Cover page | Preface | Introduction 1 | Introduction 2 | Introduction 3 |
(Part I) Why: 1.0 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 1.5 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 1.8 | 1.9 | 1.10 | 1.11 | 1.12 | 1.13 | 1.14 | 1.15 | 1.16 | 1.17 | 1.18 | 1.19 |1.20 | 1.21 |1.22
(Part II) What: 2.0 | 2.1 | 2.2 | 2.3 | 2.4 | 2.5 | 2.6 | 2.7 | 2.8 | 2.9 | 2.10 I 2.11 | 2.12 | 2.13 | 2.14
Chapter 2.14
Lessons from Fiction, 2
Part I of this book is called, “Humans, We Have a Problem.”1
Part II, which we are in now, is titled “A Human Solution.”
We all have a pretty good idea of the problems. Indeed, out here in Internet Land, people rarely seem to talk about anything else.
All those problems can be boiled down to a single sentence: our natural rights are being violated. Finding a solution to that problem first requires knowing what those rights are and why we have them.2
We have made a good start at that. We have stated our principles, and we have begun to draw up protocols based on those principles.
Those principles and protocols are essential for any people who wish to experience true freedom, peace, prosperity, and joy. But are they, on their own, enough to cause us to cohere into a chosen community? Into a nation?
Before we look at what else there might be, let us look at what we have…
Kyfho
A few months ago, in an extended comment conversation,
said something intriguing: “People are a product of their environment, and an anarchist system which grants liberty to individuals would probably create a community of strong people who wouldn't let anyone walk on them.” (emphasis mine)Right around that time, I had been reading Enemy of the State—the first in F. Paul Wilson’s LaNague Federation series, and Melissa’s comment immediately took my mind right back to the book.
Enemy of the State is, unselfconsciously, anarchocapitalist sci-fi. (A genre I enjoy, as you might well imagine.) The Prometheus Blog summarizes the plot thusly:
Set in a positive but realistically flawed interstellar future in which human beings have spread among the stars, the LaNague Federation trilogy focuses on an imperialist central State and empire that is toppled by Peter LaNague, a far-sighted revolutionary who abjures violence in favor of a subtle, long-term plan based on a sophisticated understanding of economics, markets, money and inflation.
There is certainly a lesson in the idea of having a sophisticated, long-term strategy, but we can focus on that later. For now, let us look briefly at a philosophy Wilson expands in the book: Kyfho.
(Mild spoiler alert: I will not be giving away major plot points or endings, but I will be speaking of ideas, and at least one brief incidental vignette, from the book.)
Wilson uses the term several times before revealing that KYFHO is actually an ancient Earth acronym: Keep Your F- - -ing Hands Off. (Wilson uses the actual F-word, but you can easily replace it with filthy, freaking, or any other appropriate term.)
Kyfho is the pithiest possible summation of the foremost protocol of natural law: don’t put your hands on anyone else, or their stuff, without their consent. It is the same concept that we have sought to ensconce in our core protocol:
No person may be subjected to any transaction, initiation of coercive force, or imposition of authority to which he does not provide voluntary, informed, explicit, transparent, and revokable consent.
Wilson refers to a Book of Kyfho, which contains a multiplicity of teachings based on the broader philosophy. Yet the simple core principle—Kyfho itself—rings through in everything Peter LaNague and the Kyfhons do:
There must be no bloodshed, no violence unless it is defensive. No coercion! We must do it our way and our way alone! To do otherwise is to betray centuries of hardship and struggle. Above all else, Kyfho. Forget Kyfho in your pursuit of victory over the enemy, and you will become the enemy...worse than the enemy, because he doesn't know he is capable of anything better.
Kyfhons are strict adherents to the nonaggression principle, holding that force is only justified when it is defensive in purpose. One quickly perceives, however, a possible disconnect, depending on which aspect one chooses as one’s focus: the nonviolence or the defensive force.
Wilson depicts that dichotomy as a split of the Kyfhons into two branches. The first branch, of which Peter LaNague is an adherent, emphasizes non-violence.
The other—the Flinters—are similarly devoted to the nonaggression principle, but they also place a special emphasis on their right to deploy protective force when violence is used against them, their freedom, or their property. And they are VERY good at it—so much so that they are feared throughout known space. In addition to the request to “keep your hands off,” they have another motto, which has more of the character of a warning: Peace…or else.
Both approaches have an appeal, of course. Both are necessary. We want peace. We must endeavor to be peaceful. But we must be according the same respect by others.
I have only read the first of the series, but that was enough derive a clear impression of Kyfhon society. One illustration comes from a scene early on in the story…
LaNague’s mission takes him on a trip to Earth—which, by this point in its history, has become the apotheosis of a sclerotic, bankrupt welfare state. (Exactly as we might expect.)
Caught in one of the periodic food riots that takes place in Earth’s cities, LaNague and his surly companion are forced to flee in the direction of a Kyfhon enclave. The riotous throng is so large and formidable that little can stand in its way, and yet as it approaches the boundary of the enclave, it splits and passes along the edge of that boundary rather than dare crossing it.
The message: everyone on Earth knows not to mess with Kyfhons. The authorities let them govern their own affairs. Criminals know better than to risk it.
For the Kyfhons, the principles of natural law are not a mere abstraction to which they blandly adhere. They are fierce defenders of the freedom and independence that those principles demand.
