I saw a very revealing quote that someone posted recently. It was an Albert Einstein quote about the United States constitution.

The strength of the Constitution (sic) lies entirely in the determination of each citizen to defend it. Only if every single citizen feels duty bound to do his share in this defense are the constitutional rights secure.

Can anyone imagine saying something like that about any sector of society other than government?

The strength of the movie industry is in every submitizen’s determination to support it. Only if every single person feels duty bound to support the movie industry can we expect to get the products we want and the entertainment it promises.

Of course not. If we didn’t like their products we wouldn’t give them business. More than anything, it just goes to show how ineffective government is at protecting liberties and how silly the idea of a constitution is if the very organization it is meant to restrain is given a monopoly on interpreting it and discretion when enforcing it. From personal experience, I have observed that many in the liberty movement are pro-market and believe government as it now exists (individually nonconsensual and territorially monopolistic) is necessary for the free market to function. What does that say about the market if that were true? Government “asks” that we surrender fundamental liberties for the common good. The police, military, and judicial system are all run by the government. I wondered if it has ever crossed their minds why a socialist-like organization is needed to defend the free market.

Since the founding of the current constitution, it was believed that private interests in each of the branches of the government would keep any one branch from becoming too powerful. Instead, what has happened is that each branch has coordinated together to seize more and more power simultaneously. It must be frustrating that the government designed to be the most protective of individual rights has become the most dangerous threat to those rights in the history of civilization, a government powerful enough to destroy the world many times over with its thermonuclear weapons. George Washington probably owes George III a belated apology.

Now, I would be thrilled to return to constitutional government (my interpretation of constitutional government), and someday we might. I’d insist on going further and remove the parasite entirely. That will take changing people’s ideas of how society might function in a stateless society. That can be achieved simultaneously with the shrinkage of the state by undermining its legitimacy so that people no longer believe it is necessary. That is as simple as mocking it when people in government make some boneheaded mistake (When aren’t they?), offering better competing products and services, and educating others of the value of liberty and peace.

That’s all. I assure you that it will be worth the effort.

• "We Are All Anarchists Now"
• "For Rules, Not Rulers"
• "Tilting at Electoral Windmills"
• "Glossary"
• "An Illegitimate Republic: The Moral Case Against a Republic"