A Brief History of Government by Brian Crabtree (1992) Thousands of years ago, people were free. What happened? Well, here's the story... A certain group of similarly narrow-minded guys with similarly ridiculous ideas got on a power trip, and decided to use force to impose their own thoughts, morals, and customs on everyone else. These people also decided that instead of everybody sharing, it would be easier to control them if they were made to pass around money, which only the government could make. "The government is best which governs not at all and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government they will have." - Henry David Thoreau These two factors, authority and property, created crime. Instead of everyone owning everything and nothing at all, people with less money had to steal and kill for it, in order to feed their starving families. People were even forced to pay a portion of their hard-earned wages to this evil and corrupt government, so that the government could afford to keep ruling them. All of this was done in the name of the 'Public Good'. Much Madness is divinest Sense- To a discerning eye- Much Sense, the starkest Madness- 'Tis the Majority. In this, as All, prevail- Assent, and you are sane- Demur, you're straitway dangerous- And handled with a Chain. DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD Emily Dickinson, c. 1862 Eventually, someone had a pretty good idea, if it would have worked. The idea was that if everyone got an equal vote, everyone's views would be represented. Of course, by this time, the government had brainwashed so many people into thinking as they did that the tyranny of the majority was just as terrible as the tyranny of the original rulers. Why should the minority obey the mindless majority? Now you must see the problem with democracy. Another thing 'rule by the people' led to was plutocracy, rule by the rich. The more money you had, the more power you had, and the less money and power someone else had. There was, and is, tremendous poverty under capitalism. Communism, as it currently exists, doesn't work either. The idea is for everyone to be enployed, be paid equally, and for everything to cost the same. This was a good idea also, but to do this requires government control over almost every aspect of society. Not only does the government control the citizen's life, but all of the industries are state-owned. This causes a problem we've all experienced. Where are the longest lines? Not at fast-food places or supermarkets; the longest lines are at the post office and the Department of Motor Vehicles, state-operated institutions. The reason is that there's nowhere else to go! If you want a driver's license, you have to go to the D.M.V. In the Soviet Union, people had to wait many times longer than that just to buy food. Also, money is still a problem. If you need an example, just look at Russia, and how unbearable conditions were under Soviet rule. There are many other totalitarian systems in which the ruled have no representation whatsoever, but you can see for yourself how unfair they are. "As man seeks justice in equality, so society seeks order in anarchy. Anarchy - the absence of a sovereign - such is the form of government to which we are every day approximating." - Pierre-Joseph Proudhon Anarchism is the political perspective which regards all government as evil and unnecessary. Money and property are instruments used by the government to control people. Crime is merely the product of a society based on property and authority. Only in a society free from the coercive power of the state can there exist true freedom and liberty. "There will be a qualitative transformation, a new living, life-giving revelation, a new heaven and a new earth, a young and mighty world in which all our present dissonances will be resolved into a harmonious whole." - Mikhail Bakunin