The result is society with no leader, no government, and a fully free-market economy. What holds them together as a people is the absolute certainty that they are, and of right ought to be, independent and free. And a passionate belief in the principles that give rise to that certainty.
I have asked whether the core principles and protocols of natural law are enough to cohere a dispersed population into an actual nation. They certainly are for the Kyfhons.
Needless to say, the Kyfhons are from work of fiction. Wilson can draw them however he wants. Yet he does paint a plausible picture:
A philosophy arises based on the principles of natural law.
At some point, wise people express those principles in written form.
A society forms based on adherence to those principles.
Over time, the society grows in coherence, and after centuries of effort, they become an independent and prosperous people.
All because they believed in the core and universal principle of natural law: don’t put your hands on anyone else, or their stuff, without their consent.
So what do you think—would that work here in the real world? Could a nation of free people cohere around these principles?
Could you?
If you are able to afford a cup of coffee once a month, please consider sending it my way so I can keep this content free for those who having a rough time financially right now.
See what I did there?
If you have an issue with the concept of natural rights—that is, if you are not an ‘ethical naturalist’—then I commend to you the following question:
Imagine that a government makes slavery legal. (Indeed, we do not have to imagine it, for it has happened across the world, including in democracies and republics.) If rights are not based upon something natural—something fundamental and real—then how do you say that the government was wrong to do so? You know they are wrong, but upon what are you basing that claim?
It cannot be ‘consensus,’ since the majoritarian consensus in a republic can produce legalized slavery.
If it’s based on observation of beneficial results and induction to principles and rights, well then that is based on something real. As is deduction from brute facts. Natural rights do not have to be magic force fields in order to be real.
If you continue to struggle, then think of it this way: those of us who work to divine rights from specific natural facts and principles are going to come up with the best possible defenses and enumerations of those rights. So you might as well just be practical and join us anyway!
I recently purchased the complete Wilson LaNague Federation series and am well into "Enemy of the State" since Christopher had mentioned them to me. This is actually very much at the core of my long time Xandara ideas in that you must not give in to a struggle mentality or become that which you are resisting, which is a core concept in my opinion, and I expand on it somewhat here: https://substack.com/home/post/p-150871150
This series seems so far to me to personify that principle which I don't often see in much anarchist literature. Most violent revolutions result in something as bad or far worse than what it was seeking to replace. The French Revolution, The Bolshevic Revolution and the Maoist Revolution are all good examples of this. These conflicts are all illustrations that a revolution based on hatred of something rather than a love of something will fail. They validate the illusory (delusional) justification for even greater suppression and violence from those who are attempting to rule over others without their consent, and contaminate the motivations and cause for which a people are working to achieve.
I love the deep thought Christopher has put into this movement for true freedom and peace. He asks: "So what do you think—would that work here in the real world? Could a nation of free people cohere around these principles? Could you ?"
My answer is not only yes, but I intend to do so.
I’ve heard that in Russia, there are rural areas where most people grow their own food and they are pretty much living free and are either minimally or not utilizing the communist freebies. They just trade amongst themselves. Their harvests mostly. Just what I heard. I feel this kind of thing is the beginning of a shift out of the nanny state that so many seem to think is a good idea. Based on a few yt channels from rural people living in what seem to be tyrannical based locations, at least if one were immersed in the cities of those nations, where the country folk are probably mostly left alone, then this sounds like a plausible approach. And before I heard about this, I had that vision. I believe it’s possible for suburbanites living mortgage free to accomplish similar, in today’s world, they could disconnect from the grid, or at least be ready for that, but could still be close to the resources of the city, while forming a backyard agricultural alliance. There are only two problems I see… wherever you are, you are a sitting duck. However, they can’t and probably won’t ‘get’ most of the people building an independent and free system within the nanny state or beast system as I prefer to call it. I have also heard that large swaths of Germany during the Nazi rule, were unaffected and I wonder how many were not required to send their children to the Hitler youth indoctrination activities or who refused, without being jailed once it had gotten to that point. But, as was depicted in the film inglorious basterds … and considering things like Waco and other rural shakedowns, one can see that you could be a sitting duck and the others might get scared. It seems to me, that as in the Russian example, people gotta know the heavy hand in order to weather those things. Basically, things aren’t bad enough. Even people who see a problem, still think they can vote their way back to freedom and won’t get involved in anything autonomous. Now, I’ve tried to seek out people to form some kind of ‘build’ our own society starting with food growers and a trade system at the onset of 2020. It’s not easy and most people that might be interested, were selling their houses and moving out to start homesteading and they had the money to get that going, but there is no support system for them. It’s best to have some rural neighbors on board and it takes time to get organized.
With all that said, I have moved out to a rural area in the US where there seems to be a lot of acknowledgement of the current tyranny and people who want to encourage local agriculture. We are all living off grid. However, three of my immediate neighbors are in their fifties and sixties, none are growing anything, living on SS or disability, and are here because they can’t afford the city. Not so much because they see the problems. And there are people who only see a few of the problems, but then they go get their boosters and think Trump will save us in both the cities and the rural areas, at this time. However, with the Russians… well I was told that most of them knew the news was lying and that they were living in tyranny while Americans thought the press was free… if we weren’t experiencing tyranny, we wouldn’t need to consider these things. And most people still don’t see the tyranny. So the big challenge is finding people with the right motivation at this point.
This is a rough draft, please excuse any lack of proper grammar, or poorly formed substantiation or a lack of a bibliography.