Authority is unlawful
Compliance
If I tell most people that I've broken the law, in a way that has harmed no-one, they will not be alarmed. They will not threaten to turn me in, or even cut me out of their lives. However, there is a minority who believe otherwise. They believe it's fundamental to obey, to comply, even if you don't know why, and if you do disobey, they will withdraw any empathy they once had. In fact, they may even delight in your punishment.
These compliants say it's vital to obey the law, but which law do they mean? The law that is written in some dusty book, gasbagged about by politicians and referred to with long words by lawyers in court rooms, written in papers that, to regular people, seem like a foreign tongue? Is it really fair to call that "law"? If you use that definition, then you find that the majority of the world is outlaws. Most people, including compliants, will cruise at 5-10 km/h over the speed limit because they know it's more important to adjust to the conditions than to follow a line in a book they've never seen. That means, while they say the law books count, they really follow a greater law, a more subtle law - a more complete law.
Non-Compliance
In fact, for most people in the world, non-compliance is the law. Compliance is a luxury that few can afford, and fewer hold as a value. I've seen this for myself - even in large corporations, they have small compliance teams with infrequent updates that involve bureaucracy that most staff will ignore.
The Law
Generally, if people perceive a rule as having good reason, they will follow it. If people believe that it is likely that there will be negative consequences for breaking a rule, they will follow it. However, if a rule has neither reason nor consequence, people will break that rule. If you follow a rule without reason and without consequence, make no mistake, you are an exception. You might believe that people are unusual for breaking rules, that they are different and wrong. It's not true. You are the different one. You are the freak. You are the one whom reason has not yet reached. But there is hope for you yet.
Reason is the law, and empathy is the law. If values dictate that a person should comply, or demand of another, without regard for what makes sense or what is good for people, that is against Law, in the highest sense of the word. Arbitrary authority is not the law, but an exception to Law.
Freedom lives
How long can an idea such as compliance without reason survive in an information age? It's not hard to find someone who is passionate about freedom, even if it's just their own. It's very difficult to find someone who is inspired about obedience. Nobody writes odes to compliance, yet hidden in every song ever written is the subtle subtext: I will be free; I will show what is inside of me; I will bear my soul despite judgement. When your ideas are in opposition to every passionate human being on Earth, you will know your cause is doomed.
If you live in an authoritarian bubble, you can believe that those who stand for freedom are defiant, contrarians. But to say people want to be free is so simple, so obvious, that it can be easy to forget. People want what they want, and they don't want what they don't want. That means they don't want to be forced. As soon as people realise that their freedom depends on the integrity of the freedom of others, the battle will be over. Law lives.
Great perspective on law, Kurt. I've enjoyed reading your tale of the deportation, and your choice to take a positive perspective. It sounds like you've got a more mature and complete view on Law than most, which is invaluable.
I wrote a post a while back on law and blockchains, and outlined a perspective on law similar to what you've described here. I think people who enjoyed reading this post will find mine valuable as well. It can be found here.
Thank you very much. I'll check that out.
I second the motion that modprobes article will be enjoyed by people who appreciate this one.
Really great perspective Kurt, I want so dearly to find a way to reach out to those who are afraid to reason good and bad for themselves. They are stuck listening to what mother and father government believes to be right and wrong.
I'm sorry to hear that you were forced from beautiful Mexico, I've told so many people in the states about the guy I met at Anarchapulco who is teaching English over the Internet and living for Pesos in Guadalajara (or at least I think that's where you were living) a pretty inspriring story to say the least.
Living for pesos? I'm pretty sure Kurt knows better than to live for some bank's monopoly money. ;-)
I'm sure that's not what you meant, but the words we use are important. The beginning of wisdom is calling things by their proper names.
You are right, and for the record that was a quick way of referencing the exchange rate between the currency he was earning (USD or EUR I don't recall) and MXN. It was great meeting you down there too, Nathan! I hope to see you both again.
Thanks @funderground. You're already writing about it so you're probably on the right track. Like I said in the piece, most people already know many of these things to be true. Soon enough we might see that the state is less like a leviathan and more like a boogeyman.
Yes, I was sorry about it too haha. However, strange twists give rise to new opportunities. You're right, I was living in Guadalajara. It's a great city, and still very cheap for a big city, even by Mexican standards. I hope it did inspire a few people. Now I'm back here I keep telling people they could be living on hundreds of dollars a month and have free time out the wazoo. The more people do that, the more time people will spend on their passions, and the richer Earth culture will be as a result.
Peacefull Non-compliance and putting our efforts into a new and fairer system is the answer imho.
It's scary how much people abide by rules just because they are rules. The Milgram experiment exposed this long ago, and I have a hard time believing we've changed all that much.
Reason is not used in most people's decision making process. Obedience to the status quo is much more likely, unfortunately.
Yes and no. The Milgram experiment normally came out with 65% compliance. In a world where there is so much emphasis put on conformity and obdedience, maybe we should be delighted that 35% are willing to say no.
In my estimation, factors that are likely to drive that number up are likely to be much stronger in coming years - the Internet and related technologies that give access to information, psychedelic drugs which give greater perspective and, in the best cases, freedom from previous conditioning, and alternative schooling systems.
People might not have changed much yet, but we're just getting started.
I appreciate the glass-half-full perspective on the Milgram experiment. I've always been discouraged by those results, but you're right: 35% ain't so bad.
Didn't someone recently run another study to reproduce Milgram's authority study? I'm too lazy to look it up right now... Lol
I found some information about that here
They say 90% went all the way, but it's different to Milgram because the highest level in this case didn't reach a fatal level.
A similar experiment says around 79%.
@churdtzu, way to knock it out of the park bud!
I have been operating from a similar mindstate and life path for my entire life, your story is super inspiring.
SteemOn!
Haha thanks.
Indeed! :)
Rules are violent by nature. That's not to say it doesn't be a good idea to get rid of all of them at once but a gradual move in that direction when applicable would be beautiful.
It seems you haven't been writing recently, hope all is well and hope to read more of your stuff very soon.
Powerful my friend.
nice blog .......bravo
Interesting thoughts... followed you.
If only this were true.
That is only the smallest part of the law, but it still takes up libraries and no single person could read it all.
There is this lawyer who says, there are so many laws that he could follow anyone around for a day and find they committed three felonies.
Anyone! Three a day! So, you aren't innocent, you are just waiting to be arrested, prosecuted and jailed.
Still, I am very much for following the rules of society. It is easy in my view, because I hold myself to an even higher standard.
It sounds like you're holding yourself to an impossible standard.