What do you call the relationships people have with their husband, wife, boyfriend, girlfriend, coworkers, customers, classmates, grocery store employees, the pizza guy, the 24 hour fitness trainer, GoDaddy.com, Netflix….? The list goes on and on but I think you get the point.

The truth is that, for most of us, there are really only two types of relationships in our lives that are NOT already “peaceful and mutually voluntary”.

The first is the relationship we have with our family during childhood (i.e. parents/grandparents/siblings etc.) It is true that we do not get to choose whom these people are or whether or not to interact with them. Fortunately, however, once we reach adulthood, these “forced family ties” evolve into voluntary relationships. In other words, your parents, siblings, etc have to be nice to you if they expect you to ever visit them.

The second type of relationship that is not already “peaceful and mutually voluntary” is the relationship between a so-called “citizen” and the state. Unfortunately, this relationship never evolves into a “peaceful and mutually voluntary” one.

The truth is, most of us live 90 or more percent of our lives in so-called Anarchy already. So I say, let’s give up the 10 percent addiction to force and violence (aka the state). And a good first step would be educating people on the absurdity of the “social contract’.

For more on this subject, check out Lysander Spooner’s essay, No Treason: The Constitution of No Authority. It’s not exactly a quick read but it makes some extremely powerful arguments. SPOILER ALERT: The U.S. Constitution isn’t a real contract either!!!

People who prate about the “Social Contract” intend to gull their listeners into confusing what they’re talking about with a “business agreement.” so they use the term “contract.” The only reason is to lend a false veneer of respectability to what–naked coercion at the point of a gun or bayonet–would never be taken seriously if it was stated outright.

What people use the so-called “Social Contract” to justify–the forcible subjection of the minority to the whim of those who claim to speak for the majority–has nothing to do with social trust and everything to do with exploitation and control.

Finally, the ridiculous bromide that “democracy is bad, but it’s better than anything else” is nonsensical. How about peaceful and mutually voluntary relationships? Isn’t that better than glorified mob rule?