2005/01/30 - Jorge Valín - Libertad Digital

A State-Free Society

Perhaps you believe that without state intervention, society would fall into chaos. Many authors are waking up to the simple truth that there is no reason “public services” need to be provided by the government. Since Spain undertook a partial liberalization of the communications industry, the sector has blossomed and now offers us cheaper and more varied services than when it was a state monopoly. Just imagine if the health, security or justice systems were privatized…

Have you ever asked yourself exactly what is the state and what use is it? Don’t examine these questions according to politicians’ intentions, but by their actions. In Economics there is one lesson that should be the first chapter of every standard text: state intervention leads to servitude and poverty. It causes net total losses.

The state produces nothing. This is why it must confiscate citizens’ money through taxes. These are the same citizens it is supposedly “governing”, although they are not interested in being the state’s servants. Do you pay taxes because you want to? Of course not. You pay because if you didn’t the state would come after you and your property. If you paid no attention, the state would try to seize your bank accounts. If it the accounts were empty, it would send “state officials” to force you to pay; but if you insisted on defending what is yours and resisted “authority”, the state would not hesitate to kill you and commandeer what had been yours.

How do concepts like social cooperation, solidarity, wealth distribution, equality and diplomacy make any sense when they only work under threat of extortion and fear? All of them should be voluntary acts. The best way to put them into practice is through the free market.

Society was not developed thanks to the state or any leader, but to the natural cooperation between men. As men became capable of transforming their surroundings to satisfy their needs, they added to the welfare of their communities. Voluntary social cooperation is a prerequisite for any society and for capitalism.  

Perhaps you believe that without state intervention, society would fall into chaos. Many authors are waking up to the simple truth that there is no reason “public services” need to be provided by the government. Since Spain undertook a partial liberalization of the communications industry, the sector has blossomed and now offers us cheaper and more varied services than when it was a state monopoly. Just imagine if the health, security or justice systems were privatized…  

The public health care system produces long lines, incompetent bureaucrats, favoritism and offers a service that costs you a lot of money even if you never use it.

Security is also more efficient in private hands. Parts of the United State have done away with public security. This has led to the rise of private police forces that worry about their clients, cost less and are better at their job. Private companies, not the state, provide barriers, alarms, insurance and other defense devices to individuals.

Even private justice systems have grown up dut to their public counterpart’s incompetence. The American Arbitration Association has resolved 14,500 job related cases; Judicate West will solve any litigation in less than 30 days at a price anybody can afford. In Spain, the European Association of Arbitration Law and Fairness provided 12,500 arbitrary actions in 2004. The longest anyone had to wait for justice was 35 days.  

According to Inmaculada Sainz de Robles, a real estate arbitrator for the Arbin company, private arbitration “reaches practical solutions for the parties involved, and everything is more natural than in a trial.” Moreover, “in public trials, one party goes voluntarily while the other party is forced into it. In arbitration, everyone goes because they want solutions. It is common to have the parties reach an agreement even before the arbitrator decides.”

Without the state’s “unfair competition” these types of businesses would proliferate, bringing a greater variety of better services all working for what we value: physical, judicial and medical protection.  

The free market system offers us many examples, past and present, of its benefits. The conclusion is clear: do not let the state do what individuals know how to do far better. The best government is that which governs the least. Therefore, the best government is no government.