Libertarian Community of Utopia:
One Country, Three Systems
by Adrian C. Hinton
(to table of contents of FNF archives) (to start of essay) (to reply by Roy Halliday)
Outline
--introduction
One Country: Utopia may Be an Option?
Three Systems: Inner Utopia, Outer Utopia, and the Proprietary
States
Anarchy and Inner Utopia
Minarchy and Outer Utopia
Proprietary States and Liberty City
National Politics and Utopian Identity
International Relations and Trilateral Defense
This paper develops a political framework inside which the libertarian advocates of proprietary communities, limited government, and market anarchism would be able to peacefully coexist as a single free nation. Embellished with some fictional details and humorous elements, I'd like to show exactly how it could be done.
Libertarians, imagine it's 2050.
One Country: Utopia May Be an Option?
The hypothetical country detailed is the Libertarian Community of Utopia (LCU). This free nation consists of three differing "libertarianisms"—one anarchist system, one minarchist system, and one proprietary system—merging as a libertarian society for mutual economic benefit, trilateral moral support, and gradual ideological perfection. Peace between these three systems is not a treaty or a constitution or a document of any sort, but a condition of permanent non-aggression between members of the LCU.
Importantly, theirs is not a military alliance. Because each member retains independent responsibility for defending its own territory, every citizen is guaranteed freedom of foreign policy, and any overseas intervention is done by private defense contractors. Since militia forces may be state-owned, or privately-owned, or armed individuals with their own weapons (depending on where), the LCU has no central military command. Instead, members of the LCU simply defend themselves, refuse to attack one another, and let their citizenry choose what overseas actions to support.
Libertarians all oppose the initiation of physical force, either by individuals or by governments, and libertarians all believe in non-aggression toward others. Therefore, regardless of which "libertarianism" one believes in—whether anarchist, minarchist, or proprietary—libertarians anywhere in the LCU will universally keep the peace alive, and the three "libertarianisms" practiced inside the LCU will be universally peaceful toward each other. The only threat would come from non-libertarian outside forces, or else (possibly) from an inside force trying to use anarchism as an excuse for violence; in the former case, a libertarian nation would have both sophisticated technology and motivated volunteers enough to repel any conceivable attack. In the latter case, such anarcho-terrorists would find themselves surrounded by both anarchist libertarians who don't believe in terrorism, and those non-anarchist libertarians who don't believe that anarchy is an excuse for violence. In basic terms, LCU would be enemy-proof.
Now that I have given the reader some idea of how the entire free nation would work, allow me to provide more information on the "libertarianisms" one can find there.
Three Systems: Inner Utopia, Outer Utopia, and the Proprietary States
Each of these distinct realms came into existence by purely free market means. First, a group of rich American libertarians called the Libertarian Colonization Society (LCS) opened talks with an impoverished Third World country, offering money for an undeveloped region of some 40,000 square miles. Next, the Libertarian Colonization Society held land auctions in cyberspace, screening all purchasers on ideology. Any avowed anarchists received land only in Inner Utopia, while minarchists from the Libertarian Party received only plots in Outer Utopia, and members of other ideological groups bought tracts in the Proprietary States. Finally, after pompous ceremonies, the new country was proclaimed to the U.S. and U.N. as the Libertarian Community of Utopia.
Western observers were initially confused about the LCU's name. Those on the Right immediately heard some type of L-word used, preceding Community and Utopia, and thereby assumed we were sissy left-wing socialists. Those on the Left who knew about libertarianism, seeing us reclaim such lofty themes as Utopia and Community, quickly moved toward smearing us as evil right-wing fascists. Meanwhile, those with no real hatred against libertarians noticed that we'd finally achieved (with one name) the Left-Right fusion we'd been advocating for so long. What else did we achieve?
