This is the first in a series of my White Pill Essays. My goal is to reveal some of the silver linings in the news and culture of today, and indeed in the freedom philosophy itself. Libertarians/voluntaryists/anarchists drown in endless doses of negative news, and it is easy to lose hope. It may help to focus on the positive, if for no other reason than to keep up our psychological strength.
Spontaneous order
A truly free society is an emergent property. It arises spontaneously from the combination of voluntary human actions. Material comfort and health are examples of the benefits of a free society, but more particularly, examples of emergent properties.
This is the same principle at work in something as simple as a pencil, which no one person could produce, or even knows how to produce, on his own. And that pencil is merely the simplest example of emergence. Voluntary human action produces examples far more complex such as artificial hearts, satellites, the Internet, and indeed the very prosperity of capitalism itself.
Why Spontaneous Order is your strategic friend
If you wanted a bee hive, you would not need to design one. All you would need is to set the proper conditions. From there, the bee hive emerges.
As a libertarian advocate or activist, your white pill is to realize that no one can, or even needs to, design a free society. Spontaneous order will take care of that. That work is off your plate.
In fact, another white pill is realizing a free society is not only going to emerge, it is in the very process of emerging. So if we have a role, it is to help create the best conditions for it.
Not sure a free society is in the process of emerging?
Look back to these attributes of society (which are prized by freedom advocates) that already emerged naturally from a sufficient degree of voluntary human interactions:
Division of labor
This likely emerged as soon as free-willed beings began to express individualized interests and skills such as hunting, nurturing, tool making, cooking, sewing, adornment, etc. The better skilled in particular areas produced more of those goods or services. This was a survival advantage for the species.
Property
In the transition from nomadic life to agricultural life, the concept of scarce resources became highly relevant to the species. There was only so much land; that land sustained only so much grain, livestock, etc. Control over scarce resources was the essential factor in the new concept of property. Norms (property rules) emerged to deal with the possibility of conflict over scarce resources.
Trade
Once property emerged, coupled with division of labor, the natural path was to trade, since people possessed objects in different proportions and in different amounts relative to their own personal needs.
Money
Classes of objects emerged naturally, filling the need of facilitating complex, expanded trade.
Science
Science was unplanned, only needing the freedom to inquire. The rest was emergent (physical discoveries, technological innovations).
So, what’s our role?
Educate yourself. Communicate ideas to others. The more people we reach, the better chance social influencers will be reached. And these people leverage the freedom message to exponentially more people.
But the goal of communication is not to see freedom somehow voted or planned into existence. The goal is to create unpredictable tangents that grow awareness, that spark even better ways to communicate and reach even more influencers. It is exciting to realize that your influence can be part of that process.
The most important specific goal of messaging is to delegitimize the authority of the State. Encourage local or decentralized alternatives to State services (especially currency), as well as the services of the State’s handmaidens: major media, big tech, and the entrenched educational system. These alternatives work better for people, and crowd out the State.
Whatever you choose to do, remember that your actions are part of the spontaneous order. Your choices are free choices. That is the very environment most needed for the free society to emerge naturally.