6) Anarchist Essays: Human Nature

Probably the most common argument against anarchy, libertarianism, and capitalism.  Is that "human nature is self destructive/evil so we need an entity called government that acts contrary to human nature."

The question to be asked is obvious. Isn't government made of human beings?

As libertarians and anarchists we are consistently trying to get people to see that what ever you apply to human beings you must also apply to government. If it is bad to murder, then it is also bad for government to kill, If it is bad to counterfeit then it is also bad for government to print money, if taking money is stealing then taxes must be held to the same standard.

If morality can be turned upside down simply by some group of people calling them selves government then morality no longer holds any power or meaning because it is not longer consistent and universal.

Like morality, and economics must be applied consistently to government so must human nature. You cannot say that human beings are corrupt but say that government is good.  Because the government is human.

If human nature is good, then we don't need government.  If human nature is evil, then it doesn't matter if you have a government. If people are hell bent on killing each other laws will make no difference. If it is some where in the middle good and evil (which is almost surely is) then having a government only allows a way for the evil to gain power of the good.

If human greed and corruption is a problem you are concerned with how is a government an answer to such things? A government just makes the possibility of such things easier.

How does a monopoly on violence fix the problem of violence? How is it that giving people authority over others fixes the problem of corruption?

We must have a new view of government.  We must understand human nature, governments nature, and the relationship between the two. Rather then start out with the bias that government is good and noble because we have been told so our whole lives.

The "Testimony"

Something I am often faced with is called a "testimony". What happens is that often during a discussion about my lack of faith, someone will take a moment to state quite emotionally that "they know that god lives" and usually something about how much it has improved their lives.  Surely this is harmless right? I would disagree.

There are many things within religion that try to turn a healthy skepticism of ideas, into an unhealthy doubt of self.  I believe the "testimony" is one of these things. The point of the testimony is not based on merit or any appeal to reasoning, but rather the person uses does their best to make sure that you feel insecure about your beliefs because they some how "know".

consider how silly it would be if I said very emotionally, "I KNOW that there is a unicorn on the dark side of the moon, and doing a tap dance to praise it every night has greatly improved my life, and I really just want you to have the same happiness that I have found."

Clearly when someone offers a "testimony" they are not appealing to your intelligence.  They are appealing to something else entirely: Intimidation. "I KNOW I am right, I can't tell you know I know it, its too magical, but I know..."

If they truly care about you, then their actions will speak for themselves.  If god has improved their life so much then their own well being should be perfectly clear without them trying to convince you.

But I have never gotten the "testimony" from someone that actually did care about me, or someone who actually did have a wonderful life.

Maybe they aren't the worst people, maybe they don't have the worst life, but that's the point.  If you life is just average, and you treat me pretty averagely but you tell me how much you care about me, and how much your beliefs have changed your life for the better... well then you kind of just look stupid, and it becomes pretty clear that you haven't examined your own life, or you are just trying to intimidate me, rather then reason with me.

The "testimony" is just a cheap shot that works on people with a low self-esteem.