Anyone in the United States with a self or a mind discovered that Ayn Rand's vision of humanity could finally be realized at last. After eventual conclusion of the founding auctions, there began a massive Libertarian exodus from the United States to the LCU. Arriving as settlers, they began to practice one of three specific forms of libertarianism. These differing "libertarianisms" found in the Libertarian Community of Utopia were intentionally divided as follows: Inner Utopia, occupying about 25% of the free nation's land area; Outer Utopia, occupying another 25% of the free nation; and the Proprietary States, which cover the remaining 50% of the free nation.
Inner Utopia is anarchist. It has no government and no central authority of any kind, and represents the type of radical libertarianism advocated by David Friedman and Murray Rothbard. The original inspiration for Inner Utopia came from Roderick Long, who suggested in a previous issue of Formulations ("One Nation, Two Systems: The Doughnut Model" in Vol. III, No. 4) that the very existence of an anarchy might become a rationale for non-libertarian states to invade and restore its "order." Therefore, any anarchy must be surrounded by the rest of a libertarian state with what the West would consider "order," such that nobody in the non-libertarian world tries to invade it. Because Inner Utopia has no state qua state, such services as defense, security, and justice are all provided through competing private agencies.
Outer Utopia is minarchist. The political system here is the more familiar variety of mainstream libertarianism associated with Harry Browne or Ayn Rand. It has both limited government and a minimal central authority; in other words, Outer Utopia has the same essential views as the Libertarian Party. Because Outer Utopia has a state qua state providing the objective protection of individual rights, the police, the courts, and the military are all non-competing agencies and government-monopoly functions.
The Proprietary States are proprietary. Each has a private government, owned and controlled by some group of libertarian idealists, plus an explicit social contract defining all rights and all obligations within that particular Proprietary State. These systems resemble the fictional Utopias of Spencer MacCallum and J. Neil Schulman; some are Christian, some are Marxist, some are Randian, and some have other ideas. One of the Proprietary States, Liberty City, serves as the unofficial capitol for the LCU; it is a small privately-owned minarchy, constructed on 100 square miles of ground that was not sold in the 2050 cyber-auctions to any outside buyers. Also retained by the LCS is a perimeter area divided into Proprietary Defense Zones, which are explained later on.
Anarchy and Inner Utopia
At the very center of the LCU is Inner Utopia, which occupies about 10,000 square miles inside the free nation. As aforementioned, the other two "libertarianisms" form a pair of concentric rings around it, conferring protection from non-libertarians who otherwise would invade anarchies. This place used to be a primeval mountainous forest roamed by weird nomadic tribes, and it remains stateless today. Everything is privately done.
Inner Utopia is a mix of Central Park and Galt's Gulch. Environmental anarchist groups patrol perhaps half of Inner Utopia, based from multi-storied archaeological towns surrounded by pristine wilderness. Market anarchist groups control the other half, and have one very large city known simply as Laissez-Faire. Inner Utopia will one day be known for its great philosophers, who solved the conflict of capitalism versus nature.
Minarchy and Outer Utopia
Completely surrounding Inner Utopia is Outer Utopia, which occupies another 10,000 square miles of the free nation's total land area. Outer Utopia came into being after the cyber-auctions of 2050, when thousands of extremely disgruntled Libertarians in the U.S. purchased individual tracts here and emigrated en masse. They unanimously created a limited government with only court, security, and defense services, plus a voting system handled entirely via computer network. Civil liberties, free enterprise, unrestricted speech, and unrestricted lifestyles are all guaranteed in Outer Utopia.
American expatriates, including those previously with the Libertarian Party, say that apolitical immigrants would be most comfortable here. To those in Outer Utopia, playing politics is an immoral practice among the Earth's less-developed peoples. There are no _organized political parties, and also no full-time government officials.
Proprietary States and Liberty City
Completely surrounding Outer Utopia are the Proprietary States, which together compose another 20,000 square miles of the free country. Owing to their peripheral location as well as their unusual political views, the Proprietary States are considered the "lunatic fringe" of libertarian society. They attract only those people who want to join with other people of like mind and build an ideological State together, and with libertarian ethics, this can only be done on property you personally possess claim to. The Proprietary States offer idealistic libertarians the chance to practice any philosophy, as long as their community does not violently aggress against the other members of the LCU.
