"the health of the state" is peace, freedom is fear

Anton Sherwood (dasher@netcom.com)
Thu, 26 Jun 1997 18:52:36 -0700


Hagbard so-called Celine cautions us against anarchy:

>Just look at the world prior to WWI. Treat each country as an
>individual person.

A person with the power to tax, to conscript armies, and generally
to shift the consequences of his actions onto innocent peasants --
okay, got it. I'm not convinced that this analogy fits my neighbors
well enough to model how they'd behave in anarchy.

>The history of international relations until WWI is a study in
>anarchy. Accordingly, the history of humanity is the history of war
>between nations in an anarchic system.

(What has changed since 1914?)

The history of humanity is a tale of wars because statists write the
history books, and to statists, activity other than war is ignoble.
I prefer to see the history of humanity as a tale of trade and invention.

>While I see that it is anarchic, in some sense, to have all people
>contracting singly with all others in order to protect themselves,
>how can this be desirable? You can't make a contract with every
>single person you come into contact with.

Are you acquainted with PGP and the "web of trust" idea?

[...]
>But in the U.S. republic, there's nothing one idiot can do in four
>years that the next idiot can't undo in four years.

When was the last time an official wrong on that level got righted
in only four years?

Example: It's more than four years since one idiot ordered an invasion
of Panama (killing a couple of thousand Panamenhos) because Pineapple Face
had outlived his usefulness. Has the new idiot given any sign of repudiating
such adventures?

Anton Sherwood *\\* +1 415 267 0685 *\\* DASher@netcom.com