We're on a road to nowhere Come on inside Takin' that ride to nowhere We'll take that ride
I'm feelin' okay this mornin' And you know We're on the road to paradise Here we go, here we go - Talking Heads
Sheldon Richman has written a piece addressing secession: TGIF: Is Secession by Referendum Libertarian? I call it the libertarian road to nowhere, but this is standard fare and to be expected from many who self-describe as left-libertarians.
Living in the vacuum of theory or in some libertarian fantasy world (both of which happen to be places where many libertarian thinkers live), the answer to Richmans question is a resounding no.
I have concerns about secession by referendum. Individual secession, of course, is no problem; thats simply libertarianism.
My concerns about group (not individual) secession are over the process of peaceful separation, namely, the referendum. Libertarians have long criticized political democracy that is, the settling of public matters by majority vote either directly or through so-called representatives as inherently violative of individual rights. By what authority does a majority lord it over a minority?
Well, doesnt this critique apply to referenda on secession?
Richman asks: why should the minority those who may prefer to stay within the old system be forced to secede? It is a fair question. If you want pure theory, a political vote is not libertarian as a minority is forced to the will of the majority. I agree with this wholeheartedly.
With this preamble out of the way, lets get to the meat of Richmans piece:
Does this mean we libertarians have no remedy for people who wish not to live under the central government of a large nation-state?
Great! Lets have Richmans solution:
Of course we have: anarchism, in which each individual is sovereign and free to contract with market firms for security and dispute resolution.
So
since libertarians cannot support secession by referendum, we are left with convincing seven billion people of the value of political, individual anarchy. They will all just opt out at the same moment no pushback from the state or even their neighbors. All of them, simultaneously, having this aha moment.
This is Richmans solution.
Expanding on this idea, he cites Roderick Long:
The concept of panarchy comes from an 1860 work of that title by the Belgian botanist and political economist Paul Émile de Puydt (1810-1891). The essence of his panarchist proposal is that people should be free to choose the political regime under which they will live without having to relocate to a different territory.
Under panarchism, individuals could in effect secede, but their next-door neighbors need not. Problem solved! This may not satisfy nationalists big and small, but it would protect individuals.
Thats it, lickety-split! Problem solved! Seven billion people will simultaneously grasp the concept that they do not have to live under the same governmental jurisdiction as their neighbor!
I have not taken leave of my senses. I realize that panarchism is not on todays agenda. But it will never be on it if we never talk about it. With secession and conflict in the news, what could be a better time?
I am fully supportive of talking about ideas and especially ideas supportive of decentralization. Does this support for discussion therefore exclude the possibility of supporting an action that helps bring a decentralizing idea one step closer to fruition?
Lets Compare
Richman road to nowhere: somehow, after we talk about it for a while, seven people will spontaneously decide to secede to break from their current, forced, political bonds and form new, voluntary bonds. They will all simultaneously grasp the idea that they do not have to live under the same governmental jurisdiction as their neighbor.
bionics road to somewhere: libertarianism in theory is decentralization in practice. We will not get from something less than 200 political units to seven billion or 1.5 billion (one per household) or even a few thousand without getting to 201 first.
The libertarian solution for those within a seceding unit who do not wish to secede is to support the next secession and the next one and the next one. But we wont get to the fourth secession (or four-hundredth or four-thousandth) without supporting the first one.
The western world is handing libertarians the solution to all of our pontificating on a silver platter, yet too many libertarians (and Richman isnt alone) are unable to grasp this. There is not a country in the western world that is immune from this reality today current polities are fracturing.
Libertarians such as Richman are perfectly acceptable to those who support the status quo. They are harmless; they are safe to the regime; they pose absolutely no danger.
Libertarians such as these are on a road to nowhere.