when they are old
enough to assume responsibility for themselves can make such
decisions. What goes for compulsory school attendance goes even more
for military conscription. Conscription is sometimes justified on the
grounds that we need it to defend our countries. Unless we equate our
countries with the states operating in our countries, and putting to
one side the obvious point that if there are no states there would be
no states to attack or be attacked, the libertarian will argue that
conscription is a form of involuntary servitude - more bluntly, a
form of slavery - and so is to be rejected on libertarian grounds."
On law and Order -
“If
I can show that justice, law and order can be provided without a
state, then the state begins to look like the Wizard of Oz, a small
man with a megaphone pulling levers behind a curtain.”
On Society -
“Much
of the inchoate support for the idea of a state results from a
conflation of the ideas of state and society. Of course human beings
are not Isolated individuals; of course we are born in, live in and
can only flourish in society where 'society' denotes the sum of the
complex, overlapping system of voluntary relations between
individuals. But It IS a gross mistake to conclude from this that
because we need society we therefore need the state.”
On Murder -
“Given
that the core function of the state is said to be the preservation of
law and order and the protection of life and property, it ss perhaps
not irrelevant to note that recent history shows that most killing
has been done by one state or another or by some armed group seeking
to be the government of a state and to control its coercive
apparatus. The number of people killed in the twentieth century in
state-sponsored conflicts or state-related victimization is, at a
conservative estimate, between 175,000,000 and 180,000,000.”
On Anarchy -
“The
only mode of social organisation that is ethically acceptable is one
that respects our liberty, namely, anarchy. Perhaps It may be
worthwhile to point out that anarchy is not chaos or disorder or
mayhem but the spontaneous order that arises from free and mutually
acceptable human interactions, Most human beings for most of human
history have lived in a state of anarchy; most of our daily
interaction with our family, friends, neighbours and colleagues is
framed by anarchy, and anarchy is the only mode of organisation that
is consistent with our accepting responsibility for ourselves, our
families and our communities in an adult way.”
Gerard Casey- Libertarian ANARCHY on the Isle of Man
Saturday 22nd March, 7:30pm, Hydro Hotel Douglas. Event Funded Solely by Donations. For further information email deepstatenews.blogspot@gmail.com or call Richard on 476370.
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