WEBVTT NOTE Free Cities, Now What? 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.840 First, I would like to thank the Mises Institute, the staff, the sponsors for this opportunity. 2 00:00:07.840 --> 00:00:16.040 Also, I would like to thank my friends Giancarlo, Ivar Wen, Pablo and Alberto, who made this 3 00:00:16.040 --> 00:00:19.440 possible. 4 00:00:19.440 --> 00:00:26.720 So basically, I'm going to talk about the free cities and the United States of America 5 00:00:26.720 --> 00:00:32.480 was the closest we have ever been to set a republic with a limited government. 6 00:00:32.480 --> 00:00:38.000 However, we constantly have seen how the Leviathan has been growing. 7 00:00:38.000 --> 00:00:43.960 The government of the United States instituted by the people to protect the individual rights 8 00:00:43.960 --> 00:00:48.080 has become the main threat for these rights. 9 00:00:48.080 --> 00:00:54.400 That is why Austrian school members must explore new alternatives and Free Cities Project seems 10 00:00:54.400 --> 00:01:01.360 seems like an interesting program to investigate. In this essay, we will address and explain 11 00:01:01.360 --> 00:01:09.960 our reasons for a change. Autogovernment is more accurate than anarcho-capitalism. In 12 00:01:09.960 --> 00:01:16.480 this discussion, we will explore what kind of government is possible in a free city, 13 00:01:16.480 --> 00:01:23.240 which will require an autogovernance. We do not pretend to exhaust the topic in the present 14 00:01:23.240 --> 00:01:31.520 essay but we expect to initiate a debate on this topic. Recently there has been a 15 00:01:31.520 --> 00:01:36.960 lengthy debate within the Austrian School of Economy members, those who believe 16 00:01:36.960 --> 00:01:41.680 there must be a state and those who think the state should not exist any 17 00:01:41.680 --> 00:01:49.960 longer. In a recent article published by Jesus Huerta de Soto he discusses what he 18 00:01:49.960 --> 00:01:54.840 He believes is the fatal error of classical liberalism. 19 00:01:54.840 --> 00:02:01.240 In a current book published by Adrian Rabier in an interview with Alberto Venegas Lynch 20 00:02:01.240 --> 00:02:03.720 Jr. is included. 21 00:02:03.720 --> 00:02:11.840 He explains why the use of the term auto-government is more accurate than anarcho-capitalism. 22 00:02:11.840 --> 00:02:19.920 The Negas Lynch Jr. tell us that the expression anarcho-capitalism can be a little bit hazy, 23 00:02:19.920 --> 00:02:25.600 since it is composed of two concepts, anarchy and capitalism. 24 00:02:25.600 --> 00:02:31.680 The first one alludes to the anarchist tradition, originally socialist. 25 00:02:31.680 --> 00:02:37.680 On the other hand, capitalism was a term coined by Engels and Marx. 26 00:02:37.680 --> 00:02:45.080 The project Free Cities is part of this investigation program where there is no state and a coercive 27 00:02:45.080 --> 00:02:46.780 use of force. 28 00:02:46.780 --> 00:02:53.980 First, we need to explore, we need to define what we understand by a free city. 29 00:02:53.980 --> 00:03:03.060 It is a special economic zone with a distinct legal structure. 30 00:03:03.060 --> 00:03:13.300 A free city that is successful will increase its size and be able to expand the scope of its reforms. 31 00:03:13.300 --> 00:03:22.140 While the concept of a free city has only been discussed in the recent years as an alternative to modern society, 32 00:03:22.140 --> 00:03:25.580 we find that it has existed in history. 33 00:03:25.580 --> 00:03:32.420 There were auto-governed cities during the Hellenistic and Roman imperial areas. 34 00:03:32.420 --> 00:03:38.380 So, once we get to a free city, what kind of government is possible? 35 00:03:38.380 --> 00:03:44.020 Some people misunderstand the concept of a free city because their perception of a lack 36 00:03:44.020 --> 00:03:51.660 of coercive force as a state is that inevitably it will lead to chaos where there will be 37 00:03:51.660 --> 00:03:55.420 no rules and no form of governance. 