Voluntary Governance

by Michael McConkey
The Libertarian Standard
Nov. 17, 2010

I'm not quite so self-absorbed as to imagine that offering these thoughts will magically inspire all libertarians and anarchists everywhere to simultaneously toss off the now recognizably self-defeating old labels and rise in unison under the banner of the new and improved rallying cry. Still, self mockery aside, such changes are slow, long journeys and all journeys of any speed or length have to start somewhere. So, here, I start. Perhaps, with time, fruits unimaginable today may yet come to ripen.

I want to propose that libertarians and anarchists adopt a new rallying cry, not for aesthetic or moral reasons, but for strategic and principled ones. I know that some puritans think being strategic and principled is oxymoronic. I certainly do not. What I'm proposing both makes more sense as strategy and is actually a more accurate representation of our ideals than those to which so many of us have become married.

If I were looking for an ideal label and rallying cry, I would want it to serve three purposes: first, it must be something that wouldn't offend or scare the very people I hope to persuade. If we are serious about changing the world, we should be serious about talking to people in a language that isn't going to alienate or scare them. This to me is not dishonest or manipulative, as some suggest. Choosing your words wisely is simply a matter of taking responsibility for what comes out of your mouth. Refusing to do so is just mental sloth. Second, I would want it to be an accurate description of my desired objective. Using inaccurate or irrelevant descriptors contributes nothing of value, while leaving our intentions wide open to misunderstanding and misrepresentation. Third, most tricky of all, I would want it to embody a prefigurative praxis. By this I mean, it would not only suggest the ends, but also the means for getting to the desired outcome. That is to say, it is not only rhetorically convivial and substantively accurate, but also transitionally facilitating. All three of these virtues, in practice, are bound up with each other. In the brief remarks that follow I aspire to flesh out these virtues, separate and interconnected.

My argument is that far better than the terms ‘libertarian’ or ‘anarchy’ the term "voluntary governance" serves these three criteria. I'll grant off the top that this phrase lacks a catchy associated common noun. A voluntary governanarian, or whatever it might be, isn't particularly inspiring. Let's agree for the moment, though, to leave that matter for later. My central aim is at the use of those terms as adjective descriptors of a social ideal. First of all, what does it mean to most people to speak of a libertarian society? And as for an anarchist society -- surely that's just factually inaccurate.

Libertarian society, as a normative ideal, means nothing to most people. It seems to suggest something to do with liberty, but not much else, and the uninitiated wouldn't even necessarily get that out of it. And of course there's a vast range of ideas about the role of government and social organization included under that rubric even for the better informed. Telling me you're a libertarian doesn't tell me if you believe in the abolition of the state, a night watchman state, an armed for common defence state. The self-identified libertarian Cato Institute names its auditorium after a theorist who advocates a welfare and regulatory state. Using the term libertarian suggests a firm position, while not expressing what that position is. And all that just to hold onto a term that for far too many people carries connotations of monetary cranks and anti-government conspiracy theorists? Whether that's justified or not, they are widely held views.

And, as I said, ‘anarchy’ is simply wrong. Though some anarchists like to give the word all kinds of nuanced spin, the fact of the matter is that the etymology of the word anarchy, from the ancient Greek, means: without a leader. So anarchists want to impose on everybody else a society without any leaders? Need I remind us that it was none other than Murray Rothbard who was frequently prone to observe that the difference between libertarians and socialists is that libertarians would allow socialists to live as socialists if that's what they wanted? It was the socialists who wouldn't allow libertarians the same courtesy. Is that not true of anarchists, too? In the anarchist society, if some people want to set up their own socialist or authoritarian regime, as long as it had voluntary membership with freedom to exit, what business would it be of anarchists? Or am I mistaken? Is anarchy actually a form of universal totalitarianism --- reminiscent of Rousseau's declaration that people must be forced to be free? Put that way, anarchy sounds like the epitome of totalitarian social engineering. Hardly a surprise that people wouldn't be flocking to that banner! But, if I'm correct and Rothbard's observation would hold for anarchists, then why insist upon a term that is just factually wrong and misses the point?

In the following remarks, I will define my proposed replacement ideal, voluntary governance, and in the process explain why it meets the three criteria for a preferred rallying slogan mentioned above. To begin with, then, let's look at the implications of each of the composing words.

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