Overall, the Proprietary States have a fractious political environment, as some ideological communities fail and are purchased by successful ones, and also as new Proprietary States based on better ideas get started. The shifting territorial patchwork is not unlike that of medieval Europe. Among the many Proprietary States are found:
Finally, along the outermost edge of the Proprietary States are the Proprietary Defense Zones. These are mile-wide strips of ground, some thirty in all, which totally encircle the free nation. Each contains impressive fortifications, similar to the Berlin Wall in scale, which discourages anyone lacking air mobility from attacking the free nation. For the unlikely event that a Zone might be breached, smart mines along with smart guns would be concealed behind any Zone's fortifications. Furthermore, each Zone can be resized at the discretion of the Libertarian Colonization Society, which is the actual owner of all thirty. Proprietary Defense Zones are named for a libertarian writer or novel character of some type, followed by the obligatory abbreviation: "Rothbard PDZ," "Danneskjöld PDZ," and so forth. Troops from the Libertarian Defense Forces are stationed in each Proprietary Defense Zone, as explained later.
National Politics and Utopian Identity
Regional identity is partly overridden by the fact that everyone in the LCU can call himself or herself "libertarian," regardless of what region or what system he or she lives under; this particularly contributes to an open-minded citizenry willing to discuss libertarian theory with anyone else in Utopia. Like objectivity in science, objectivity in politics is arrived at by competing theories, and a continual analysis of the issues.
Regional competition has proven trilaterally beneficial to the people of Utopia. Essentially, the three systems of libertarianism practiced within the LCU are meant to check and balance each other. If some people are prejudiced or exploitative in Outer Utopia or Inner Utopia, they soon feel economic boycott from, and mass emigration to, those of the Proprietary States which don't tolerate prejudice or exploitation. If any of the Proprietary States become too restrictive of individual liberty, and devolve to either religious fanaticisms or socialist dictatorships, they will find residents escaping to the other regions of Utopia. Given that all three systems are confined to a country about the size of Ohio, and connected by superhighways, mobility is not at all a problem.
The system of the LCU is thus tailor-made for nonconformists who want to try their version of the ideal system. Just as it is much easier to vote with your feet than to convince 51% of your neighbors to agree with you, so it is also expected that you will vote with your feet rather than try to coerce any of your neighbors into agreement. Because libertarians also happen to be self-governing and self-defending neighbors, the idea of coercing other people will not be a viable option for any non-libertarians, and moving to a different locale will basically be the only option available to such people. There is no such action in life as "doing something as a collective society." There is only "doing something as an individual person" in society, and nothing else.
International Relations and Trilateral Defense
Following Thomas Jefferson's axiom, the Libertarian Community of Utopia shall maintain peace, commerce, and honest friendships with all nations, and entangling alliances with none. Embassies are maintained by other countries in Liberty City, including the United States and the LCU's immediate neighbors. Additionally, ten more market-oriented countries from the United Nations are permitted ten-year leases of embassy space from the Libertarian Colonization Society, who hold sovereignty over Liberty City. Incidentally, countries that lose ground to others and become less market-oriented can be denied lease renewal, which subtly promotes more freedom!
Although Outer Utopia and some of the Proprietary States have elected officials, the country as a whole has no elections at all. Each year, the Libertarian Colonization Society holds a televised competition for the selection of a "Mr. Utopia" as well as a "Ms Utopia" to represent the country internationally. To show political correctness, the judges and the pageant are entirely co-ed. To prevent titles from being monopolized by (say) European underwear models, the LCS includes both ideological qualification and a residency requirement. Those people who are against individualism or against capitalism need not even apply. If selected, both "Mr. Utopia" and "Ms Utopia" will tour the world as representatives of Utopia. Also every year, the Libertarian Colonization Society will appoint ambassadors to any of the countries allowed to maintain embassies within Utopia. Ambassadors are to be selected from among runners-up in the competition.
