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is civil governance without the state plausible

Ep 12: Is Civil Governance Without The State Plausible?

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Summary – Is Civil Governance Without The State Plausible?

A discussion of the main points of Kerry Baldwin’s article on the plausibility of stateless civil governance and the common difficulty in imagining such a society. We talk about factors that may contribute to the failure of imagination such as the mere-exposure effect, the Overton window, and plausibility structures. Also mentioned are several examples of historically existing non-monopolistic civil governance. Spontaneous order is explained in terms of a consistent sphere sovereignty, and we provide resources on how civil governance can be practically and realistically provided without the state.

https://reformedlibertarians.com/012

Main Points of Discussion

00:00 Introduction
00:32 Episode description
Article discussed: Inconceivable! The Plausibility of a Stateless Society, by Kerry Baldwin
01:18 Previous episodes in series
1. Law and order, and the question of legitimacy
2. Human sinfulness, and the question of necessity
3. Economics and social hierarchy, and the question of inevitability
01:57 Main points of article on failure of imagination, and the question of the plausibility of stateless (non-monopolistic) civil governance
03:10 Reasons for difficulty in imagining non-monopolistic civil governance
Bias towards the familiar
05:21 The Overton window
The range of thinkable ideas in a society
08:58 Plausibility structures
Social realities that reinforce or help a belief seem true
10:14 What about the roads?
10:42 Historical examples of non-monopolistic civil governance
Previously mentioned:
Ancient Ireland
Law Merchant
Not-so-wild West
Other examples:
Quaker Pennsylvania
Medieval Iceland
Zomia (south Asian highlands), audio
[ index for The Libertarian Tradition podcast ]
13:01 Division of labor makes stateless society more plausible
13:46 Somalia is better-off without a state
14:58 Recap on Sphere Sovereignty
The Reformed Libertarianism Statement
18:55 Polycentric emergent (“spontaneous”) societal order
Popular-level article
Video essay
Bibliographic essay
Example of the price system
22:31 Practical outlines for how non-monopolist civil governance can be provided
Chaos Theory, by Robert Murphy [audio]
The Machinery of Freedom [2nd edition pdf], by David Freidman
Video summary

 

 

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The Christians for Liberty Network is a project of the Libertarian Christian Institute consisting of shows and hosts offering various perspectives on the intersection of Christianity and libertarianism. Views expressed by hosts and guests do not necessarily reflect the view of the organization, its staff, board members, donors, or any other affiliates (including other hosts or guests on the network). Guest appearances or interviews of any incumbents, officials, or candidates for any political, party, or government office should not be construed as endorsements. The Libertarian Christian Institute is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and does not endorse any political party or candidate for any political, government, or party office. For information about the Libertarian Christian Institute’s core values, please visit this page.

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