Part II: Chapter I

Much of the order prevailing among humanity is not the work of government. It springs from the principles of society and the natural constitution of human beings. It existed before government and would survive the abolition of government’s formal structures. The mutual dependence of one person upon another, and the reciprocal interests linking every part of a civilized community, form the great chain that holds it together. Landholders, farmers, manufacturers, merchants, tradespeople, and every other occupation prosper through the help they receive from one another and from the whole. Common interest regulates their dealings and makes their law; the laws established by common usage exert more influence than the laws of government. In short, society does for itself almost everything attributed to government.

To understand the kind and extent of government suitable for humanity, we must attend to human nature. Nature made people for social life and fitted them for their place in it. She made each person’s natural needs greater than any individual’s powers. No one can supply all those needs without society; the needs that press upon every person draw all people together as naturally as gravity draws things toward a center.

But Nature went further. She not only compelled people to live together by giving them diverse needs that mutual assistance can meet; she also planted social affections in them, unnecessary for mere survival but essential to happiness. At no point in life does this love of society cease. It begins and ends with our existence.

If we examine human nature closely—the variety of our needs, the differing talents by which we meet one another’s needs, our inclination toward society and toward preserving its benefits—we will readily see that much of what is called government is sheer imposition.

Government is needed only to provide for the few matters society and civilization cannot conveniently handle themselves; there are ample examples of everything government can usefully add being accomplished through society’s common consent without it.

For more than two years after the American War began, and longer in several American States, there were no established forms of government. The old governments had been abolished, and the country was too occupied with defense to turn its attention to founding new ones. Yet order and harmony were preserved as fully as in any European country. People have a natural capacity to adapt to their circumstances, and society still more so, since it draws on a wider range of abilities and resources. The moment formal government is abolished, society begins to act: people join together generally, and common interest yields common security.

Far from dissolving society, as some have claimed, the abolition of formal government has the opposite effect and draws people closer together. The portion of society’s organization previously entrusted to government reverts to society and works through it. Once people have grown accustomed to social and civilized life, both through natural instinct and through mutual benefit, enough of its principles always remain in practice to carry them through whatever changes in government they find necessary or convenient. In short, humanity is so naturally social that it is almost impossible to drive people out of society.

Formal government is only a small part of civilized life. Even the best government human wisdom can devise exists more in name and idea than in actual effect. The safety and prosperity of each person and of the whole depend far more on society’s great foundational principles, on commonly accepted customs maintained by mutual effort, and on the unceasing circulation of interests that invigorates civilized humanity through a million channels, than on anything even the best government can accomplish.

The more perfect civilization becomes, the less government it needs, for it increasingly manages and governs its own affairs. Yet the practice of old governments so contradicts this plain reasoning that their expenses rise in precisely the proportion in which they ought to fall. Civilized life requires only a few general laws, and these serve such obvious common purposes that the result would be nearly the same whether the machinery of government enforced them or not. Consider what first draws people into society and what then guides their dealings with one another: by the time we reach what is called government, we find that the natural interaction of society’s parts already performs almost all the work.

In these matters, human beings act with more consistency than they realize, or than governments would have them believe. All the great laws of society are laws of nature. Trade and commerce, between individuals as between nations, follow laws of mutual interest. People observe those laws because it serves both parties to do so, not because of formal laws imposed or interposed by their governments.

Yet how often government disrupts or destroys our natural inclination to live together! When it ceases to grow from society’s principles and instead claims an existence for itself, acting through favoritism and oppression, it causes the very evils it ought to prevent.

Look back at England’s riots and disturbances at various times, and we find they did not arise from a lack of government. Government itself generated them. Rather than unite society, it divided it, stripped away its natural cohesion, and bred grievances and disorders that otherwise would not have arisen. In associations people form freely for trade or any other undertaking that has nothing to do with government, guided solely by the principles of society, we see how naturally the various parties come together. The comparison shows that governments, far from always creating or maintaining order, often destroy it. The riots of 1780 sprang solely from surviving prejudices that government itself had encouraged. England, however, has other causes as well.

