Is a Voluntary Society Right Around the Corner?

I tend to be a bit pessimistic concerning the short-term prospects for liberty, which is why I tend to focus on personal empowerment, living liberty, leading by example, working on ways to become freer, and educating others. 

Joel Valenzuela, however, is a bit more optimistic, and he makes a great point in his piece for The Desert Lynx:

The most significant development in recent memory isn’t the computer. It isn’t the smartphone. It isn’t even the internet, though it would never have been able to succeed to this level without the web.

I’m talking about consent. No, not the so-called consent of the governed, which equates to government whether you like it or not, with a little voting apparatus thrown in there to keep you happy. I’m talking about a voluntary world.

The world is changing in profound, significant ways. The people are waking up from the illusion that they are represented by their government. Bitcoin, a currency created without any government involvement or blessing whatsoever, continues its shakily persistent march towards integration into the economy. Even policing, something that even some staunch anti-government types will agree is something the state needs to provide, is being done privately. Voluntarily. Much better even, as the police state continues its transition from cautious ally to full-on predator. The involuntary world is slowly, but surely, eroding.

I’m not saying anarchy is the answer to all our problems, because it isn’t. It’s the precondition that allows for voluntary solutions to the world’s problems to fully take root. Though, from the way things are looking, the voluntary world is growing faster than the involuntary world can recede. We may never see the government as we know it collapse into a pile of burning rubble. Instead we will probably see it become less and less relevant to the day-to-day operations of society, until one day we look at the empty shell of the state and collectively ask “Do we still need that old thing?” before removing it completely.

Prepare to challenge your notions of what is and isn’t possible. Prepare to let go of the vestiges of our dark and barbaric past. Prepare to forget everything you thought you knew about how the world has to work. The voluntary world is coming.