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The only service a government provides is coercion. That is it. Nothing else.

Governments don’t build roads. They use coercion to extort money from peaceful people and give some of that money to individuals to build roads.

Governments don’t provide security. They use coercion to extort money from peaceful people and give some of that money to individuals with guns to “protect” you.

Governments don’t provide education. They use coercion to extort money from peaceful people and give some of that money to individuals that force children to be educated.

Everything that government does requires coercion. Government provides no value. It is a middleman that doesn’t care about your wellbeing. It will always function inefficiently because it keeps a portion of the money it has extorted for itself. The services it extorts you to pay for are always inferior and more expensive than what the free market can provide. And because the government is not accountable to anyone for anything, people have no recourse when injured by the government.

When you go to a business for a product or service, you peacefully agree for an exchange of value. When you go to a government, you are requesting the only service the government provides: coercion. You are asking the government to use coercion to extort money from peaceful people to do what you want. No matter how you frame it or sugarcoat it. Asking the government for anything, no matter how “moral” it seems to be, is no different than asking a mafia to make sure your neighbor wears a mask.

If you believe that humanity needs government, then you are simply a violent individual that has outsourced the acts of coercion to a 3rd party. You are a statist that wants just the right amount of violence to function without getting your hands dirty.

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Discussion

BTC_P2P 1y ago

Great post, you nailed it.

Government is just the model of mafia that’s most palatable. They’ve spent centuries refining their tactics and marketing messages so that the subjects don’t quite understand (explicitly) they’re wards of the state and their productivity is perpetually stolen under threat of violence - because this works much better for the state. They only care about ease of operation and maximizing their ability to steal without revolt and resistance. They get a better ROI through tricker as opposed to using direct force which has diminishing returns and burns up goodwill much faster.

Most people under boot of western “governance” literally have Stockholm syndrome. They believe the state pursues the greater good and “citizens” best interests - breaking out of this matrix-like delusion is difficult and unnerving and most just can’t get there as far as I can tell.

MAHDOOD 1y ago

It really is just a well marketed and organized mafia. There are no checks and balances. There is no accountability. There is no fair trial. How can you have a fair trial when the judge is paid by the state? Lmao

BTC_P2P 1y ago

💯

The issue is that thus far these organizations always take and maintain power through force. And pissed off serfs can’t beat them at the game of violence so we can’t resist meaningfully. Bitcoin is really the first way which large groups can resist the state meaningfully in my opinion but we still have to live under their coercive regimes and either comply or get fucked up. We can live relatively well still under their control so that’s what we choose to do.

I’m hopefully that tech gets so advanced via exponential progress that there is a revolution in defense where a small jurisdiction can somehow defend itself from massive nation states. If that happens, then we may see the government-mob model begin to decline precipitously.

MAHDOOD 1y ago

After hyperbitcoinization it’ll be much more difficult to extort money from people. I think the sovereign individual thesis is the path that we see play out. Governments treat noncitizens better than their actual tax cattle. And Bitcoin allows you to easily leave the jurisdiction that is abusing you so the state will shrink until it is no longer a threat.

BTC_P2P 1y ago

Would be such a huge inflection point. I’ll do whatever it takes to support that timeline.

jonb 1y ago

I mostly agree, except for executing justice on behalf of victims. Governments exist to do violence for the sake of justice.

MAHDOOD 1y ago

So you believe that someone should have the authority to kill others?

jonb 1y ago

Yes; I just see it as a necessity for life on earth. When ppl are wronged they need justice.

MAHDOOD 1y ago

I think when someone is wronged, he should be made whole. For example, if someone stole my wallet then justice would be getting my money back plus compensation for my troubles. Instead, the justice system throws that thief in a prison and the owners of the prison make money.

jonb 1y ago

This is a good point. Restitution should be used more, and prisons don't make sense. But, what about violent crimes? If someone kills or rapes a loved one, I think the victims naturally and rightly desire retributive not just restorative justice.

MAHDOOD 1y ago

Yeah this is a little tough but let’s say someone you love was murdered by another person. How would you want justice served? Would you want to execute him?

jonb 1y ago

Maybe; it's hard to say. But, I don't think it should just be up to me as the victim. Essentially, I think this kind of justice should be administered by an authority. It shouldn't be up to the victims to decide or execute justice for themselves.

https://biblehub.com/esv/romans/13.htm

MAHDOOD 1y ago

I don’t believe that an authority has anymore right to do this than an ordinary person. An authority is a flawed human like all of us. What makes him an authority?

jonb 1y ago

I believe in a few but still legitimate positions of authority. Their authority flow from and they are responsible to the ultimate authority, who is God. I'd say a father has a similar although much broader kind of natural authority.

Functionally, I'd say governments should administer justice because ppl avenging themselves can lead to escalations of violence and some victims are too weak to avenge themselves.

ede3d957... 1y ago

Very powerful thoughts.