1. ---
2. categories: Liberty
3. ...
4.  
5. by phlex
6.  
7. Transcribed from http://ffij33ewbnoeqnup.onion/books/two_realms.txt.
8.  
9. # Introduction
10.  
11. When thinking about the future of human society and the conflict between
12. strong states and strong individuals the possible outcomes we think about tend
13. to be extremes. Either the states rule completely, or the individual does.
14.  
15. This article presents a third option - “The Two Realms”. One for the state,
16. the other for the individual.
17.  
18. # The Stage
19.  
20. At opposite ends of the spectrum we have the strong state and the strong
21. individual. I use the word “strong” to emphasize the position taken. A strong
22. state has the objective to stay strong. That means it mainly follows any lead
23. to justify its power and control.
24.  
25. It is important to see that the main definition and the basic justification of
26. the state is the “monopoly of violence” over a certain territory and all
27. people living in that territory. This monopoly is the intellectual reason why
28. to have a state, and this monopoly is also the source of anything any state
29. can do.
30.  
31. There is no taxation without the monopoly of violence, there is no police,
32. justice system, parliaments, etc without the centralized control of violence.
33.  
34. The state’s objective is always maintaining a monopoly of violence.
35.  
36. Everything that questions that monopoly is a danger to the state itself - and
37. a danger to those people that are part of the state apparatus: Politicians,
38. bureaucrats, public services employees (police, firemen, part of the health
39. industry).
40.  
41. On the other side of the spectrum we have the strong individual. By definition
42. the strong individual seeks to rule himself. He/She claims a monopoly of
43. violence over himself by himself. As soon as a person refuses to accept the
44. exclusive monopoly of the state on the exercise of violence, that person turns
45. into a strong individual.
46.  
47. In today’s society we have several groups of strong individuals, most of them
48. calling themselves anarchists of some kind. But there are others, such as
49. radical religious groups, that do not accept the state as the sole ruler.
50.  
51. One of those groups I would like to call “libertarian”. For the sake of this
52. discussion, we will state that libertarian groups consist of strong
53. individuals that seek freedom of person, communication, commerce and
54. lifestyle. This categorization is not an attempt to define a party or an
55. organization, but to classify a group of individuals.
56.  
57. There is a third group to talk about: The people.
58.  
59. We will call the vast majority of humans on state territory “The people”.
60. These are individuals not employed by the state and not opposing the monopoly
61. of violence. Most of “The people” are just fine with the existence of the
62. state, taxes, welfare, etc. They do not oppose the status quo. Certainly they
63. have details to complain about, but they do not question the concept of the
64. state itself.
65.  
66. For a large number of people the state really brings great advantages. Just
67. imagine that 40% of all Germans get 50% or more of their income through state
68. wealth redistribution. That includes not only welfare recipients or government
69. officials but also construction industry, health care industry and others.
70.  
71. The people and the state build some kind of power exchange market formed by
72. legislative bodies, unions, NGOs etc. These are mainly focused on protecting
73. the status quo, even if painting it in different colors each other year.
74.  
75. The people are subject to the state. The desire of the state to maintain this
76. subjugation is the reason for the state’s desire for the monopoly of violence.
77.  
78. There is no state without the people, but there are people without the state.
79.  
80. It is important to realize that most people do not oppose libertarian Utopia
81. because they think that it is morally corrupt. The main reason for opposition
82. is simply fear. Fear to leave the status quo without knowing how things would
83. work out.
84.  
85. Many of the people are interested in experimenting with libertarian concepts,
86. at least those people that are used to being self-responsible in the market
87. place.
88.  
89. Some examples of potential libertarians are freelancers, consultants, the self
90. employed and executives of Small/Medium Sized Enterprises (SME).
91.  
92. # The Two Realms
93.  
94. When thinking about the future of society one of the central questions is
95. this:
96.  
97. Can those three groups coexist on the same territory?
98.  
99. It is clear that “the state” and “The people” can co-exist as The people are
100. essential for the existence of the state. But what happens if you add a few
101. thousand strong individuals?
102.  
103. The standard answer is that the state will try to suppress these individuals;
104. that the only way for the strong individual to live freely is to separate from
105. the state and The people and to find territory that is not controlled by a
106. monopolist of power.
107.  
108. The arguments for this conclusion are convincing: The state cannot accept the
109. questioning of its authority or its monopoly on violence. Any disobedience and
110. dissent is opposing the justification of the state and therefore a threat to
111. its existence. Questioning endangers the state’s monopoly.
112.  
113. On the other hand the exercise of violence against political enemies is a
114. danger to the state itself. We can see from history that oppression has often
115. led to an uprising of The people against the state apparatus. The destruction
116. of several socialist or autocratic regimes in recent history shows that open
117. oppression can lead to the people rethinking their view on the current
118. political system. (Never has this been a threat to the concept of the strong
119. state itself but a threat only to the current implementation and to the people
120. currently in positions of power.)
121.  
122. If the state is too harsh in its defense against strong individuals this may
123. cause the agents of the state to threaten the state’s existence.