38 00:03:55.420 --> 00:04:02.340 Now, let's try to explore what are the governance possibilities within a private city. 39 00:04:02.340 --> 00:04:13.900 Basically, we will explore three kinds of organization, totalitarianism, democracy and the republic. 40 00:04:13.900 --> 00:04:23.220 In order to explain this, I will ask you to imagine as an example a condominium community. 41 00:04:23.220 --> 00:04:31.080 In the first case, totalitarianism, we can imagine a company or a person owning the condo. 42 00:04:31.080 --> 00:04:38.300 It will be totally private and people moving into it by voluntary choice. 43 00:04:38.300 --> 00:04:45.660 The owners keep their rights to decide the rules and the rates to be paid. 44 00:04:45.660 --> 00:04:52.060 In this organization, there will be a coercive use of force into the private property. 45 00:04:52.060 --> 00:04:59.100 Of course, the authorities are not going to have any input and we all know what that means. 46 00:04:59.100 --> 00:05:06.040 They lack the ability to possess all the knowledge to organize such a society and as a matter 47 00:05:06.040 --> 00:05:14.380 of fact, let me say that Aristotle considered this to be tyranny, a form of government. 48 00:05:14.380 --> 00:05:21.660 The second scenario, the democracy, and we will not discuss the origin of this word, 49 00:05:21.660 --> 00:05:26.020 But we all know that it implies the rule of the majority. 50 00:05:26.020 --> 00:05:31.180 Thomas Jefferson referred to the democracy as the rule of the mob, since the majority 51 00:05:31.180 --> 00:05:36.380 of the people can take away the rights of the minority groups. 52 00:05:36.380 --> 00:05:44.840 Let us go back to our condo example and consider a case presented by a Spanish TV show. 53 00:05:44.840 --> 00:05:56.120 In this building, a community, a condo building, where a family or a person owns a property, 54 00:05:56.120 --> 00:06:03.760 there are some communal areas such as pool, an elevator, halls, the parking spaces, the 55 00:06:03.760 --> 00:06:08.160 roof, and all that one can imagine such a condo could have. 56 00:06:08.160 --> 00:06:14.800 A kind of government is instituted since the very beginning to administer the common areas 57 00:06:14.800 --> 00:06:16.200 and to set the rules. 58 00:06:19.040 --> 00:06:21.600 It perfectly demonstrates the idea 59 00:06:21.600 --> 00:06:24.720 that Jefferson had about democracy. 60 00:06:24.720 --> 00:06:29.760 Each tenant had to ask for the permission of the community 61 00:06:29.760 --> 00:06:34.760 to make basic change even inside their ownership. 62 00:06:36.680 --> 00:06:39.680 It gets to a level where they have to consult 63 00:06:39.680 --> 00:06:43.460 the rest of the community to approve or deny upgrades 64 00:06:43.460 --> 00:06:53.120 or enhancement to their houses, or even if they want to have a barbecue on a Friday night. 65 00:06:53.120 --> 00:06:59.080 Of course, this implies a lack of respect for individual rights. 66 00:06:59.080 --> 00:07:06.820 We see that it is not the most efficient way to administer the common property. 67 00:07:06.820 --> 00:07:13.260 In a funny way, we get to see the President calling himself the Almighty because people 68 00:07:13.260 --> 00:07:22.460 are applauding him. Of course, it is all in a satiric way to represent what democracy 69 00:07:22.460 --> 00:07:30.060 can do, but in reality, as the United States has started to move and abandon the principles 70 00:07:30.060 --> 00:07:38.380 of the republic to become a democracy, we see it daily, to a point that Obama is saying 71 00:07:38.380 --> 00:07:49.740 Now, let us explore the last form of government we have proposed for the administration of 72 00:07:49.740 --> 00:07:51.580 the common property. 73 00:07:51.580 --> 00:07:57.820 The term republic means the public matter, or respublica. 74 00:07:57.820 --> 00:08:02.540 Now what public matter are we talking about? 75 00:08:02.540 --> 00:08:06.540 We said that the condo has private and common areas. 76 00:08:06.540 --> 00:08:13.740 So the Republic will be a form to administer the common property of the owners. 