Life without government

[wolram]

Main Question or Discussion Point

Could there be a civilised way to live without central government? suppose some catastrophe wiped out your countries government, would there be a priority to replace
it?

 

[Moridin]

That would be the wrong way to create an anarchy, since you have a massive power vacuum.

 

[Darkiekurdo]

If it would be possible to maintain laws without a governement, yes. I don't see how though.

 

[Kurdt]

Belgium seems to be ticking over nicely.

 

[arildno]

Could there be a civilised way to live without central government? suppose some catastrophe wiped out your countries government, would there be a priority to replace
it?

Well, unless retaliative measures can be indulged in, non-violent persons will be dominated by violent ones.

 

[wolram]

Well, unless retaliative measures can be indulged in, non-violent persons will be dominated by violent ones.

Well i could be a Rambo but who is going to make my bullets?

 

[arildno]

Well i could be a Rambo but who is going to make my bullets?

Well, you can be a bully without having bullets. For example, you can use your teeth and bite those you don't like.

 

[wolram]

Well, you can be a bully without having bullets. For example, you can use your teeth and bite those you don't like.

So without government we become a wolf pack?

 

[arildno]

So without government we become a wolf pack?

It is enough that some of us already are wolves.

And that is not a controversial hypothesis.

 

[Schrodinger's Dog]

Anarchy only works in small communities, well at least compared to democracy. Anarchy is pretty much useless, maybe even more so than communism.

 

[arildno]

Think of it this way, wolram:
It only takes a single bully within a population of otherwise nice, inoffensive persons to spread misery.

That is, an altruistic, benevolent anarchy is an unstable equilibrium with respect to a "bully perturbation". Only if the population acknowledges its own right to retaliate can its social system becom stable. But that in effect, amounts to some form of invested authority.

 

[Gokul43201]

suppose some catastrophe wiped out your countries government, would there be a priority to replace it?

I think most democratic nations put a rather large priority in ensuring that such a catastrophe does not wipe out government in its entirety. In the US, for instance, there is a long chain of succession set up to replace the P, VP should anything happen to them, and all the members of this line can never be found within some specified radius of each other, should some catastrophe strike (if for no other reason than to give someone the responsibility to call for a nuclear strike, should the threat arise). If a giant chandelier fell on the President's podium during a State of the Union address, incapacitating Bush, Cheney and Pelosi, the person with his finger on the nuclear button would be a 91 year old man. They take the continuance of government pretty seriously out here.

 

[Astronuc]

"Life without government" and "live without central government" are two different matters.

Some form of government would exist in a society, if only to settle disputes/conflicts and ensure some level of stability.

An interesting form of government is that of the Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) peoples.

 

[Moonbear]

Whether you call it government or not, certainly some form of leadership needs to exist to prevent chaos. Basically, someone needs to be in charge of ensuring everyone gets their fair share of common resources, especially when those resources are spread out over great distances. You see this happening in any group situation. If everyone is trying to make decisions, or everyone just wants to follow orders, nothing gets accomplished, but if one or two people emerge as leaders, and the rest of the group sorts out into followers, or one group leader delegates leadership of smaller tasks to individuals, things will function more smoothly.

Government is basically a way of delegating the levels of leadership so you avoid fighting amongst the potential leaders (except during campaign years of course ).

 

[russ_watters]

I think most democratic nations put a rather large priority in ensuring that such a catastrophe does not wipe out government in its entirety. In the US, for instance, there is a long chain of succession set up to replace the P, VP should anything happen to them, and all the members of this line can never be found within some specified radius of each other, should some catastrophe strike (if for no other reason than to give someone the responsibility to call for a nuclear strike, should the threat arise). If a giant chandelier fell on the President's podium during a State of the Union address, incapacitating Bush, Cheney and Pelosi, the person with his finger on the nuclear button would be a 91 year old man. They take the continuance of government pretty seriously out here.

Tom Clancy's "Debt of Honor" ends with a 9/11 style terrorist attack taking out pretty much the entire federal goverenment during the President's State of the Union Address. The sequel, aptly named, "Executive Orders" is how the government is rebuilt by our hero, Jack Ryan. Very interesting scenarios presented there.

 

[Mk]

Moonbear's description of government could be expanded to saying it is a power distribution system. Oligarchies, democracies, aristocracies, and authoritarian are different categories of whom having power over whom.

 

[wildman]

Governments are generally used to oppress people (or protect us from others that want to oppress us) and, since there are a lot of people out there that like to oppress other people, other governments would be immediately organized. This would be done both by people wanting to oppress and others who want to protect themselves from the first group.

Those who refuse to join one group or the other will become slaves of the oppressors.

 

[TVP45]

I think most democratic nations put a rather large priority in ensuring that such a catastrophe does not wipe out government in its entirety. In the US, for instance, there is a long chain of succession set up to replace the P, VP should anything happen to them, and all the members of this line can never be found within some specified radius of each other, should some catastrophe strike (if for no other reason than to give someone the responsibility to call for a nuclear strike, should the threat arise). If a giant chandelier fell on the President's podium during a State of the Union address, incapacitating Bush, Cheney and Pelosi, the person with his finger on the nuclear button would be a 91 year old man. They take the continuance of government pretty seriously out here.

Predelegation certainly existed during Eisenhower's and Kennedy's administrations. Early in the Johnson tenure, predelegation became clasified and remains so. It is quite possible that a Navy Commander in Chicago has the button as well.

 

[arildno]

"Life without government" and "live without central government" are two different matters.

Some form of government would exist in a society, if only to settle disputes/conflicts and ensure some level of stability.

An interesting form of government is that of the Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) peoples.

From what I know of it, it was an actual source of inspiration for the Founding Fathers, along with Enlightenment thoughts from the continent.

 

[wolram]

When i think about it governments do not prevent crime or bullying, they punish after the fact, if they can catch the perps that is.

 

[Kurdt]

When i think about it governments do not prevent crime or bullying, they punish after the fact, if they can catch the perps that is.

I think the threat of being held accountable for your actions by the society you live in is a deterrent to many people. Obviously not all of them, but perhaps more than you realise.

 

[russ_watters]

When i think about it governments do not prevent crime or bullying, they punish after the fact, if they can catch the perps that is.

They certainly can't prevent all crime, but at the very least, the fear of punishment prevents a lot of crime.

 

[Moridin]

They certainly can't prevent all crime, but at the very least, the fear of punishment prevents a lot of crime.

The death penalty does not work as a deterrent, so why should lesser punishments work?

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I think this goes back to the idea that locks are designed to keep an honest man honest.

A crook is a crook regardless of deterrents.

 

[lisab]

IMO, it's not so much the severity of the punishment that deters crime, it's the certainty of it.