http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/plan/
A Plan for Liberty
We yearn to experience a zero-government society (ZGS.) But how can we
cause it to happen?
Opinions differ quite widely, and that suggests nobody really knows. Given
that it would be unique in human experience, that's unsurprising. Proposals
tend to group into four:
1. Enjoy life and do nothing, confident that eventually the State
will implode of its own accord, by the inexorable laws of economics
2. Work to reduce the State gradually, by any of a variety of means
such as political activism, tax and other resistance
3. Found a free society beyond a frontier, where no existing State
is operating
4. Educate opinion leaders, so that they will help us change our
existing society.
I'm not convinced about #1, because the laws of economics have operated
for thousands of years but as far as we know have never yet caused a State
to implode. They did, it's true, pull the props from under the Soviet one,
but only because its leaders were so dumb as to flout them deliberately,
for the first time ever; other governments have been smart enough to allow
cows to live, in order to milk them. Thus, this option could involve a very
long wait.
Option #2 is praiseworthy, but to my mind takes too little account of the
awesome power of government to close down any resistance as soon as it
shows promise of success. We're familiar with the political freeze-out, for
example; very skilfully, Libertarians are prevented from getting elected.
Those who lead tax revolts are silenced.
Option #3 would be great, except that no frontiers exist any more, or not
on this Planet except for regions so barren and cold that normal life would
hardly be feasible. Additionally even if a ZGS were to prosper in
Antarctica, for example, what is to stop those States most shamed by its
success and appeal from nuking it out of existence? Fears of melted ice?
Option #4 holds more promise, but so far has made very modest headway and
suffers from one flaw: no plan exists (to my knowledge) to bring about an
intellectual conversion of everyone in society - only of the leaders. The
usually-unspoken assumption is that once the elite sees the way to go, they
will take everyone else along; by force (eg by a majority-vote plebiscite)
if necessary. I have in the past made just such a proposal. Somehow,
though, that seems to sit ill with our self-ownership, no-force axiom.
So this paper proposes a new and ambitious variation on Option 4:
universal re-education which will result in a fully anarchist America by
the year 2027. It rests upon the following assumptions:
1. All humans are rational, thus open to reasoned persuasion
2. The free market (market anarchism) is the only rational system
3. A thorough yet simple course can be designed, to teach such a
system on line
4. Once he understands it, every new anarchist will want to help
teach it to others
Those assumptions should be checked. All are critical, but here are
remarks about the first two.
The Nature of a ZGS
A free society would consist only of people who wish to belong to it - who
transact with other people only by means of contracts they wish to make.
Therefore, everyone - not just some - must be shown its virtues, and
desire them. Given that the first ZGS must occupy some geographic area
currently in control of a government, only two alternatives exist:
(i) 100% of that population be re-educated so everyone volunteers, or
(ii) Some volunteer and the rest are made to move out! - a step hardly
consistent with our nonagression axiom.
I wondered about that possibility that a very small residue of ineducable
statists remained, intransigent. Must they be forced out? - I think not.
Nobody in the free society would (being well-educated) elect to trade with
them except under the terms of proper contracts, and so they would either
sign those contracts (to use somebody's road, for example, or to buy
someone's potatoes) or leave of their own accord. It would be possible to
live as a hermit with a veggie garden and no human interaction, but
statists are not made of such hardy stuff so I predict it would never
happen.
So it seems to me our aim should be for 100%, and that is a new
proposition, a higher aim than anarchists have previously proposed.
Society is Not an Onion
It's often observed that a cultural or intellectual change needs to be
made by approaching society as if it were an onion; convert the outer (most
open-minded, leader-thinker) layer first, then peel off the next, and so on
until no further persuasion is possible. Certainly, we may suppose that
somewhere in there is to be found a hard, resistant core of government
junkies who would starve rather than work for their own living; and
certainly, everyday experience tells us that some listen better than others.
However, a satisfactory plan for moving to a ZGS must involve everyone;
anything less will just not do. Therefore, it must not be limited to
converting just the outer "layers."