77 00:08:13.740 --> 00:08:21.360 Aristotle considered the Republic as a result of the combination of two systems, oligarchy 78 00:08:21.360 --> 00:08:23.520 and democracy. 79 00:08:23.520 --> 00:08:29.060 The Republic should maintain characteristics from both forms of government, perhaps to 80 00:08:29.060 --> 00:08:35.820 the point where there is some overlap, but not to the point where one form is confused 81 00:08:35.820 --> 00:08:38.860 or Interpreted as the Other. 82 00:08:38.860 --> 00:08:44.860 Considering again our case of the condo, 83 00:08:44.860 --> 00:08:47.820 considering again our case of the condo, 84 00:08:47.820 --> 00:08:52.580 a kind of government could be elected by universal suffrage. 85 00:08:52.580 --> 00:08:57.540 And let us not confuse this mechanism with democracy, 86 00:08:57.540 --> 00:09:01.100 which is a different kind of system. 87 00:09:01.100 --> 00:09:04.100 This government is going to have its power delegated 88 00:09:04.100 --> 00:09:05.780 by the people. 89 00:09:05.780 --> 00:09:12.820 This government will only administer their common property. 90 00:09:12.820 --> 00:09:18.220 The fact that a government is instituted does not mean it is going to hold the monopoly 91 00:09:18.220 --> 00:09:20.420 of force. 92 00:09:20.420 --> 00:09:26.240 Security and justice within it is going to be enforced by private companies. 93 00:09:26.240 --> 00:09:31.980 The very important feature of it is that it is not a government of people but a government 94 00:09:31.980 --> 00:09:32.980 of law. 95 00:09:32.980 --> 00:09:36.980 Law as Frederic Bastiat understood it. 96 00:09:36.980 --> 00:09:39.980 This might seem impossible for some people. 97 00:09:39.980 --> 00:09:47.980 However, let me tell you, in my country, in Guatemala, this structure has been in existence for a long time. 98 00:09:47.980 --> 00:09:51.980 All services are provided by private companies. 99 00:09:51.980 --> 00:09:59.980 Most of these communities have their own rules, and one must accept them to buy your property. 100 00:09:59.980 --> 00:10:06.980 In most cases, the results are very positive since it is a voluntary act. 101 00:10:06.980 --> 00:10:15.980 In the same way, in a free city, all individuals moving in will be assuming their responsibilities freely. 102 00:10:15.980 --> 00:10:22.980 So, now let us conclude that free cities represent a whole new world of possibilities, 103 00:10:22.980 --> 00:10:27.980 and we as libertarians must explore the alternatives. 104 00:10:27.980 --> 00:10:32.220 Every attempt to limit the state has not been possible. 105 00:10:32.220 --> 00:10:37.380 Benegas Lynch, Jr., as well as other intellectuals, 106 00:10:37.380 --> 00:10:39.540 believed the United States of America 107 00:10:39.540 --> 00:10:43.700 was the closest we have ever been to set a free society, 108 00:10:43.700 --> 00:10:48.020 even though we get to see how the state has kept growing 109 00:10:48.020 --> 00:10:53.100 as a black hole in the space, swallowing all kind of resources. 110 00:10:53.100 --> 00:10:57.260 This essay was written as a way to start an investigation 111 00:10:57.260 --> 00:11:01.060 about the way a free city can be governed. 112 00:11:01.060 --> 00:11:04.540 The main purpose is to start a debate on this topic 113 00:11:04.540 --> 00:11:12.620 as well as to contribute to explore the alternatives we 114 00:11:12.620 --> 00:11:14.020 have. 115 00:11:14.020 --> 00:11:17.380 A completed plan to make a transition 116 00:11:17.380 --> 00:11:21.020 from our actual organization to a free society 117 00:11:21.020 --> 00:11:24.460 must require the deconstruction of the idea 118 00:11:24.460 --> 00:11:27.780 of Needing an External Government. 119 00:11:27.780 --> 00:11:32.780 And that is why we consider Veneta Lynch Jr.'s idea 120 00:11:32.780 --> 00:11:36.220 on auto-government is accurate and more precise 121 00:11:36.220 --> 00:11:39.660 than the concept of anarcho-capitalism. 122 00:11:39.660 --> 00:11:41.140 Thank you very much. 123 00:11:41.140 --> 00:11:43.140 Thank you very much.