When you choose to engage with another person, it is because you are pursuing your self-interest by virtue of it being your choice. This is not to say that making choices is always for personal material gain. We often seek the emotional gratification of helping others. When we bring violence, force, or the threat of force into relationships, our potential for harmony is reduced. Cooperation is replaced with conflict, resources are diverted from optimal usage, and squandering of resources is encouraged. In every transaction determined by force, there is a measurable amount of effort wasted. Every relationship tainted by coercion keeps us from realizing our potential in the free trade ideal.
If you buy something from your neighbor, it means you are choosing to give up money because you think your life is better with the thing than with the money. Your neighbor is giving up something for the money, because they think their life is better with the money than with the thing. This fundamental exchange concept of economics is at the very heart of why trade produces wealth. It allows for mutually-beneficial cooperative exchanges. This principle extends to all relations, not just the ones we think of as economic. When two friends share a conversation, they are freely exchanging time, energy, and attention because they each think it benefits them. If either one of them thinks they will be happier alone or speaking to someone else, they are free to end the conversation by peacefully disengaging.
The alternative to the example of a peaceful exchange between neighbors is not as simple as direct theft. What if the government says you can buy that thing from your neighbor, but only if you pay a percentage of the price as tribute? Maybe you were going to buy ten things, but now you can only buy seven. People all over the world accept various sneaky forms of government theft, but no system hides the fact that if you don’t pay the tax or tribute, your transaction is illegal and the government could lock you in a cage or “fine” you (steal from you) for “black market activity.”
In simple examples, it is easy to see the devastating effects of coercion on free trade. Even with these examples, we cannot possibly envision all the implications and ripple effects. Did the trade that didn’t happen mean buying one less bag of groceries? Creation of one less job? One less person who could afford vital medical care?
If governments only stole from us and left us alone, the impact would not be nearly as bad. Governments can steal more when they use our money against us through enforcement and suppression of economic activity. The amount of human effort diverted by wars and police states is painfully obvious. The less obvious tragedy is that governments pervert the minds of so many eager, capable people, and divert them from serving people in the free market to pointing guns at people, enforcing the will of special interests, protecting politicians, and killing each other.
The resources devoted to bureaucracies and their disastrous diversions of energy away from productive ends are staggering. If someone about to do something productive has to stop to ask a bureaucrat for permission, both they and the bureaucrat are kept from producing something of value, while even more energy is diverted to support them while doing nothing productive. This is made possible by the threat behind every regulation: if you don’t do what we say, we will come and take you away. The effect of governments misdirecting resources is enormous. How much happier we will be without violence is incalculable.
A voluntary society represents a free trade ideal in which all interactions are free of force and coercion. In that environment, all relations are voluntary and we choose to engage because we think we will personally benefit. In a voluntary society, the individual person is considered the ultimate means of production. We are happier and more prosperous because all of our interactions with others enrich our lives. Violence, coercion, and conflict are unproductive. Peace, self-ownership, and free trade are essential for any society to reach its potential.
Chapter 6 Section I From FREEDOM! by Adam Kokesh
I am the author of FREEDOM!, a book endorsed (I mean banned) by the US Department of “Justice.” You can get a copy here. I’m running for Not-President in 2020 on the platform of the peaceful, orderly, and responsible dissolution of the United States federal government. You can find out more here. I am currently on my #TaxationIsTheft tour! You can find an event near you here. Whoever has the top comment on this post after 24 hours can claim a free signed copy of FREEDOM! by sending me a message with their address.
