Trade and Tyranny

Stop trying to control.
Let go of fixed plans and concepts,
and the world will govern itself.
Tao Te Ching, Chapter 57

Cooperation and coercion are the two methods that facilitate the combining of human effort into a single venture. Cooperation is a product of the free will of each party to the work; coercion is where some of the parties are forced to obey the will of some of the other parties. Cooperation is accomplished while preserving the liberty of all; coercion requires the enslavement of at least some to the tyranny of the others.

Tyranny, the coercion of some men by the powers of others, is most apparent when it occurs in a dictatorship. The abusive power of one strong man who lords a military force over his subordinates is the stereotypical idea we have of a tyranny. Less obvious, but just as tyrannical, is the coercion that a majority has over a minority in a democracy. True, in a democracy, the coerced have the safeguard of being able to vote against their oppressors, but, in the case where an oppressed minority is hopelessly outmanned (such as the minority of the most productive workers in a society that believes in the redistribution of wealth), the obedience of the minority to a power that threatens violence or imprisonment can be just as real in a democracy as in a dictatorship.

Dictatorships are coercive, monarchies and aristocracies are coercive, and democracies can be coercive. The question that we must then all ask ourselves is:

What form of government is not coercive?

And the answer to this question is simple “they are all inherently coercive.” Every form of government, in order to work as a government, must coerce its citizens. Whether through the enforcement of the laws that protect its citizens from violent crimes or through the indenturing of its people to build monuments to its leaders, the government must function through coercion in order to be a government.

So, if all governments work by coercion, what form of government is best?

The government that governs best is the government that governs least.

And, what form of government fosters the greatest amount of cooperation among its citizens?

Cooperation among mankind thrives best where the government coerces the least.