Discussion of the internet as metaphor for anarcho-capitalism, and also, quite incidentally, Joomla 1.5 Stable’s release today! I continue to document my progress in website design, planning, and implementation, and take a break to discuss anarchy.
I seem to have chosen well: Joomla 1.0.x vs. Joomla 1.5.x was a tough one. But today Joomla 1.5 Stable is released! Code name: Khepri . I’m upgrading as I write this: upload the files to server, unpack and overright the 1.5 RC4 files. Easy peasy. I always check (as if I’ve done this so many times before!) the Joomla forums before attempting something new. Its one of the wonderful things about opensource: There are always people helping each other out. No need for customer service. Just let people communicate in a free way and solutions find themselves.
Maybe thats part of why I’ve gone ahead and started posting all this software mumbo jumbo on Growing Freedom: The web is a good metaphor for an anarcho-capitalist society in general. Pure voluntarism, yet strong economics. No need for some dark authority to pass laws and give permissions and favors. No need for democracy either. There are no decisions to be made.
People talk about the web being a very democratic place. That is nonsense. Its at best a poor way of saying: “Things that work become popular. Things that are popular drive further development.”. People who see democracy as the highest ideal tend not to see the fact that the internet isn’t democratic at all, unless people set up democratic sub-areas inside for themselves.
Speaking of sub-areas, I’ve been impressed by this simple test of government and freedom: Any system A that can contain within it examples of a different system, B, and where B cannot likewise contain A, we can say “A is a freer system than B”.
For example, a democracy with strong property rights can entertain examples of communism within it. Bob can set up a commune with Lucy and run it mostly how they like. But the reverse is not true: Communist Bob cannot set up a democratic institution or area with Communist-Lucy in a communist country / state / area. Without property rights, they would only be playing a game. The state claims hegemony over their ‘property’ no matter whether they deal with each other democratically on the surface or not.
The internet is anarchic: Strong property rights, almost zero controls (China comes to mind, and the fact that a lot of the underlying structure is meddled with or owned outright by governments or their lackeys). This makes for strong economics . And its easy to set up a sub-area with any sort of ‘government’ you could want. Anarchic systems can contain all other systems, or at least that is how the theory of this test goes. So next time you get to thinking about creating and enforcing some strict rules on your fellow man (especially family, and especially children. More on that another time), think of the internet. How is wealth really generated? In what environments do people really thrive? Do you really need to be in control, or would a more freedom-loving solution be even better?
As to hating the illegitimate authorities in your own life: Of course you do. We all know better now that we have so many examples of free systems in our lives. My own suggestion: Don’t get too caught up in fighting ‘the powers that be’, whether they are family, government, teachers, institutions, laws, conformist pressures, etc.. Rather, find your freedom inside yourself and nurture it into a flame. With your soul rooted in real freedom, the fact of living under illegitimate authority will become less menacing, and you’ll consequently be able to free-act to authority rather than react. Thats one of the meanings of my upcoming website: freact.com
Well, thats it for now. Let me know what you think about the ideas above, and also I’m looking for Joomla friends to work with: Anyone who’s also getting Joomla going for the first time, or has some experience and would like to work together to overcome obstacles, give me a ping, zing, digg, or old-fashioned comment.
Filed under: AnCap, Libertarian, Philosophy, Website Development | Leave a Comment
Tags: anarcho capitalism, anarchy, anarchy theory, joomla, Joomla 1.5, net economics, opensource, request for partner, the net, web design, web development, web host
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