124.  
125. But this is not the only threat the state has to keep in mind. It’s merely the
126. most extreme.
127.  
128. More likely is the radicalization of the strong individuals if they are able
129. to organize themselves to follow their common objectives.
130.  
131. Since strong individuals tend to be well educated, well funded and creative,
132. they can be a strong enemy. Especially their creativity and their independence
133. from the restrictions of state laws and rules of conduct. All of this makes
134. them a difficult adversary to fight. Strong individuals would very likely
135. target the central infrastructure, instruments and people that hold the state
136. together.
137.  
138. The state has much to lose in such a battle.
139.  
140. An alternative could be the concept of “two realms”. If a strong state and a
141. strong individual try to stay out of each other’s realm it is less likely that
142. a bloody conflict might arise.
143.  
144. # The Two Realms Explored
145.  
146. Let us examine what those realms could be, how they can co-exist in parallel
147. and where they would likely clash.
148.  
149. The state’s realm is where the state rules exclusively and where the people
150. are ruled.
151.  
152. This will be public places, public transportation, public welfare, public
153. health care, and the state’s justice system, including courts, police and
154. prisons. Furthermore all activities taking place in any of these areas are in
155. the state’s realm and solely under its control.
156.  
157. We call this “The first realm”.
158.  
159. The other realm would consist of privately owned space, such as certain shops
160. and houses, as well as certain communication systems that already exist. This
161. is the realm of the strong individuals, which we will call “The second realm”.
162.  
163. Both of these realms would have their own economic and monetary system and
164. would both try to stay out of each other’s business.
165.  
166. Examples of separate territories within one nation state already exist. Just
167. think about those quarters that the police won’t enter at night. What is
168. crucial for such a concept to succeed is that both realms try to stay out of
169. each other’s business as much as possible. Both realms need to be as separate
170. as possible. This, first and foremost, means that the intersections of both
171. economic and money systems need to be avoided as much as possible.
172.  
173. Working in the realm of the strong individuals? Don’t use the state’s banking
174. system to conduct transactions.
175.  
176. Working in the realm of the state? Don’t use the strong individual’s money
177. system to launder your proceeds.
178.  
179. Separating the realms is crucial. But also having physical space to meet,
180. trade, exchange, follow your lifestyle. Coffee shops, restaurants, “free
181. houses” that are exclusively for the use of strong individuals. There is no
182. substitute for sitting together to cooperate and collaborate.
183.  
184. And these dedicated physical spaces build bridges for effective commerce. What
185. about settling your transactions by exchanging real physical gold (or whatever
186. medium of exchange you prefer)?
187.  
188. Or physically delivering goods to your customer?
189.  
190. Those “free zones” don’t have to be huge and protected by gunmen. Any coffee
191. shop run by a strong individual can become such a place.
192.  
193. Immigrant communities are an example for effective working structures of this
194. kind.
195.  
196. Furthermore the realm of the strong individuals consists of unrestricted
197. digital communication systems. Even today we already have the means to
198. exchange any data freely, unregulated and anonymously. Systems like Tor and
199. I2P are only the better known ones. The states have long realized that they
200. will not be able to control those advanced communication systems. This is why
201. they focus mostly on wide spread “The people” technology like Short Messaging
202. Service, telephone, client-server VoIP, standard email, web surfing and so on.
203.  
204. When putting the picture together, we soon notice that these two realms cannot
205. be completely separate. For a long while the second realm will be too small to
206. be economically sustainable. People that work in the second realm must still
207. go shopping at a supermarket in the first realm. But the volume of cross-realm
208. commerce can be massively reduced if there are physical bridgeheads that allow
209. for physical commerce. The cost of transactions would be greatly reduced,
210. barter and the enforcement of contracts would become easier etc.
211.  
212. But we also have to admit that there is a big problem attached to those
213. physical bridgeheads - the coffee shops, free houses and rural communities
214. where strong individuals connect. We would need to come into the light. Many
215. of us are too paranoid to do so. The state could send agents that would get to
216. know our faces.
217.  
218. This is a very valid counter argument. But we already know ways to protect
219. ourselves. Separation of physical identity, communication identity, physical
220. proxies, etc already exist. And such things existed before and have been
221. successfully used before by other underground movements that were much more a
222. target than we are currently or may ever be.
223.  
224. # End notes
225.  
226. We often discuss the possibilities of forming new states:- To colonize the
227. seas, the solar system or to take over islands to form new societies. I don’t
228. want to wait that long. Waiting for a better world, a perfect place, turns the
229. place into Utopia. Reality works by dreaming big dreams but building with
230. bricks and mortar.
231.  
232. Do not get me wrong, - I also have these big dreams. I look forward to my
233. personal floating platform on the high seas. But today I would like to have a
234. glimpse of this Utopia in my real life. We have so many tools that we are
235. already a power by ourselves.
236.  
237. But to become more effective, to implement more of our dreams today, I believe
238. we need to claim our realm.