Excessive and unequal taxation, however cleverly its methods are disguised, always betrays itself in its effects. It drives a large part of the community into poverty and discontent, leaving them perpetually on the verge of unrest. Unfortunately deprived of access to information, they can easily be stirred to violence. Whatever appears to cause a riot, the real cause is always a lack of happiness. Such unrest shows that something in the system of government damages the well-being on which society depends.

But fact carries more weight than reasoning, and America provides an example that confirms these observations. If any country might be thought least likely to live in harmony, it is America. Composed of people from different nations,*16 accustomed to different forms and habits of government, speaking different languages, and differing even more in their ways of worship, such a people might seem incapable of union. Yet simply by building government on the principles of society and the rights of man, every difficulty recedes and every part comes into heartfelt accord. There the poor are not oppressed, nor are the rich privileged. Industry is not humiliated by a court’s lavish extravagance at its expense. Taxes are few because government is just; with nothing to make people miserable, there is nothing to breed riots and disturbances.

A metaphysical thinker like Mr. Burke would have tortured his ingenuity to find a way of governing such a people. He would have supposed that some needed to be managed by fraud, others by force, and all by some ingenious device; that talented people must be hired to deceive the ignorant, and pomp and spectacle deployed to dazzle the common people. Lost amid his abundant investigations, he would have considered and reconsidered the question until he missed the plain and easy road directly before him.

One great benefit of the American Revolution was that it revealed the principles of governments and laid bare their deceptions. Every earlier revolution had taken place within the atmosphere of a court, never on the broad ground of a nation. Its factions were always courtiers, and however ardently they sought reform, they carefully preserved the fraud inherent in their profession.

In every case they took care to present government as a bundle of mysteries understood only by themselves. They hid from the nation the one thing worth knowing: government is no more than a national association acting on the principles of society.

Having sought to show that social and civilized humanity can itself accomplish almost everything needed for its protection and governance, I must now turn to the existing old governments and ask whether their principles and practices correspond to that truth.

Much of the order we see among people does not come from government. It comes from the way society works and from human nature. It existed before government and would remain if formal government ended. People depend on one another, and every part of a civilized community has a stake in the others. These ties hold the community together. Landowners, farmers, manufacturers, merchants, tradespeople, and people in every occupation benefit from the help they receive from one another and from the community as a whole. Shared interests guide what they do and make rules for them. Rules established by common practice have more influence than government laws. In short, society does almost everything for itself that people credit to government.

To understand what kind of government people need, and how much of it, we must look at human nature. Nature made people for social life and equipped them for it. It gave each person needs greater than one person can meet alone. No one can meet all their needs without help from society. Because everyone has these needs, they draw everyone into society as naturally as gravity draws things toward a center.

Nature has done more. It did not just bring people together by giving them different needs that they can meet by helping one another. It also gave them feelings of affection for others. These feelings are not necessary for survival, but they are essential to happiness. Our desire for company stays with us throughout life. It begins and ends with our lives.

Look closely at how people are made: they have different needs and different abilities to meet one another's needs. They are drawn to society and therefore want to protect the benefits it brings. Then it is easy to see that much of what is called government is simply a fraud.

Government is needed only for the few tasks that society and civilization cannot easily handle. There are examples showing that society, acting by common consent and without government, has already done everything useful that government can add.

For more than two years after the American War began, and for an even longer time in several American States, there were no established forms of government. The old governments had been abolished, and the country was too busy defending itself to set up new ones. Yet order and harmony held as firmly during that time as in any European country. People are naturally able to adapt to their circumstances. Society is even better at it, because it brings together more kinds of skills and resources. Once formal government is abolished, society starts to act. People join together, and their common interest gives them common security.

