Ushering in the Golden Age: How to Abolish Government in America

Firstly, lets be clear on several things. Anarcho-capitalists are often accused of dreaming about some ideal Utopian society. However, it is the anarcho-capitalists who are the most realistic. We recognize the self-serving nature of human individuals as a universal feature of mankind. It is the statists who believe that bureaucrats are somehow superhuman, devoid of any selfish desires, wholly committed to "public service." It is the anarcho-communists who think that man can usher in an age devoid of property ownership, where it will be a universal feature of mankind that every individual will be wholly committed to the well-being of others. It is the advocates of democracy who believe that the majority should be allowed to initiate coercive decrees upon the minority. All of these systems are bankrupt ideologies, fantasies, and complete rejections of all the empirical observations regarding human action. Anarcho-capitalists know that man is self-serving, and that within a non-coercive system of private property and voluntary association, society will experience a spontaneous ordering that results in peace and prosperity. The historical examples of not only the success of a market economy, but also the failure of statism, in any facet of human affairs, are overwhelming.

Secondly, do not let the statist depiction of anarchists as violent revolutionaries enter your mind here. In my humble opinion, violence must be reserved only for defensive efforts, as preemptive violence can only work against the final goal of a libertarian society. My picture of how to abolish the government will not necessarily require any violence whatsoever.

So, how do we go about abolishing government in America?

Phase One: Return to the Constitution. This is the only phase in which violence may be exercised by government upon patriots, and in such a case those patriots will be forced to defend themselves. The Constitution is supposed to be the law of the land, and any such deviation from its law is nothing short of treason by the government. Thanks to Ron Paul and his dedicated revolutionaries, there is now a growing political movement within the GOP to overthrow the neocons and return to a strict constructionist platform.

But why not just go straight to anarcho-capitalism? Well, among the many reasons, people can easily attach themselves to the Constitution. It supposedly lies at the heart of America, and every American can identify with that tattered piece of paper which has "We The People" written on it in big bold letters. It is who we are, it is where we have come from, it is a legacy secured and handed down to us by our forefathers which has been squandered, and which we must now fight for once again.

Looking at our current situation, it seems that about 6-9% of the population is relatively informed about the true nature of our current government, and they are ready to return to the Constitution. America as a whole, however, is still fumbling around in the darkness, pointing fingers in every direction, completely oblivious to the real source of the problems. And why should they be informed? They are lied to again and again, every day, via the six conglomerates which own 95% of the media in this country.

But, as we stand now on the precipice of an economic crisis that could likely dwarf the Great Depression, it is possible that those people will be finally forced to abandon their "leftist" or "rightist" religions and come together to defend the only noble cause ever held by humans: the cause of liberty. With their lives completely interrupted, maybe they will finally start asking some real questions, and will begin to see the big picture rather than the tiny, fractured picture deliberately painted by the State and the media. My hope is that the critical number of informed Constitutionalists has been reached, so that when the storm does finally hit, a mass awakening will ensue as people become more open to the reasonable and obvious explanations of the Constitutionalists.

This will be a dangerous time. The elites will bring about a full propaganda assault upon the people in a desperate attempt to retain control over them. Potential food and water shortages could cause massive riots and violence. Martial law will likely be implemented, and many could be drug from their homes into FEMA concentration camps. They will likely attempt to target political dissidents, they will hire agent provocateurs to create violence, and then blame it on the Constitutionalists who are trying to save the country from absolute tyranny. Luckily the Constitutionalists are generally the most prepared, they know what is happening, and they have taken the necessary steps to ensure that they can operate independently and protect themselves.

Who knows what the eventual outcome will be. Ron Paul has gotten the most donations from military personnel, so hopefully there will be large defections onto the side of liberty during martial law. Many Constitutionalists are attempting to take over local governments through the grassroots, and when federal and state governments break down, they may be left in control of a majority of the country. I cannot imagine what the size or scope of the resistance will be, nor the size or scope of the martial law that will be implemented. Hopefully if people start getting drug off into concentration camps the majority of Americans will wake up and realize that it's time to overthrow the Nazis. But again, this will be such a volatile period that it is difficult to know what the true outcome will be. My hope is that Americans, with a renewed disgust for despotism and statism, will reject further government "help" and will demand a return to Constitutional law. If we can pass through this phase and return to the rule of law then we can readily move onto phase two.

Phase Two: Intellectual revolution. Thankfully, the LRC has already educated many as to the folly of statism and the benefits of an Austrian economics worldview. We should target the original Constitutionalists as they will be the most open minded and knowledgeable on the subject of libertarianism. We need to show them what true liberty means, and how the Constitution, although a giant step in the right direction, still plants the seed for future devolution into oligarchy. We need to educate people on how all human affairs, including police forces, defense, law, arbitration, money, etc., can be more efficiently handled by a market economy. We need to ferment a second political revolution that will be aimed at accomplishing phase three.

Phase Three: Ending government monopolies. This will be a smooth transitional phase from limited statism to true freedom. The political revolution here will be aimed at demanding the end to government monopolies, not the abolition of government itself. For example, take the protection of property. Government gives you a deed, which is supposed to be a promise that they will protect your private property so long as you agree to pay property taxes. In reality this is a government monopoly on protection of property, you are forced to use their "service" if you wish to "own" property. We should demand that people be allowed to voluntarily opt out of this system, and to pay for their own private police protection. This same model should be applied to all other government monopolies. If you don't like government arbitration in the courts, you should be able to opt out and pursue criminal trials in private courts of law. If you don't like the government currency which is constantly being inflated and devalued, you should be able to opt out and use gold or other competing currencies. Basically any service that the government "provides" one should be able to opt out of in favor of services handled by the market economy. Local governments, through the people, may eventually find it much more beneficial to award government owned lands to the highest bidders so that roads can actually be serviced, and so that government means of traffic regulation can be handled more efficiently by the market, i.e., by getting rid of traffic regulation altogether. I am so confident that the market will handle these affairs so much more efficiently that over time every one will eventually opt out of the government system in favor of the market economy system. People generally prefer to have choices, and will most likely prefer the high quality and low price of a competing market system rather than being stuck with the stale taxation system of government. People would rather use the service of experts rather than elected representatives. And at last, government will dwindle away and die, and without violent revolution!

Phase Four: Party time. No more taxes, no more arbitrary laws, no more government goons using force against people, no more state lies, no more state initiated wars, no more bloated politicians, etc. Liberty, for the first time, real, tangible liberty. And how sweet it would be.

This is certainly just a general outline, but it is not completely unrealistic. Ending government monopolies seems to me to be the best way to end government all the while avoiding violence, which would probably work against these ends anyway. If we can accomplish these ends then I don't see government ever rearing its ugly head again in America. And, who knows, maybe the peoples of other countries, after seeing our success, will rise up and do the same in their respective homelands. It's not Utopian, it's just a great and natural way of dealing with human affairs that, from spontaneous order, gives rise to peace and prosperity without the need for coercive force.