Self-government

The idea that people require a police force or other form of coercive power as a way of ensuring social stability is one of the more resilient myths concerning human nature. There is a widespread belief that without the threat of violence and imprisonment, we would all turn into hooligans, looters, and killers at a moment’s notice.

The truth of the matter is that the vast majority of our social interactions take place without anyone thinking about any form of violence. We converse with family members, friends, acquaintences, and strangers on the street on a friendly basis without ever thinking about legal rules or the threat of prison. And when conflicts erupt between people, most of the time they end with nothing more than a heated argument. The ones that result in beatings and deaths are the tiny exception to this norm of non-violent social behavior, and in fact it is their rarity that makes them such a big deal. If violence was the general custom amongst humans, our species would have killed itself out a long time ago.

This insistence on the need for a police force creates a great deal of fear in society, because it makes people think that there is nothing that separates them from more base creatures. Because we are constantly monitored and observed, we come to believe that somehow we are dangerous brutes, that we might hurt ourselves or other people if we were not instilled with the threat of police action.

Such a belief also aids ruling elites in ensuring that we remain compliant in the face of widespread atrocities (such as torture and murder) committed overseas and a centralization of federal power that would make Washington and Jefferson spin in their graves. The message is that we shouldn’t question authority, because authority knows what is best for us.

But this idea — that humans are but mindless sheep who must be directed by a benevolent protector — is false. As M.K. Gandhi once observed, we are not sheep but lions, and it is the duty of those who know they are lions to tell others that they, too, are in fact lions as well. He wrote, “Some very ignorant lions will no doubt contest the knowing lion’s proposition…but, no matter how gross the ignorance may be, it will not be suggested that the lion who knows should sit still and not ask his fellow lions to share his majesty and freedom.”

As Gandhi and others have sought to teach, the greatest form of government lies within each of us. Every person is capable of governing herself, with the only rules coming from her own conscience and inner voice. For such a person, there is no government that can control her without her assent. Such a person is superior to all government.

If only more self-deluded lions might have the confidence to trust their abilities for creativity and love, they would surely surprise themselves with the mighty roar that would bellow from their souls. Powered by compassion and a sense of responsibility that comes with self-governance, they would discover their ability to tame the mightiest of governments. Slowly but surely, we might all awaken to the fact that none of us requires the threat of force, however minimal, as a way of ensuring social order.

When we realize that we are our own masters, we lay the foundation of a system founded on peace instead of violence, a social order where we might love and work in a manner of our own choosing. Self-government is the true underpinning of liberty and democracy, words that ring hollow today but might one day resonate with their full force once more.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 16th, 2005 at 6:34 pm and is filed under Alternative Living, Freedom and Democracy, Social Alienation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.