The Internet is Proof that Anarchy Works
Monday, June 13, 2011 at 7:33PM What a beautiful thing is the internet. Ever since its invention by Al Gore and widespread public usage circa 1994 it has been the last free place on Earth.
And, for the majority of its lifespan it has been a purely anarchistic environment. Anarchy being defined as the absence of government.
According to statists, if the internet were to be typical of other human environments, we should already be overrun by internet pirates, gangs and we should be overwhelmed by a constant barrage of child pornography. After all, without Government to control us monkeys, we always descend into murderous, sexually depraved chaos, right?
Yet, look at what has happened. Without any one government overseeing the internet it has evolved into holding the sum total of all human knowledge and provided us with countless amazing innovations - many of them free.
Sure, there have been issues - but the free internet market has dealt quickly and easily with all of them.
Viruses created by malevolent or bored teenagers? Numerous anti-virus programs are in constant battle to keep them at bay - and again, many of them are free or are included as part of hardware or software purchases.
Don't want your children to see pornography? Well, first, if they want to see it, they will see it - and good for them. Kids are people too and should be allowed to have the option to choose what they want to expose themselves to. However, there are countless free market solutions for parents to help keep their children from seeing that ever-so-terrible act of physical human love until they are at least 30 years old.
And what about child pornography? You can never make it through a significant period of time without some government or statist saying that we need to regulate the internet because of child pornography.
Doug Stanhope says it best in his bit, below, but after being on the internet for 17 years straight, with nary a day going by without having been on it and seeing some really disgusting things - 2 girls 1 cup, for example - I have never, not once, seen child porn. I even Googled it once to see if I could find any - no luck.
Yet, despite the fact that the internet has been a self-regulating, free-market for nearly two decades, the US Government seems to think it needs to get in there and start regulating with their guns.
A recent bill was floated in the US Senate making the embedding of YouTube videos on your website illegal! Yes, embedding that Doug Stanhope video above could, in the near future, be subject to penalties of up to 5 years in jail in the US!
In Tennessee, they have just passed a bill which makes it a criminal act to post an image that "someone finds offensive". I find pictures of Barack Obama and Ben Bernanke offensive, who do I call?
And now they are even trying to make "lip synching" songs illegal!
Yes, internet classic, the Numa Numa guy, could be doing hard time for this:
And who are the people putting all these regulations in place in order to "protect" us? People like Anthony Weiner. After a hard day of protecting you on the internet he heads home to tweet naked pics of himself to random under-age girls on Twitter.
At what point will humanity realize that governments are the slave-masters and we are all just tax slaves and rid ourselves of this scourge of government? Hopefully, soon. The internet is fast awakening people to ideas and information that liberate them and make them realize that government is just a racket.
That's why the Government wants an Internet Kill Switch. To "protect us from cyber attacks", of course.
Reader Comments (10)
Jeff, you have it exactly right. The unvarnished truth for anyone with eyes to see is that GOVERNMENT IS A RACKET. It has zero to do with statesmanship and patriotism and everything to do with power, corruption, deceit and incompetence. I have made an effort to no longer call it the US 'government' but rather the US 'syndicate', because that more accurately reflects the reality of its purpose and its actions.
I still support Ron Paul as a last ditch attempt to reform the system into something that approximates constitutional government as envisioned by the Founders. But in truth, all we have left is our individual preparations--mental and material--for the unavoidable conflict that awaits America as the screwed take it to the screwers. It's only a matter of time now. God willing, the parasites will end up looking at the world upside down, Mussolini-style.
How to get the gold out? ...that is the question.
You never can change a corrupted system back to its former self.
The best you can do is invent a competing system and make the
old one obsolete. It may be time for a trip "Back to the Future".
To inspire, a movement needs a slogan or two; how about these?
"Anarchists of the world, UNITE!" and "Anarchy Rules!"
Great essay!
The internet is incredible and as long as it stays free people will benefit from it. The problem as Jeff points out is "BIG BROTHER" coming to the rescue to "save us" from ourselves. People DO NOT NEED GOVERNMENT, they choose government because thats what they are brainwashed to believe from Kindergarten. ANARACHO-CAPITALISM IS THE ANSWER!!!
Gee, now I thought that the internet was developed by DARPA, at the request and assistance of that nasty government.
I will agree that th"kill switch" is scary and bogus, recently learned by TPTB after seeing how effectively one can mobilize using the internet. As for the upcoming rules, they ar generally stupid but will be hopefully be confined to places where stupid folks live and vote for them.
If anarchy were the natural state of affairs, people would not have evolved into communities and then tribes. Is there a place where anarchy has existed for hundreds of years? Humnas are social animals.
Steve, your understanding of anarchy is not well developed. Anarchy does NOT mean no communities or tribes, and idiots running around setting cars on fire and pillaging. It simply means people and communities are deciding and being responsible for themselves, NOT the State (with a capital 'S'). Suggest you read "Our Enemy, The State" by Albert Nock.
Howard Rheingold made a call for citizens to protect their last frontier of freedom -The Internet- from government control back in the nineties. Worth a read. http://www.rheingold.com/vc/book/intro.html
Let's distinguish anarchism from anarchy, at least in their connotations. While Jeff is using the word "anarchy," it is in the philosophical context of anarchism. Though I am not an anarchist, I appreciate the many ways in which government could do less - a necessity, given the current budgetary state of affairs. The anarchist simply believes that people are "self-governing" when the power of the state is removed. In that sense, 99% of human history was "anarchist." The state is a recent invention in the story of human history, most of which, unfortunately, was not recorded. Once you create a state, does it find things for itself to do (that were not originally intended)? Absolutely - for sure. It is an inherent danger that is inadequately discussed outside libertarian circles.
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