Deep inside we are all anarchists

Every once in a while, the Dutch turn into full free-market anarchists and come out en masse to buy and sell stuff. We call it flea markets, garage sales, and now a new phenomenon has emerged called 'rommelroutes' - or junk routes - where entire neighborhoods organize a day to sell their things to people from other parts of the city.

Two days ago, one of those junk routes was organized in my neighborhood and of course I had to participate. It was interesting to see that I negotiated about prices with some of my customers and that in the end we agreed to the transaction. No third party was involved to coerce us into handing over a cut of our revenues. No violence erupted through disagreements over prices. It was full anarchism, full libertarianism, full capitalism, and everybody was happy.

Why only trade junk?

The business man in me sees an opportunity in those junk markets. Why only sell junk, when everybody is free to buy and sell what they want? There wasn't any police or tax collectors patrolling the place to see if everyone reported their income to the tax agency... This begs the question: if people are free to buy and sell some things without the government interfering, why aren't people free to buy and sell anything without government interference?

Of course, the argument against this would be: 'We' need to safeguard the people's health and safety, and without taxes the helpless wouldn't be taken care of. Obviously, it is utterly naive to believe that only the government can do this. If the people are smart enough to decide what the government should regulate, they should be smart enough to organize such things voluntarily themselves.

Is this the way to further implement agorism?

Flea markets and the like aren't a unique thing in the Netherlands. I've heard that garage sales are very popular in the US, for example. In my opinion, this is definitely a good opportunity for businesses to operate on a local level without violent interference on the part of the state. This means you can offer your wares for cheaper, so both the buyer and seller benefit. It also gives people from the same area the opportunity to get to know one another on a more personal level. It is real community building: something that especially us individualists tend to forget.

So, what do you think? Is making use of informal markets a good way to promote liberty and exercise agorism? Let me know! I love to hear some other opinions and feedback.

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