It Is Happening in Cheran, Mexico.

You asked for it…you got it.

In yesterday’s post, I noted that

We are just at the beginning of a transformation in human society. Because it is just the beginning, many simply will not see it. Others will dismiss it as idealistic, impractical, or a diversion of effort into a quixotic cause.

Advocates for an end to involuntary governance face a tough slog in convincing others. “How can this work?” people ask. “Where has it worked in the past? Where is it working now?”

These are entirely legitimate questions.

Now, one entirely legitimate answer is to say something like this…

Someone has to be the first. There was a time before the first democracy. There was a time before the first person who sailed across the sea.

At any one moment, the bulk of people cannot imagine, or refuse to try to imagine, something more than what they know now. Someone. Has. To. Be. The. First.

Of course, that answer, though legitimate, is unsatisfying to most. The next answers, then, are

1. To note that there have been several examples in the past. Merchant and marine law in the Middle Ages showed that private-law systems can operate without the threat of a government court of last appeal. A thousand years of Brehon Law in Ireland demonstrated that a free market in legal arbitration can help keep the peace of an entire land.
   

2. To note that there is ample literature on how these things can work in the modern era. (See D. Friedman, Hoppe, the Tannehills, et al.) The literature is really convincing…if you actually take the trouble to read it. Most people won’t, however, and that is certainly understandable. If one were to read every book recommended, one would barely have time to eat or sleep.
   
   Of course, it is also rather irritating to be told that something cannot possibly work by someone who has not spent even five minutes researching how it might work, but let’s set that aside. I am trying to be understanding here.

People want more than theory, and more than examples from the past. They’re waiting for that brave guy who gets in a boat, sails across the sea, and then comes back to tell them of the new lands he discovered.

Sub-jurisdictional efforts (Próspera and Ciudad Morazan, e.g.) are just starting to take shape. Liberland has gained a little traction of late. But people want more.

Enter Cheran, Mexico—a city of 30,000 mostly indigenous people in Michoacán. About ten years ago, they kicked out the people who were devastating the forests nearby. Then they kicked out the politicians who were in cahoots with the loggers and the police who were protecting the whole system.

They have been operating as an anarchist society ever since. They have checkpoints on the roads in and they stop everyone. Normal people, they let in. Politicians, police, and anybody affiliated with a political party are turned away.

From all indictions, they have had peace ever since. They have not descended into Hobbesian chaos internally. Quite the contrary—order, stability, and happiness have all increased. The only major hassles they deal with come from external governments

How I got all the way to last week before hearing of Cheran is beyond me. It appears to be a modern example of it actually working. The one of many to come!

See for yourself: