Ideal Society

Introduction
Firstly, let's describe what the term Ideal Society is not.  It is not a "heaven" or a "paradise" where the world is devoid of crime, or violence, or hunger, or poverty.  Such views of heaven and paradize are not based on how we humans actually are and how we act.  Futurists may describe a future where humans surpass or evolve past their humanity and can thus achieve "heaven", but that is not what the Ideal Society is about.  The Ideal Society is an ideal yes, but it needs to be solidly based on a foundation of our actual humanity, and something that could theoretically be achieved through our own humanity.

Please note that this Stance has nothing to do with a true Heaven, brought about and orchestrated by God.  This Stance deals with human society, and thus human relationships.  God can be, and should be heavily involved on an individual level, but for a secular world, society needs to be based on the natural laws He laid down, not on a societal relationship with Him.  Anyways, He doesn't seem to have a relationship with Society as a whole since Christ tore the curtain and instigated individual relationships. 
  
Stance Summary
The Ideal Society is a society that is based upon the Primary Foundational Principle¹.  A Society that recognizes that man should not initiate violence upon another man.  If one thinks this seems simple, read the Primary Foundational Principle¹ post again.  A society that fully recognizes and is founded upon a man's individuality and ownership of himself and his property is a stateless society.  No coercive state, no coercive laws or police force, but instead it is comprised of voluntary authorities that provide the various needs of people.  It is not devoid of crime, criminal behavior or evil - that society will never exist excluding God's direct intervention - but instead deals with crime and criminal behavior justly^{2 & 3} and in a manner that doesn't remove them of their God-given human rights; which is the right to their body (Life), their freedom of choice (Liberty), and the products of their justly used labor (Property).

Personal Actions Based on Stance
An Ideal Society will never come unless people actively pursue the future they want and begin to understand the Golden Rule¹ and it's consequences.  As such, I educate myself on these matters and attempt describe how the Golden Rule applies in life when given the opportunity.  Sometimes sheepishly as I am not the most bold of men; but I have become bolder.  I have spent years absorbing, and will continue to absorb, but I recognize that it is time to "give back".  The stronger the foundation, the firmer one can stand.

I am not active in coercive government and do not actively encourage participation. 

I commit to not bring people to an unjust (coercive) court₂.  I want to pursue Alternative Dispute Resolution⁴ and it's application for individuals.


Expansion
It bears repeating that this term - Ideal Society - is not heaven, it is still a place where terrible things can and probably will happen.  Where brother kills brother, where children die of starvation, where rape occurs.  It is not within man's power to truly remove those things.

Doesn't Forcibly Imprison
The Ideal Society is a society that minimizes the endorsement of evil acts and maximizes the endorsement of beneficial acts.  It is a society that doesn't forcibly imprison someone for victimless crimes, or even crimes with victims.  It instead recognizes the right of people to destroy themselves through drugs or alcohol, but also doesn't condemn and jail them for seeking to get out of their ruts and heal themselves.  It recognizes that while man may hurt another man, it doesn't give the hurt man the right to forcibly exert pain on the other man.  It is a system that encourages victim compensation and justice while putting responsibility upon the criminal perpetrator to either fix the problem he created or to deal with the consequences of his actions.

Devoid of Coercive Taxation
The Ideal Society is devoid of any kind of coercive taxation.  People pay for the service they voluntarily use.  They pay for their internet, they pay for their house repairs, they pay for flood/hurricane/earthquake/theft/accident insurance.  If they don't pay, then they take the risk only on themselves.  No taxes for roads means an increase pay as you go roads.  Cabs can be independently owned, certified, and driven for profit.  Mass Transit no longer is subsidized by the masses through taxation and must exist and operate on it's own ability to serve the most number of people for the biggest profit it can, just as any other business.  Competition in an ideal society is rampant.  Multiple, but cooperating (as cooperation increases profits) bus systems, roads, grocery stores, gas stations and airplane manufacturers abound. 

