This appeared in the local newspaper of my cousin. She knew it would be of interest to me. I thought some of you would enjoy it as well…
October 22, 2010
Your Opinion: Dissolution of the state, in practice
Anonymous CNHI The Tifton Gazette Fri Oct 22, 2010, 10:06 AM EDT
TIFTON — Karl Marx envisioned a classless society in which the state (i.e. government) would wither away. You can judge the success or failure of his system by looking at the history of those countries which it ensnared. The only one with any success is China, and that is because its leaders threw Marx out and took up a carefully controlled militaristic capitalism designed to ensure the security of an empowered elite, the antithesis of a classless society.
On the opposite end of the political and economic spectrum, extreme capitalists urge the expunging of all vestiges of “socialism” from their imagined capitalist utopia, reduction or elimination of taxes, and reduction of government to the regulatory equivalent of a wet noodle.
Interestingly enough, there is an ideological fringe of capitalist economic theory which advocates the dissolution of the state. Murray Rothbard, the principal advocate of “Anarcho-Capitalism,” wants to go beyond even “laissez-faire” capitalism to a system in which each person is his own free agent and in which there is no state to regulate either the people or their practice of free enterprise.
Let’s see how such a system might operate in practice. The government, being non-existent, owns nothing; individuals or corporations own literally everything. This is the opposite of Communism, where the state owns everything and the people nothing. Let’s imagine:
You visit the People’s Library Co., housed in the former public library. You ask to browse the stacks but are told they are closed “to protect our investment.” The three books you want are available for one week for a fee of $36, payable in banknotes printed by the First Capital Bank. A branch is located across the street. You can exchange your other currency there. For a fee.
You take your family to the Free Enterprise Park, formerly the City Park. The attendant counts heads and asks ages and assesses a fee of $125 for one hour, with no liability to the park for injuries.
Meanwhile, you learn that the house of a lady down the street burned down. She had called Red Hot Fire Service about a grease fire in her kitchen. A man with a foreign accent answered and asked for her address and account number. She gave that information, but he noted that she had not paid last month’s fire service bill. He informed her that the fire truck could not be dispatched until payment was received. This was clearly stated in her contract, she was told. She asked where he was located. “India,” he replied. “But the fire station is only a mile from my house and my house is burning.”
You receive your mail, after paying the $8.50 delivery fee to the Daily Postal Co., and notice an unexplained reduction in your monthly retirement check from Capital Enterprises Senior Retirement Investment Services. You call to enquire and are told that the shareholders of the company are entitled to a profit in the form of a reasonable dividend in return for their investment. Additionally, the board of directors, being highly skilled economists and fund managers, are entitled to adequate compensation for their labors. However, you are also informed that your stake in the fund is completely portable and you are free to transfer it to a different company “if you are unhappy with our services.”
You are a veteran and have a bum knee. You visit the building where the Veterans Hospital used to be located. The sign reads “Investors Hospital Corporation.” You manage to locate your former doctor’s office and speak to his office manager who informs you that since the transfer from socialism to capitalism, your pre-existing condition is not eligible for treatment under the new arrangement with your insurance because the treatment would put undue stress on corporate profits and inconvenience the stockholders. You are stopped by Muscle Men Security Service and assessed $150 for speeding. They keep a 25 percent commission and haul you before a Citizens’ Court where you are charged another $250 for being rude to the Muscle Men. The court collects $175 in costs for its shareholders.
On your way home, you notice a small group of homeless people scavenging a dumpster behind the former city hall. These are, you realize, the former socialist city commissars. Perhaps they are looking for discarded documents to sell to the new Capitalist Museum Company for the historical display about the former socialist era.
One finds a small book and begins reading aloud. You stop to listen: “There is a deep reassurance for the frustrated in witnessing the downfall of the fortunate and the disgrace of the righteous. They see in a general downfall an approach to the general brotherhood of all. Chaos, like the grave, is a haven of equality. Their burning conviction that there must be a new life and a new order is fueled by the realization that the old will have to be razed to the ground before the new can be built. Their clamor for a millenium is shot through with a hatred for all that exists, and a craving for the end of the world.” (Eric Hoffer in “The True Believer”, section 74).
Sunday comes, and you can attend your choice of a branch of the Corporate Church. The CEO or his rep will be teaching on “The New Corporatism.” Tithes are 20 percent. Those not attending will receive bills for 30 percent, a copy of the teaching and a pamphlet on what is and is not allowed.
Dick Marti
