Cite articles as: Author, “Title,” Libertarian Papers [volume #], [article number] (year). Example: Jan Narveson, “Present Payments, Past Wrongs: Correcting Loose Talk about Nozick and Rectification,” Libertarian Papers 1, 1 (2009).
32. “Gold, the Golden Rule, and Government: Civil Society and the End of the State”
by D.G. White
Abstract: Properly speaking, money and law are natural outgrowths of human society, evolving over time via the voluntary cooperation that lies at the heart of the social enterprise. And as gold and the golden rule have for millennia formed the basis, respectively, of society’s money and law, they accordingly constitute the “twin pillars of civilization,” governing the social enterprise such that, in Mises’s words, “the human species has multiplied far beyond the margin of subsistence.” It stands to reason, then, that if money and law are corrupted, the social enterprise will be corrupted as well. And as this is precisely what the state has done, essentially toppling the twin pillars of civilization, it is necessary to understand what the state is, where it came from, and how it has systematically gone about corrupting money and law, and thus the social enterprise as a whole. For only then can money and law be returned to their rightful owners, and only then can the state be put in its proper place. Which is no place so far as the proper functioning of civil society is concerned.
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[...] Papers, Vol. 1 (2009), Art. No. 32: "Gold, the Golden Rule, and Government: Civil Society and the End of the State," by D.G. [...]
[...] Papers] BY admin ON August 6th, 2009 Libertarian Papers, Vol. 1 (2009), Art. No. 32: “Gold, the Golden Rule, and Government: Civil Society and the End of the State,” by D.G. [...]
Dear Sir,
I am no wild-eyed ideologue (at least, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it!) but I believe your paper in Libertarian Papers is one of the most significant documents ever written in the literature of freedom. I ran across it several days ago, I believe as a reference in one of the LewRockwell articles. At any rate, I decided to read the original, and I was stunned. I believe it will someday have the importance to libertarian thought that Gregor Mendel’s seminal papers did on the emerging science of genetics. You postulated things I have believed for years, including the intimate connection between morality (our relationship with our Creator) and human freedom, and between human civilization and the necessary sanctity of property rights. I have intuitively “known” these things for years. Your paper, however, crystallized my thinking and laid out a logical progression that is inescapable in its conclusion. Simply beautiful!
You also inferred from the same line of thought, a progression of human development and social evolution that had never occurred to me, and which filled me with more optimism than I have had in a very, very long time. I have been able to see only the immediate disaster looming right before our noses, and the prospect fills me with dread and trepidation. But I maintain a steadfast belief in God’s goodness and beneficence toward the human race, and I believe that ultimately things will come out all right, that we will shed the tyranny that strangles us and emerge into the light of a beautiful future. Your article showed me the stepping-stones into that future, and for that you have my deep gratitude. I don’t know if you have any more great articles left in you, but I will keep a keen eye for them should they appear. And even had Beethoven written only one of his magnificent symphonies, that alone would have cemented his place in musical history forever. Thank you!
Sincerely, John Sampson
Saint Simons Island
My sentiments can be summed up perfectly by Mr. Sampson’s above post. I agree: There do indeed seem to be very rough waters ahead, in a society full of takers that subsist on the once good will of others, which now have evolved into simple bids for governmental power paraded in the clothing of good will. History shows that freedom does and will persevere, but not without long, hard fights to maintain or obtain it. As cliché as it may seem, the serenity and freedom found just after resolution is quite similar to the quiet and beauty left after a powerful storm has finally passed. God help us, trouble is coming.
See The Social Contract, discussing this paper.
[...] writes D.G. White in Gold, the Golden Rule, and Government: Civil Society and the End of the State, “…is simply a commodity that, as an inherent store of value, is used as a conduit for [...]