Four Arguments Against Authority

1. Efficiency and Motive. The typical argument often put forward by conservatives (though they never apply it consistently) is that the government is inefficient. The government has little or no motive to to supply you with your needs and interests, and I will even go a step further and say that its motives in general are entirely opposite to yours. There are those with money and influence that have the power to lobby the government, while you probably at best have a vote.

The general solution provided to this problem is democracy. However the amount of those hired by the government that you get to vote for is so limited that it has little or no effect. If we voted on every speed limit sign, every teacher, and every government bureaucrat we may have some effect on limiting corruption within the government but the process would be so insanely time consuming it clearly wouldn't solve the problem of inefficiency. But even if democracy fixed all problems of corruption and lack of motive, and could be done efficiently then democracy is a still form of authority (the authority of the majority) and the rest of the arguments provided below will thus still apply.

2. Central Planning. The world is filled with billions of people that all have their own unique and complex needs, interests, and desires. Often times it it put forward that because our industrial society is so complicated we need government central planning to keep things in balance (note every action taken by the government in the same of the financial crisis) however the argument from complexity is an argument for freedom, not power. The possibility of a committee of people in power (A) having the motive and (B) having the knowledge to provide you with its “service” is very unlikely

An entrepreneur risks significant amounts of money and puts forward significant time and energy while at the same time paying very close attention to market trends, prices and interest rates to try and provide you with your service within a limited area and population. While at the same time competing with others to find the best price and method to provide you with that service. The government simply puts forward a blanket plan for the entire population based on the limited knowledge of those in a certain committee. And if the plan fails it it will almost surely be blamed on capitalism or freedom (note Michael Moore's new movie).

For example many believe the issue of poverty is as simple as giving (or taking from some people and then giving) money to people who doesn't have money. However if this was the case (A) sense the “War on Poverty” we should be a decrease in poverty and (B) Africa would be pretty well off place by now! Neither is the case, poverty is a complex issue with complex solutions that can only be provided by freedom, not authority.

For another example take the “War on Drugs”. If central planning worked we should expect the war on drugs to be going very well. However after the countless dollars spent, lives lost, and freedoms taken away the addiction rate to illegal drugs remains at 1.3% of the population as it did long before the “War on Drugs” was ever put into action. Many would even say its worse than it was before. Drug addiction and the drug economy is a complex issue with complex solutions. Do we really expect anything better when it comes to health-care?

3. Human Nature. Probably one of the most common arguments for authority is based on human nature “Human beings are X (greedy, self-destructive) so we need government controls on Y(welfare, war on drugs).” This translates into “We can't be trusted with freedom, but they can be trusted with power”. Something to always remember, even if it is obvious, is that the government is made of human beings. If you make blanket statement that people are too greedy and self destructive to be free, then what does that say about those in power? Any argument that you put forward against freedom due to human nature applies tenfold to those in power.

We can't be trusted with freedom, but they can be trusted with power. We cannot be trusted with our own money, but they can be trusted with an entire economy. We can't be trusted with guns, but they can be trusted with an entire military and nuclear weapons. The list is endless. Our problems are always blamed on freedom and rarely on the existence of a government that holds gun to our necks every moment of our life.

4. Moral Contradiction. Authority is fundamentally a moral contradiction, it can only exist by applying opposite moral rules to everyone else than what it applies to it's self. When I take money from someone it is called theft, when the government does so it is called taxes. If I were to kill a man I would be called a murderer, however if I drop a bomb killing hundreds (that may or may not be terrorists, is there really anyway to really know?) in Iraq I am a war hero. The state reserves for its self the right of violence, and for the rest of us submission to that violence (consider a similar contradiction in communism when it comes to property rights. It doesn't matter the type of government, some just applying the contradictions more consistently).

The justification for this contradiction is always based on some kind of collectivism from “the good of society” or “the greatest good for the greatest number” or “race” or “class”. However there is no such thing as race, class, or society, these are simply ways to classify individuals. The “good of society” ends up meaning “the good of some people over the good of others.” Society does not have needs, wants, or interests, only individuals do, and any moral theory that cannot apply its ethical standard consistently to each individual at all given times and places, is simply a moral theory that applies different rules to different people for arbitrary reasons. These contradictory moral theories always end up justifying authority and often result in the deaths of millions. There is nothing more dangerous than false morality.