Foreign policy is perhaps the most controversial issue among libertarians I've associated with. Libertarians absolutely do not believe in attacking other countries first under any circumstance. However, there are some borderline cases debated inside the movement itself. What about a statist country building up for a strike against the free nation, with its armies massing on the border somewhere? What about a squad of terrorists disguised as mere immigrants, carrying concealed guns or "suitcase nukes"? These are problems I hope to address intelligently from libertarian ideology.
The Libertarian Defense Forces are the Utopian equivalent of NATO. They are a military force both owned and employed by the Libertarian Colonization Society, and subject to LCS scrutiny, and they are available to fight for any financier in any free nation. Most of their time will be spent on the borders of the LCU, stationed in Proprietary Defense Zones along the perimeter of the free nation. They are allowed to screen as well as search immigrants for any of the Proprietary States willing to pay for such a service. Should any statist nation attempt to invade the LCU, the Libertarian Defense Forces would be the first line of defense against any attack. (Similarly, if any statist nation had designs on the LCU and assembled armies near the border, the Libertarian Defense Forces could follow private mercenary units as the second wave of soldiers into battle. However, they would be recalled to the LCU as soon as any combat had ceased.)
Government defense agencies exist only in Outer Utopia, plus those Proprietary States that have monopolistic governmental provision of defense. Such governments are absolutely held to a single policy: force only in self-defense, inside the LCU itself. This would mean that Outer Utopia could not send troops into a neighboring country, but could send troops to reclaim an occupied Proprietary State, or to destroy some terrorist group hiding out in Inner Utopia that had committed violent acts elsewhere. These forces would be independently commanded by their respective governments.
Private defense agencies exist only in Inner Utopia, plus certain Proprietary States that contractually permit them. Providers of defense coverage sell this service just as providers of insurance coverage sell their service: fees for personal coverage in the event of foreign attack. This would mean that tanks or aircraft would not be used except for training exercises or actual combat. While it is conceivable that the Mafia or the Yakuza might attempt to go into business as a private defense agency somewhere inside Inner Utopia, then coerce other people to purchase coverage or obey them, it is also undeniable that others elsewhere in the LCU would likewise be free to go into the business and destroy unethical operators. The initiation of force being considered an absolute evil under libertarianism, it is not likely that criminal operators would survive. (Remember, private mercenaries from elsewhere in the LCU could gang up on them.)
Private mercenary units can be owned by anyone in the LCU, and sometimes operate overseas, as countries surrounding the free nation are not always politically stable. However, because individuals cannot be drafted for public sacrifice or taxed for public warfare in a libertarian society, mercenary units are never carelessly used. They would be employed if a neighboring country showed signs of overthrowing a statist regime, and then only in support of rebels inside the neighboring country. The other country could always pay them for garrison duty after the statist government had been utterly smashed, and then we libertarians might set up another free nation.
Unorganized militia groups, along with unorganized libertarian individuals, could be found virtually everywhere in the free nation. With the exception of some Proprietary States, there would exist no regulation of weapons in the LCU, and every one of these groups or individuals would possess stun-weapons or fire-weapons of some type. Trained and motivated, they would fight most effectively in self-defense.
Lastly, allow me to restate the obvious: libertarian decentralism. Each member of the LCU retains independent responsibility for its own foreign policy; although there may be some cases where multiple systems cooperate, there is no central command of them. Every citizen of the LCU also retains freedom of foreign policy. This includes freedom to fight (or not to fight) in accordance with what he or she believes, along with freedom to support private overseas actions (or oppose private overseas actions) as he or she decides. In fact, it all follows quite logically from the following paragraph:
Adrian C. Hinton has read far too much Libertarian and Objectivist literature for his own good. When individual liberties are finally secured somewhere on Earth, he will almost certainly leave the United States.
(to
table of contents of FNF archives) (to
outline) (to top of page)