This is a question posed by a book I’m reading:
“Do you get anything out of obeying the instructions of employers, the restrictions of landlords, the laws of magistrates, people who have powers over you that you would never have given them willingly?”
I find the first part of the question less interesting than the latter because I obey employers, landlords, and “magistrates” in order to function within a system, regardless of how flawed that system may be. To survive within the system I am forced into submission to these powers, and they will always give me merely enough. My employer pays me enough not to quit, my landlord charges me enough to stay but not enough to leave, and our lawmakers function effectively enough to keep us from rebelling. The question of what I get is easy. Not more, just enough.
The interesting question is slipped in at the end (in the form of a premise) when it is stated that we would never have given these people power over us willingly. It’s an intentional assumption, but also a safe one considering the book’s subject, anarchy.
The statement made me pause and think, because in actuality I would not willingly give these people their power, so what right do they have to their power over me? Do I desire an employer, landlord, our current form of government, or even our current way of living? No. Unfortunately I have no choice but to unwillingly grant these forces power over me and my landbase, because for now I need them, because for better or worse they are essential to the function of the system I am in.
This question of willing empowerment drives home two things for me yet again. The first is that we undoubtedly live in a culture of submission. The second is that there is a better way to live, without the division of people into haves and have-nots, and without the many have-nots supporting the few haves (I’m not talking about communism).
Our system is built to serve few over many, and the goal of those few is to maintain their wealth and power. Our system does not work on a global scale and it never has, and if it does not work globally, it cannot work locally. The system does “work” to an extent, just not for me, the vast majority of humans, and most importantly our planet.
