Jim Hlavac
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Economic Theory
| Economic Theory |
There are two types of conformity. There is that which arises
naturally in the cooperation between people in a given place and
time. Those who are willing to show up at the same church or club
will naturally agree on certain conforming behavior, indeed they may
even set their own written, even rigid, rules of conforming to the
group. That is the right of all cooperative groups -- to set their own
rules. And those rules can be however wacky as the group decides; it
is their group after all. But the hallmark of such a group is the
willingness, the purposeful adherence to the conformity demanded
of the group by the individuals who join that group.
This sort of conformity is totally within the bounds of reasonable
practical libertarianism. There is nothing inherently good or bad in
conformity. And even in a larger group of the nation there is a level
of conformity which is natural and of free will. There is no doubt
that such things as language, culture and even religion in a culture are
the product of the free will conformity of everyone within the
nation. Everyone pretty much agrees to the basic rules.
There is another sort of conformity -- that imposed by the state.
This conformity is always bad. The state, which is merely
individuals, has no moral right to impose its demand for conformity
-- for it is really just a group of individuals, usually claiming the
divine right to rule, who demand conformity against the wishes of
others. That interferes with the rights of association, cooperation
and at a fundamental level, the right to survival.
State conformity always comes from a gun. Think of the person
who doesn't want to conform to the culture he lives in. He should
have the right to move to a culture he wants to live in, but the vast
majority of the worlds' nations have long endeavored to prevent just
such a desire not to conform.
The prisons of the world are filled with people who did not want
to conform to the dictates of the state. We have seen a great
lessening in forced conformity, but it is still present throughout the
world, even in the United States.
naturally in the cooperation between people in a given place and
time. Those who are willing to show up at the same church or club
will naturally agree on certain conforming behavior, indeed they may
even set their own written, even rigid, rules of conforming to the
group. That is the right of all cooperative groups -- to set their own
rules. And those rules can be however wacky as the group decides; it
is their group after all. But the hallmark of such a group is the
willingness, the purposeful adherence to the conformity demanded
of the group by the individuals who join that group.
This sort of conformity is totally within the bounds of reasonable
practical libertarianism. There is nothing inherently good or bad in
conformity. And even in a larger group of the nation there is a level
of conformity which is natural and of free will. There is no doubt
that such things as language, culture and even religion in a culture are
the product of the free will conformity of everyone within the
nation. Everyone pretty much agrees to the basic rules.
There is another sort of conformity -- that imposed by the state.
This conformity is always bad. The state, which is merely
individuals, has no moral right to impose its demand for conformity
-- for it is really just a group of individuals, usually claiming the
divine right to rule, who demand conformity against the wishes of
others. That interferes with the rights of association, cooperation
and at a fundamental level, the right to survival.
State conformity always comes from a gun. Think of the person
who doesn't want to conform to the culture he lives in. He should
have the right to move to a culture he wants to live in, but the vast
majority of the worlds' nations have long endeavored to prevent just
such a desire not to conform.
The prisons of the world are filled with people who did not want
to conform to the dictates of the state. We have seen a great
lessening in forced conformity, but it is still present throughout the
world, even in the United States.