Clans, States, and Individual Liberty
We know that clan-based societies grow more liberal and less violent after they develop states, but would state-based societies grow less liberal if a decentralized order was to emerge?
We know that clan-based societies grow more liberal and less violent after they develop states, but would state-based societies grow less liberal if a decentralized order was to emerge?
Whether arising from the direct reduction of violence through the state’s capacity as the keeper of order, or as an accidental adaptation built on a tendency for the strong to exploit the weak, the rise of the state is associated a reduction in violence and increase in conditions that are favorable for trade and growth. At a time when the milk of human morality was only reserved for one’s closest kin, the reduction in violence brought on by the brute force of the state allowed for the development of commerce and culture that has since made the state irrelevant.
Can capitalism reclaim a portion of the moral high ground? For decades, the frustrating market pressures facing artists has left the creative class with a less-than-favorable opinion of capitalism, and it shines through in their works. The latest stirrings of a small pro-market contingency within the creative class might be an indicator of changing sensibilities.
The perennial problem of the male-skewed gender ratio within the libertarian movement may not be as perplexing or as unique as it first appears. To understand why so few women identify as libertarian, we need to understand the social trade-offs that they face when publicly supporting any radical ideology. Fortunately, this is one problem that is probably solving itself.