Some claim that abolishing a formal government breaks up society. The opposite is true: it brings people closer. Society takes back the work it had assigned to government and does that work itself. People have grown used to civilized social life both by instinct and because they benefit from one another. Enough of its principles always remain in practice to carry them through whatever changes in government they find necessary or useful. In short, human beings are so naturally social that it is almost impossible to remove them from society.

Formal government is only a small part of civilized life. Even the best government people can devise matters more as a name and an idea than as a practical force. What protects and supports individuals and the whole community is, above all, the basic principles of society and civilization. It is the practices to which everyone agrees and which people uphold for one another. It is the constant movement of shared interests through a million channels that gives the whole civilized community its strength. These things matter far more than anything even the best-designed government can do.

The more fully developed a civilization is, the less it needs government, because it manages more of its own affairs. But old governments act in exactly the opposite way: their costs rise when they should be falling. Civilized life needs only a few general laws, useful enough to everyone that they work much the same whether or not a government formally enforces them. Consider what first brings people together into society and what later guides their dealings with each other. By the time we reach what is called government, we find that the various parts of society already do almost all the work through their natural dealings with one another.

In these matters people act more consistently than they realize, or than governments want them to believe. The great rules of society are rules of nature. Trade and commerce between individuals or nations are governed by mutual interest. People follow these rules because it benefits everyone involved, not because governments make laws about them or intervene.

But government often disrupts or destroys our natural tendency to live together. Instead of growing out of society's principles, it claims an existence of its own. When it gives some people favors and oppresses others, it causes the very problems it should prevent.

Think of the riots and unrest that have occurred in England. They were not caused by a lack of government. Government itself caused them. Rather than holding society together, it divided people. It weakened their natural ties and created grievances and disorder that otherwise would not have existed. Compare the groups that people freely form for trade or other activities without any government involvement. They act on the principles of society, and their members naturally come together. This comparison shows that governments are often not the source of order but its destroyer. The riots of 1780 came from lingering prejudices that the government itself had encouraged. England has other causes of unrest too.

Heavy and unequal taxes always show their effects, however cleverly the way they are collected is hidden. They push a large part of the community into poverty and dissatisfaction, leaving people close to unrest. These people unfortunately lack access to information, so they can easily be stirred to violence. Whatever seems to set off a riot, its real cause is always a lack of happiness. It shows that something is wrong with a system of government that damages the well-being on which society depends.

A real example is stronger than an argument, and America supports these points. If we judged by common assumptions, America would be the last place in the world to expect harmony. Its people come from different nations,*16 are used to different forms and customs of government, speak different languages, and differ even more in their ways of worship. It might seem impossible for them to unite. But when government is built on the principles of society and the rights of man, the problems disappear and all the groups come together willingly. The poor are not oppressed, and the rich get no special privileges. Working people are not discouraged by the dazzling excess of a court living lavishly at their expense. Taxes are low because government is fair. Nothing makes the people miserable, so nothing gives rise to riots and unrest.

A man given to abstract theories, like Mr. Burke, would have strained his imagination to work out how to govern such people. He would have assumed that some must be controlled by deception, others by force, and all by some elaborate scheme. He would have hired clever people to fool those who knew less, and used pomp and spectacle to captivate ordinary people. After all that elaborate thought, he would have kept reconsidering the problem and missed the simple, direct solution before him.

One great benefit of the American Revolution is that it revealed the principles of government and exposed the deception practiced by governments. Earlier revolutions took place inside the world of royal courts, never among a nation as a whole. The opposing sides were always courtiers. However much they talked of reform, they carefully protected the deception that kept their positions secure.

In every case, they portrayed government as a mystery that only they understood. They kept the nation from knowing the one useful fact: government is simply a national association built on the principles of society.

I have tried to show that people living together in civilized society can do almost everything needed for their own protection and government. Now we should look at the existing old governments and ask whether their principles and practices fit that fact.