The population concerned might occupy one existing State, such as Montana
or New Hampshire, or it might encompass the United States in total, or some
region of intermediate size; but given the FedGov's history of liquidating
States which secede, it seems to me we should aim for the lot. Then,
there'd be no nearby residual government strong enough to do any
liquidating.
There, then, is the aim: to re-educate some 300 million Americans in a
time period short enough for most of us now living to enjoy the fruits of
success. How might it be done, given that pro-government interests control
almost all the means of communication?
Universal Re-Education
It's a tall order, indeed. 300 million students with a median IQ of 100,
to be helped to understand thoroughly that they are their own exclusive
self-owners, with inalienable rights. That they have absolute freedom to
make voluntary agreements with others but none at all to submit others to
their own will. That there are certain immutable principles of real-world
(Austrian) economics, that will operate to bring a vast range of
undreamed-of benefits. That there is no rational alternative to a free
market; that government and all its works are absolutely mythical,
absolutely irrational. And this inversion of 8 generations of government
brain-washing is to be accomplished in 2 or 3 decades. Isn't the "order" a
tad too tall?
I dont think so (or I'd not be writing this) - primarily because I believe
that there really is no rational alternative to a free market; thus, since
humans are rational in the sense that we have the ability to reason
logically, once both the correct fundamental premises and the way
free-market concepts derive from them are patiently and properly spelled
out to him everyone will accept them. If the reader doubts that, let him
produce a rational alternative to the free market! and if my premise is
wrong that humans are rational at root, then abandon all hope and go drink
and make merry, for tomorrow we die.
So consider: supposing an interactive course were put together, thoroughly
to cover the ground above, but simple enough for a 100-IQ person to master.
How long would the learning take, given strong motivation and well-focussed
attention?
Experienced on-line educationalists are welcome to show otherwise, but I
suggest the answer is something between 100 and 1,000 hours of concentrated
study. An average of 500, perhaps; and if the motivation is strong enough
that means 100 days without 5 hours viewing government licenced television.
A third of a year, or two thirds for those with the fewest learning skills.
Notice the two key prerequisites: a well-designed, interactive course and
a way systematically to motivate the students.
I'm going to focus on the second of those, for I think there are quite a
number of articulate anarcho-capitalists who could design a course of that
caliber. I might even take a crack at it myself. Bear in mind: it's not an
Econ-PhD course we need here, but something Everyman can master.
Interactive, so that we can use the priceless advantage of the Internet
(and of CDs, lest government, in panic, close down our web site) - but with
some provision for the Unwired among us; a dwindling problem over a couple
of decades, but one that cannot be ignored. So, therefore...
The Motivation
Enormous numbers of students can be motivated to take and graduate from
this On Line Liberty School as follows: one at a time, by personal
recommendation and monitoring.
The principle is far from new, though its vast implications may not have
been well counted: each person wishing to activate this Plan will set him-
or herself a personal target to...
find ONE person per year who will agree to take the course and then do the
same; that is,
to find one person per year who will agree to take the course and then do
the same.
Such a personal objective is not at all burdensome. Some friendly
monitoring would be needed (to make sure the promise is kept, and to field
questions as they may arise) but the great bulk of the tuition would be
done by the automated on-line system with self-study.
Notice: this process is one of education and replication. That's the whole
Plan.
The intitial "selling" job may be the toughest part. One would have to
find a friend whose mind has not been riveted tight shut by government, and
present to him the enormous benefits that would come to him and his family
in a ZGS. He won't have to spend any money (or very little) but he will
have to invest a bunch of time, and so he'll need to be well sold on the
idea. And later, as a graduate, he will have to do such selling himself. It
may be necessary to approach several, and select the most willing for the
first year - and move on the the others in later years (I say "year"; some
will find it feasible to work much faster, but I want to stay conservative
here.)
Notice, nothing in the Plan would commit the student to do anything,
except to learn and then sell and monitor, and of course to salivate for
the day when the theoretical society he is learning about will become a
reality. That's pretty close to what each of us is doing now. There would
be nothing like a "protest action" for him to take, or not until the end
stage (see below) when it would be very easy; no risk, no conflict.