Say "Goodbye" to the expensive, out of date Military
The modern coercive standing army becomes non-existent in the Ideal Society.  Small groups of people, who are highly specialized and trained for guerrilla combat is the new medium of defense and that will evolve and  change - just as all for profit products and services do - to become the better, higher quality, cheaper, involve less risk just to maintain profits against rampant competition.  The military is reduced and privatized because we don't need to be in other countries, we don't need to have bases in Germany and Japan.  They are not threats.  Instead the specialized arms services focus purely on country-wide self defense, for which has not been needed since the American Revolution, and debatably not even then.

No Monopoly on Money
There will also be a lack of coercively enforced form of money.  Does that mean that their will be 2 billion types of money?  Washington Mutual Dollars, or AIG Bucks, or Shanghai Sterling?  Probably not, but maybe.  If that is what people - customers - desire.  Take a look at the modern computer.  Even in a reasonably free market we have 3 primary Operating Systems (Windows, Macintosh, Linux Variants).  Why?  Because people don't necessarily want 2 billion types of operating systems, they want to use the OS to entertain themselves and to produce.  Same with money, money is a tool to get things done.  To acquire present goods or to save for future goods.  For which, I think - without authoritatively stating - that there will be one to ten standard monies in an Ideal Society supplied by a variety of companies, and that number (from 1-10) varies depending on the size of the Ideal Society and how many cultures are within it.  If the entire world was an Ideal Society, then chances are their would be more monies, just as in the modern world there is on average one money for each State.  And if history shows anything, the primary monies will be based on Gold or a mixture somehow of Gold/Silver/Copper.  But in the modern age, the shortcomings of Gold (hard to buy a pack of gum for .02 grams of gold) for can be over come by electronic means where it is relativly easy to debit from one electronic account to another a few micrograms of gold.  See suggested reading for more on this topic, and how it is already being done in modern society.

Closing
This concept of the "Ideal Society" is something that will have to be expanded upon in future posts, the short summaries given on the various topics are obviously lacking and require additional thought and writing.  Look to also see this post expand as additional topical summaries are added.  In the end, the Ideal Society is a thought experiment of a world that is based upon the Primary Foundational Principle. 

Sources

1. Primary Foundational Principle - Link
2. The Jail System - Link
3. Victimless Crimes - Link
4. Wikipedia:  Alternative Dispute Resolutions - Link

Suggested Reading

• The Stateless Society: An Examination of Alternatives - Link
• The Molinari Institute: About Market Anarchism - Link 
• Center for a Stateless Society:  What Will a Stateless Society Look Like? - Link
• Lewrockwell.com:  Anti-State, Anti-War, Pro-Market - Link
• Ludwig Von Mises Institute:  Austrian Economics and Thought - Link
• Wikipedia: Digital Gold Currencies - Link

Victimless Crimes

Introduction
Criminal Behavior is generally defined as the breach of rules or laws by some governing authority.  The rules and laws are dependent on the authority and vary across nationalities, groups of people, and history.  This stance aims to address what are commonly referred to Victimless Crimes, where a crime was committed (broke a law) but there is no direct apparently victim.  Common examples include drunk driving, drug use, prostitution, homosexuality, specific religious beliefs & euthanasia. 


Stance Summary
Following from the Primary Foundational Principle¹, making victimless actions a crime is by definition a violation of the "criminals" right to do what he will do without aggressing on someone else's free acts.  There should be no laws against victimless crimes as without a victim, the "criminal" is utilizing his own body to freely act against himself, and he may do so whether he commits harm to himself or not. 

Personal Actions Based on Stance
I do not utilize the law to enforce morality on people.  I do not call the police if I smell someone smoking an illicit substance, nor do I interfere in any way; akin to how I view someone drinking alcohol.  Even if personal abuse is occurring (like an alcoholic) the last thing they need is someone judging them for their actions; their are other, more effective methods for assisting people out of their potential misery besides jail and fines.

Therefore I do not and will not report on victimless crimes, and can not to do otherwise lest my conscience strike me.

