Addition to Chapter 49

(Added Jan 4, 2025)

Discussing Freedom vs Discussing Improvements to a Slave Society

Sioux man Sitting Bull said “The life of white men is slavery. They are prisoners in their towns and farms.”[xxx-griid sitting bull speech] He was speaking about Americans, but this is true of any unhealthy culture. Everyone in an unhealthy culture is a slave, even the rich. Everyone is expected to support the exploitative rulers, and those who don’t comply get punished. The rich and soldiers get exploited, as explored in Chapter 38. Police with integrity get punished, as explored in Chapter 32. Prisons offer a great example: the warden is far more comfortable than the prisoners, but he or she would be punished if they tried to release the prisoners who had been unjustly imprisoned. Of course, some slaves are much less comfortable than others. That’s why if a person had to choose whether to be a prisoner or a prison warden, most would choose prison warden — but neither wardens nor prisoners are free.

Many political discussions essentially explore how to improve life while remaining “prisoners in [our] towns and farms.” For example, many political debates discuss how to have a more comfortable profit economy. Should there be more public transportation or more bike lanes? Should there be better vehicle fuel efficiency, or more school funding and higher education standards? I support all these improvements, but it’s helpful to me to remember that none of these questions address the exploitation at the heart of the culture. None of these changes will end the widespread financial desperation inherent in a market economy, or create a way of life where the economy rewards generosity rather than selfishness.

In other political debates, people discuss the most efficient way to arrange their exploitative economy. Is it better to live in a capitalist or libertarian society, where individuals can own lots of property and the government protects their private property rights? Or should we live in a socialist or communist society, where the government controls more wealth directly and hopefully provides more public services? Some people prefer capitalism because they see how exploitative and unfree life could be under a heavy-handed government, and some people prefer socialism or communism because they see how exploitative and unfree life would be with rich private landlords and unfettered corporate greed. All their fears are valid: none of these economic systems generates a free society without rulers. Capitalism, communism, libertarianism, and socialism are all variations on a profit economy that, in practice, encourage and reward selfishness, and all of them allow rulers and the rich to exploit everyone else.

As long as people only debate how to have a more efficient or comfortable slave society, nothing will fundamentally change. Real transformation will be possible once enough people discuss how to create a truly healthy culture among themselves, where everyone stands for a culture of mutual respect, and nobody rules over anybody else.

(All citations are available in the ebook.)