Now let's see how the numbers would work; and I'll assume that by mid-2005
one hundred of us agree to launch this venture and commence the first cycle
of education.
By mid-2006, the 100 would have become 200 busy advocates for a ZGS. Then
400 by 2007. Then 800 by 2008 and 3,200 by 2010.
Here's some of the rest of the progression:
12,800
by 2012
204,800
by 2016
1.6 million
by 2019
26.2 million
by 2023
211 million
by 2026
Some time during 2027, all 300 million will be converted, well-trained
believers in a ZGS and then (or more probably, progressively after 2025)
the "end stage" will take place. Hence: in just over two decades, well
within the life span of most of us now living, America will consist of 300
million anarchist "sleepers", ready to take peaceful action during...
The End Stage
Here's the fun bit: how does one predict a singularity? It's never
happened before in human history that a whole society wants it to have a
very different form, yet is living in the actual world of make-believe, ie
rule by government instead of voluntary contracts. Note, we are rightly
visualizing the whole of society with that desire; that's what the
education will have accomplished.
Best I can tell, the entire apparatus of government will simply evaporate.
On a single day or during 2 or 3 years, who can say, it will simply cease
to exist. Why? Because there will no longer be anyone willing to work for
it. There will be a massive, unprecedented walk-out. There will be 80
million John Galts, each saying Take your government job and shove it. Take
your government school and turn it into a museum, for I'm going out to
learn something. Take your government Tax Mafia, I'm going to earn an
honest living - and a far better one.
No violence, no bloodshed, no rioting or looting, not even an election.
Just history's most massive revolution, done with a whisper, with the
ancien rigime expiring like a punctured balloon.
No doubt there will be a heap of mopping-up. How will all that real-estate
be re-titled? Who will acquire those millions of acres of "government"
land? How will the newly-free market evolve, fast enough to feed its
members through the first few weeks, as well as (easily) for the rest of
their lives? I don't have those answers. But if the end-stage is spread
over a year or two starting prior to 2027, as I think it may be, we'll
probably find out in time.
Summary
The assumptions for this Plan to succeed are:
1. All humans are rational, thus open to reasoned persuasion
2. The free market (anarcho-capitalism) is the only rational system
3. A thorough yet simple course can be designed, to teach such a
system on line
4. Once he understands it, every new anarchist will want to help to
teach it to 1 per year
The content of the on line course everyone will study has yet to be fixed
but it will include an introduction such as is now at The Anarchist
Alternative with a particular stress on benefits, to help confirm the
student's decision to start. Graduates will have an adequate practical
understanding of philosophy, rights, ethics, and the nature of both
government and of life in a ZGS. It will be protected from government
sabotage and bypass completely its tight control over conventional
communication by being on the Internet for as long as feasible and then
upon CDs, distributed one-to-one via the government postal monopoly; hence
it will be entirely decentralized, with no one facility for a SWAT Team to
knock out. A version not requiring a PC will be developed and offered for
sale to the Unwired, though the on-line version would be free.
The spread of the knowledge will rely on 1-to-1 recommendation as explained
above and so nobody will have to introduce more than 23 others, at the rate
of one per year - nor to take any other action except to live a normal life
patiently until 2027.
The result of executing this plan will be a zero-government America before
2028.
I'm looking for volunteers. There's much to do in the next half-year; to
set up the course, iron out the wrinkles, anticipate and deal with the
objections.
Will you join me?
Jim Davies
November, 2004
Feedback Form
To turn this Plan into reality, I need your advice. Please use this handy Form
to tell me what you think about it; what needs improvement, etc.
Your Name: Your Email Address:
Do you share the objective of the Plan, ie to achieve a ZGS in America by
2027? Yes No
Are the four assumptions above correct? Yes No
If not, which are wrong and why?
Is there any flaw in the logic I've built upon them, and if so what?
What do you expect to be the main obstacles to overcome?
Do you have any skills that might contribute to the creation of the
on-line School, and if so what?
Would you be willing to donate them, during the next half-year? Yes No
If all is in place as planned by mid-2005, will you undertake
to find and monitor one friend per year through the School? Yes No
Please make any other comments that might help:
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R. A. Hettinga