Expansion
Basics
The basics of why victimless crimes shouldn't be punished is addressed a bit above, but to continue those thoughts realize that the nut of the matter isn't that the Law is to protect people from themselves, but to offer a code of conduct between people.  It's about strengthening relationships.  Individually people have always had the ability to do what they will with relationships.  Create or destroy.  Hinder and help.  To form laws against that is not only inane, but destructive to human behavior.  If we are to guard people against their own actions that are deemed destructive or dangerous, then why stop where we have as a society?  Why do we allow such things like Football and other aggressive sports?  It's voluntary but people get hurt constantly.  Why do we allow lying?  Lying destroys relationships, maybe more so than physical abuse.  Either the Law needs to guard us all like children no matter what, or back off and only assist as code of conduct between people that gives people a frame of reference to which they can go about their social lives.  To give examples, let's go over the examples used in the above introduction.

Drunk Driving
Drunk driving is dangerous behavior, but so is texting while driving, talking on the phone, or even talking to a passenger.  Not only that, but some drunk drivers are better then non-drunk drivers, so who should be illegal there?  The dangerous driver because he's young and inexperienced or the experienced drunk driver?  It isn't drunk driving that should be the crime, nor the inexperience, but rather the destruction that can happen; regardless of whether the driver was drunk, angry, or just inexperienced.  Should the state of the person doing the actions be taken into account?  Tough question, refer to the Jail System² blog post for more information.  Behavior patterns get taking into account for insurance purposes, but shouldn't affect justice.

Drug Use
Drugs can very well harm people.  That is known fact.  But then again, so can excessive amounts of whole wheat bagels or McDonald's happy meals.  Some substances do no harm in small amounts (marijuana and whole wheat bagels), some substances do no lasting harm unless a behavior pattern is formed (cocaine and McDonald's happy meals), other substances do harm no matter what (meth).  Sure we don't want our 6 year old kids getting into meth because it is legal, but nor do we want them acquiring a loaded gun, a rusty sharp nail or a piece of candy from a stranger.  How do parents protect against that currently?  They take it upon themselves to guard, teach and grow the child to avoid such dangerous behavior.  Drug use should also be taken on by parents, not by legislators.

Prostitution
Consensual Sex.  It happens between unwed people consistently in the modern world.  Happens between strangers (one night stands), and long time lovers.  It is often the point of a man to spend money buying a girl trinkets, food, gowns and other such goods in order to "get laid".  Why should not a man or a woman be allowed to skip the blather and get straight to what they want?  The author does not advocate, partake, nor condone of illicit sex, whether through prostitution or general slut like behavior.  But he does advocate people's rights to do so, voluntarily.

Homosexuality
Should Homosexuality be illegal?  Heavens no!  No argument here in most western cultures.  Again, it isn't the consunel acts that should be illegal, only the non-voluntary ones, and thus aggressive.  Rape is still rape whether it's done by a lesbian female or a homosexual man; and vice versa.  Same goes for child abuse, the state of the aggressors mind and body shouldn't get taken into account over what was actually done.  The actions are what is needed to be dealt with.

Specific Religious Beliefs
Throughout history, and even in the modern world still, specific religious beliefs are illegal.  Some because they have destructive behaviors which lead to deaths (drinking the Kool-aid), others because those in power have different beliefs and don't want the competition.  Most readers of this blog will easily agree that religious beliefs should not be made illegal, only the coercive actions that stem from it. 

Euthanasia
Tough one, I'm going to leave this for another time

Closing
If the law's primary function isn't to aggressively pursue restricting destructive behavior, but to stay focused on attempting to "right wrongs" and bring justice to conflicts and victims.  Then if there IS no victim or conflict because the actions stay focused on an individual from that individual, then the law should have no say in the matter.  Victimless crimes shouldn't be crimes;  just individual actions.

Sources

1. Primary Foundational Principle - Link
2. The Jail System - Link

Suggested Reading

•  Radio Free Liberty Podcast: Ex Narcotics Officers Speak Out Against the "Drug War" - Link
• Wikipedia.org: Prohibition in the United States - Link