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Freedom Is Never Up
The socialist anarchist movement has realized something we should really take to
heart: the idea of decentralization. Even though socialist and communist
anarchists tend to favor forceful decentralization in federations of labor
unions--and the abolishment of voluntary exchange of services in the
marketplace--we should really turn to them: for inspiration and guidance. The
lesson they have learned but we libertarians seem to avoid is that freedom is
not a bird: it cannot fly.
As a matter of fact, freedom cannot move upwards. When power does,
freedom is necessarily violated. Many societies have tried to implement freedom
and liberty in institutions and power structures, so as to guarantee that it
will last over time. Their move was fatal, and the effect: the total death of
every syllable of freedom. Why? Because freedom cannot move upwards.
The State is a good example of this, as is the rising
evil in Europe: the European Union. The latter is built
on the Internal Market, which is supposed to guarantee economic growth and
prosperity for the European peoples. It is rather the opposite. The
Union could theoretically force the power of the state
back and reinstate the market and the rule of natural law through the four
freedoms and institutional competition. But where power goes in, reason and
freedom goes out. Instead of a working market, we’ve gotten continent-wide
regulations, instead of economic growth, we see cemented stagnation.
A few days ago I received a message from my Swiss bank saying a
new regulation is coming into effect July 1st. It is an “agreement”
between the European Union and the Swiss federal government “enabling the
taxation of savings income of persons domiciled in a member state of the
European Union.” So much for the Swiss banks. And so much for the European
Union.
The founding fathers of America were as
ignorant to fact as were the founding fathers of the European Monster. Making
power an institution can never guarantee or protect freedom. As a matter of
fact, power is the very opposite to freedom and should be kept to a minimum and
as far down as possible.
The total amount of freedom enjoyed is increased with each state
seceding from a federation, and freedom is ruthlessly butchered with every
politician instated. This is where the knowledge of the left is essential: power
has to be pushed down. All the way
down to the individual at best, but every step on the way is a small but
necessary victory. Thus, the creation of supra-state unions such as the
European, and federations of states such as the American, are all great failures
for freedom. The same is true when political “competence” (Why the hell do they
use this word when what they mean is simply “power”?) is moved from the
individual to the neighborhood, from the neighborhood to the municipality, from
the municipality to the state, and from the state to the federation or union.
Every time the power over some aspect of my life is moved away
from me, I will have to suffer. It has been true through all of history; it is
true today; and it will be true tomorrow. Freedom is whatever control and power
are not. This is where we have to learn from the socialist anarchists:
decentralization is the only
perceivable way to bring freedom back alive. Pushing the state back means
pushing its powers down its hierarchy. This will increase the individual freedom
of all, and it will cause tensions in the power structures between the centers
of power. And eventually the state will fall.
We need to take back the power of our lives, and perhaps disassembling the
federation or union is the first step--we cannot expect for all power structures
to simply fall apart. Even if they would fall due to their own destructive
powers, it will not be a happy ending, and freedom will not see the light of day
for years after the state is gone. Pushing power down means bringing it closer,
and it is certainly easier to bring down a small enemy that is close, than a
large enemy at a distance.
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