What I Believe

By David Butler

I believe in the principle of equal freedom. Simply stated, it means that every human being has the same right to be free to live their lives as they choose as long as they let everyone else have the same right. It follows that every act of coercion is a violation of this principle. That is why I am a voluntaryist – one who believes that all human interactions should be voluntary.

Taking it a step further, I believe that if mankind organized their lives around this principle, they would maximize the general welfare. By this I mean that free people would engage in free enterprise and build free markets that operate to the benefit of all. This is the essence of libertarian economic theory.

I believe that people care most about themselves and the people close to them – family, friends, associates, etc. In this context, we all operate in what we perceive to be our self interest. When we build free markets, we are in tune with this essential nature.

When we institutionalize the idea that the initiation of force is an acceptable way to organize, we give power to people who, just like every other person on the planet, will use the power in their own self interest. The corruption that follows is not incidental and avoidable, it is systemic and inevitable.

I believe that free markets can provide every human need better than any alternative ever devised. This includes all critically important services such as food, shelter, clothing, healthcare, education, banking, transportation, roads, as well as defense, courts, and police. Free markets work better because, from an economic point of view, every interaction between free people is a win-win proposition. Every coercive interaction is a win-lose proposition. If we can maximize the number of voluntary interactions and minimize the number of coercive ones, we will all be better off.

I understand that this is not the world we have today. In today’s world, mankind has organized into powerful states that have partitioned the globe and built massive military machines for protection. We have weapons of total destruction sitting on top of intercontinental ballistic missiles buried into silos across vast areas of the North American, European and Asian continents. Warfare is the norm, and for some nations, warfare is perpetual. Surveillance is ubiquitous, and markets are managed – not free. This is the world we were all born into. This is the world most of us accept as natural. The desire for change is weak.

But I believe that change is possible. There was a time when all mankind lived under monarchs of one sort or another. These monarchs organized a ruling class that managed the rest of the population as serfs. The serfs loved the kings and queens that literally owned them. I dare say that this type of organization started thousands of years ago with strong men taking power over early tribes. And yet, today, serfdom is history. Change did happen.

Today, governments are elected by the people, but owned by special interest groups. These governments have centralized so much power that change seems impossible. Wealth is flowing from the masses to the rich at an ever increasing rate. We are literally on a path back to serfdom.

But I believe that even now, change is possible. A move away from centralized superpowers to a more distributed model is possible. I believe that the closer power distribution gets to vesting all power in the individual, the better off we will be.

I believe that a world without any organization possessing the legal right to use force is possible. I believe that the generation that achieves this goal will be the generation that eliminates war and poverty – the two worst consequences of the current system. I believe that this is an end worth dreaming about. I believe that this is an end worth striving for.

[David Butler is a retired computer professional with a master’s degree in mathematics from Oxford University. He has been a libertarian and Voluntaryist since the 1970s.]