Gee. I was researching the list of GOP candidates this morning, and came across a very common comment from a fellow in California at the end of the list. Here’s what he said:
"Adonis Ali Torres · Corning, California: Even before mankind knew how to write, control fire, or plant in the ground, we lived in social groups for the purpose of mutual support and benefit. We understood, ten thousand years ago, that we survived better as a group. The strong protected the weak and the weak provided their individual and unique skills for the benefit of the whole. In short, societies developed around a social system both politically and economically in order to survive more effectively. What has changed in these ten thousand years? Have we become so calloused, so self-absorbed, that we no longer care about what happens to our fellow human beings? When did the security of the society around us become an evil? And when did the sharing of the wealth produced by the community become undesirable? If it did become undesirable, why? Answering this last question would take an investigation of book length, but the short answer is greed and selfishness."
I couldn’t resist. Time for an anthropological/political history lesson! Here’s what I said in response to the above:
"Unfortunately, Adonis, you conflate two different phenomena, thinking they are the same. Humans have always been social animals; they came together *voluntarily* (pay attention to that word) in order to *voluntarily* gain the benefits you describe. Because of such *voluntary* associations and groupings, humans began to thrive. Only THEN did government appear (also known as the State…consisting originally of organized gangs of thugs, or "looters"). The State appeared because groups of strong, violent individuals realized it was easier to "take" from others than to *voluntarily* trade and otherwise *voluntarily* support other human beings. What has changed in 10,000 years is only that the groups of powerful, organized looters have cleverly re-defined themselves to suit the times. Originally they were simply gangs that would kill you if you didn’t give them what they demanded; then they redefined themselves as (non-voluntary) "protection" from other gangs, demanding "protection" money (or they would kill you); later they redefined themselves as "gods" (a la Egypt’s Pharoahs), and demanded obediance (or they would kill you); still later they became "representatives" of god (aka "the divine right of kings"), and demanded obediance (or they would kill you); and so forth. Now they are "representatives of the people," but the operation is fundamentally the same: They come into power through various stratagems, usually involving lies which get them elected, and then set about taking from the productive sectors of society in order to pay off various other sectors of society who will vote them back into power…in a continuous vicious loop. This is why America is on the brink of fiscal, social, and cultural collapse today. In short, "society" is voluntary, and based upon mutual agreement; it is fundamentally good. "Government," by contrast, is involuntary and based upon force; it is NOT "fundamentally good," as our Founding Fathers tried to teach us. The "greed and selfishness" you refer to is entirely a phenomenon of various "political classes" that support and feed off of the spoils of government, which itself relies upon force and threats (try refusing to pay your taxes). Thus, society is *voluntary,* while government is not. You should understand and make a clear distinction between the two."
Incidentally, I am not a silly "anarchist." Anarchists are kids having fun before they grow up and join the real world of productive society. Thus: "What’s the difference between an anarchist and a libertarian or a conservative?"
Answer: "25 years."