Towards Voluntaryism (Part 17)
3.0. Government: Introduction
Towards Voluntaryism (Part 17)
Government: Introduction
Do you reject the initiation of violence? Do you reject the subjugation and coercion of yourself and your fellow man? Have you come to the conclusion that the best person to run your life and secure your freedom is you? If so, this continuing series entitled Towards Voluntaryism is for you.
Voluntaryism is the principle of non-aggression applied to social and political life. It explicitly rejects all forms of coercion - defined as: use of force or intimidation to obtain compliance - as unethical, unjust and illegitimate. Although Voluntaryism rejects the initiation of violence, it does not reject the right of the individual to engage in self-defense. Voluntaryism is similar to pacifism in that it is opposed to 'war or violence as a resort in the settlement of dispute' but is not pacifist in the sense of 'nonresistance to aggression'. By extension, Voluntaryism legitimizes engaging with coercive systems of aggression as a form of self-defense in order to ensure non-aggression towards and liberty for the individual. It is in this spirit that this series, Towards Voluntaryism, is formulated.
The objection that is made by some Voluntaryists is that participating in the voting and legislating process is participation in a system of coercion and thus to be rejected. This approach is however, in my contention, defeatist by nature. How can Voluntaryism be achieved if the coercive collectivists and the system they have constructed as a prison of the mind around humanity are not actively contested? How can the system be contested if it is not engaged or, as we increasingly see, Voluntaryist activities are actively persecuted? (See the ongoing tribulations of @adamkokesh for just one example.) Currently, coercive collectivist systems control almost all aspects of organized political action with the explicit intent of maintaining and expanding that control.
I contend institutionalized systems of coercion must be contested by a peaceful transformative strategy that inverts the hierarchy of authority and compliance before a true push for the full implementation of a Voluntaryist system can become feasible.
In the following series of contributions under the title Towards Voluntaryism, a peaceful and legal strategy for taking direct action to reign in the corruption of public servants and the subversion of government will be suggested that anyone can initiate. Rationale, means and methods for executing the strategy will be provided. Some effort on the part of the reader in researching local law and ordinances will be necessary, but the overall approach is applicable in all jurisdictions. The ultimate objective of this project is to lay the foundation to assist society in moving towards Voluntaryism.
As I have stated in Towards Voluntaryism: Preamble, while this series advocates a path towards Voluntaryism, it is only 'towards'. The following recommendations will include voting, divesting centralized authority of power and acting to stop others from exercising coercion; as such it is Voluntaryist insofar as it advocates engaging with the system of coercive collectivism as a form of self-defense. Thus the proviso of 'towards' Voluntaryism.
A final, satisfactory and complete plan for successfully transitioning to a society based on Voluntaryism has, to my knowledge, yet to be formulated. Absent the hope that there is a sea change in human cognition and ethics in practice (which I contend will not happen absent a plan to move towards Voluntaryism), steps must be formulated to help humanity move in that direction.
Attendant to this objective, the following topics will be addressed with specific suggestions as to execution and each will be prefaced by a discussion of its desirability and necessity:
- legislation to eliminate the corruption of public offices to the benefit of private financial interests
- legislation to mandate and enforce transparency in government accounting practices
- legislation to restructure campaign financing law to privilege ideas over war chests
- legislation to restructure public servant salaries to reflect the wellbeing of their constituencies
- legislation to implement, enforce and sustain anti-corruption legislation
- legislation to mandate education on jury nullification for all jurors
- suggestions for tax reform to reduce taxation and improve functionality in the public interest
- how to bring citizen-proposed legislation to the voting booth (even if opposed by public servants)
- how to recall politicians and public servants that seek to impede anti-corruption legislation
- how to perform a citizen's arrest with the objective of decreasing corruption in public office
Other topics may be added to this list as deemed necessary.
All proposals forwarded in this series are to be considered suggestions and I welcome constructive criticism of all forms. I do not claim to have perfect solutions, nor to be able to anticipate all potential consequences. In the event the long term consequence of any suggestions would be deleterious on the whole, I would be the first to reconsider them.
It is the hope of this author that the following treatise can provide workable suggestions for laying a series of stepping-stones that will enable a later transition to a fully functional Voluntaryist human civilization.
Next: Toward Voluntaryism (Part 18): Government - Current State of Corruption
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Further reading:
For all things Voluntaryist: http://voluntaryist.com/
For an excellent discussion of the foundation of Voluntaryism, namely principled adherence to non-agression and non-coercive behavior that is capable of distinguishing good from evil without the necessity of adhering to a religious belief system, please consult @dwinblood's contribution When you hear someone say "Don't be evil" did they define evil?
There is a vibrant and growing community on Steemit that advocates Voluntarism and Voluntaryism. 'Voluntarism' is "the principle that individuals are free to choose goals and how to achieve them within the bounds of certain societal and cultural constraints as opposed to actions that are coerced or predetermined", 'Voluntaryism' is defined as a sociopolitical philosophy that "holds that all forms of human association should be voluntary...its principal beliefs stem from the non-aggression principle.
Perhaps the biggest names in Voluntaryism in the modern era "Watner, Smith, and McElroy explained that voluntaryists were advocates of non-political strategies to achieve a free society. They rejected electoral politics "in theory and practice as incompatible with libertarian goals," and argued that political methods invariably strengthen the legitimacy of coercive governments. In concluding their "Statement of Purpose" they wrote: "Voluntaryists seek instead to delegitimize the State through education, and we advocate the withdrawal of the cooperation and tacit consent on which state power ultimately depends."(here p. 13) This is the position I refer to in paragraphs 3 & 4, above.
There is a recent debate on exactly this issue between @larkenrose and @adamkokesh as moderated by the @dollarvigilante @jeffberwick that is very thought-provoking:
Nevertheless, I do concur that education is the necessary component to achieve a Voluntaryist sociopolitical structure; I have treated the current educational environment in the West in the first part of this series Towards Voluntaryism - Education, parts 0-16, wherein I propose a strategy of engagement aimed at limiting the coercive collectivist stranglehold on the education system.
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