Agorism, in all its various forms, promotes self-reliance and independent entrepreneurial ventures. It is a process that is evolving past the State and making it obsolete.

We cannot disregard the State completely; we have no illusions about this. But evolving past the State is very much in our power. Today agorism is rapidly growing and evolving in countless manifestations…it is all around us. But what is agorism?

In its most specific form, agorism is an explicitly adopted lifestyle of purely voluntary exchanges. But in a general sense, agorism is essentially the sum of all human interactions that are consensual and voluntary. The common factor is this: since the State is a coercive institution, its role in human affairs is absent, or strictly minimized.

Lifestyle Agorism

An agorist lifestyle could be as simple as the bartering of goods such as home-grown produce, meat, baked goods, and beverages; as well as the bartering of services such as household or car repairs, babysitting and so on. It also involves normal buying and selling with money, but favoring interactions with fellow agorists.

Those who adopt this lifestyle will typically identify as agorists, and seek community with the like-minded. Agorists typically do not participate in politics. In general, and to the extent possible, agorists bypass and disregard the State. They continually strive for the goals of living free of State coercion, and minimizing the resources they make available to the State. Moreover, their lifestyle helps delegitimize the State: they provide clear proof that in the absence of government, there is flourishing of happiness, peace and progress.

Informal Agorism

Human interactions can be agorist, without people formally adopting the lifestyle. As we know, virtually all human activities are voluntary. This means that, insofar as they bypass or minimize involvement with the State, most actions are essentially agorist. When we consider some examples of voluntary, mutually beneficial arrangements, we realize how dynamic and pervasive the principle of agorism is.

Traditional agorist examples

In all these examples, and more, the State derives little or no revenue benefit, and regulation is minimized (if present at all)…

• Private tutoring and homeschooling
• Gardening services
• Farmer’s markets
• Local community protection services

Additionally, we are all familiar with contemporary examples of services that bring buyers and sellers directly together…

Airbnb

Private housing accommodations are a great example of agorism in action. Temporary living arrangements are certainly nothing new; we are quite familiar with hotels, rental properties and boarding houses. But these traditional examples come with varying degrees of State intervention such as taxes and zoning regulations.

The Airbnb model simplifies temporary housing transactions and makes them readily available to both property owner and renter. Although the State is attempting to find ways to intervene, it is much harder to regulate since transactions are person-to-person.

Uber and Lyft

The impact of these new private, individualized transportation modes is immeasurable. State versions of public transportation are clearly falling behind, with each passing year. But these new services are dynamic, flexible and affordable in ways that are impossible with buses, taxis and mass transit.

Internet for-sale websites

Sites such as Craigslist and eBay generate an enormous volume of trade between private parties. There is no central physical marketplace for the State to identify. Its ability to regulate and tax these marketplaces is virtually non-existent.

Big-picture technological agorism

The awesome power of modern technology has changed agorism itself. Evolving from its traditional roots in simple bartering, the information age brings agorism into the 21st century.

Alternative currencies

Electronic forms of currency have emerged in just the last decade. Still in their infancy, they are quickly evolving methods of true financial privacy. Although the State will impose temporary impediments, it will not be able to keep pace with the speed of innovation.

The State utterly depends on its monopoly over money. It is conceivable that in our lifetimes we will witness an evolution of currencies and financial methods that leave the State helpless. Alternative currencies present the single-most immediate prospect for the success of liberty. There is no need for an attack on the dollar; no need to advocate abolishing government agencies. Private trading methods using cryptocurrencies will simply evolve, and then dominate. The steady progress of technology will help relegate the State to the dustbin of history.

Education and Life Skills

Homeschooling and un-schooling continue to grow, producing well-adjusted, bright, confident and capable young people. More and more are emerging from their formative years without the impediment of State indoctrination. Meantime, public schools continue to excel only at producing prison-like environments and a cult-like worship of the State.

For young and old alike, the Internet is making possible the flow of knowledge in every imaginable field, allowing people to educate themselves and gain productive skills, on any subject of their choosing. The State remains a clueless bystander to this evolution.

Health

The stranglehold that the State has over the medical field is enormous. It is presently more difficult to see or imagine the positive potentials that agorism will bring to health. Yet the glimmers of hope are there. Mobile apps are making health research and monitoring more readily available. Alternatives are emerging to heavily regulated insurance: medical groups offering group-oriented health coverage, concierge medical services, to name a few.

The fields of Alternative Medicine and supplements are less regulated, and thus offer greater choices. And this goes hand-in-hand with the Voluntaryist principle of taking personal responsibility, both as producer and consumer.

And then, there’s politics

Political participants tend to make all the noise and get all the coverage; non-participants are silent. It is true that most non-participants do not identify as Voluntaryists or agorists. But whatever specific reason they have for not voting, it can be generalized to this: it is not worth their time.

We may not appreciate the importance of this compelling fact: a majority of the public does not vote. Which means they do not consider the State important enough to motivate them to participate in politics.

Agorists did not have to make that happen. The State did that all on its own…simply by making itself irrelevant to the people at large. As our life options continue to expand, the trend away from politics is likely to continue.

The wonderful results of agorism

Two amazing results emerge from agorism: one psychological, one strategic.

Those who are explicitly agorist tend to experience the psychological sense of inner freedom and true self-ownership, as the State is absent from their interactions.

But the strategic result brings benefits to everyone: agorism, in all its forms, draws resources away from the State, and reaffirms the irrelevancy of the State.

Conclusion

The State offers nothing of value. It produces only one thing: coercive force, with its resulting ugliness and misery. And like any bully, that is all it has. That is its natural limit.

But free people have everything to offer. Agorism can be a formally adopted lifestyle, or merely the natural inclination to interact voluntarily with others in peace. Either way, we create and build; we cooperate; we sing, dance, and love. We educate and grow. And we get better at it all the time.

We evolve. The State doesn’t. The future is indeed bright.

 

Reposted from https://how-agorism-evolves-past-the-state-19.webself.net/