Why should you tackle the five hardest issues first?

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Use the Pillar Strategy to collapse the mental structure of statism

What if there was a persuasion strategy that toppled all statist “exceptions” to voluntaryism?

Ultimately, most objections to the Zero Aggression Principle revolve around the notion that it’s an “unrealistic” or unattainable goal. To illustrate that point, people make specific policy exceptions. It’s these exceptions which keep them from becoming voluntaryists.

These exceptions can cover a wide variety of issues. You’ll lack time and expertise — and your objecting friend will lack the patience — to address them all. Moreover, the “Pillar Strategy” suggests that addressing all of them is a waste of time.

The Pillar Strategy is…

Knock-out the foundational necessities of a paradigm first, so as to topple the structure of that belief system.

Don’t waste your time on minor, brick-by-brick issues. Go after the very things that seem to most necessitate a need for The State.

Pillars are integral supports, much like legs on a stool. Likewise, there are certain pieces of a statist’s philosophy that are foundational to their conception of the world. Indeed, most people (even many libertarians) assume that aggression is needed to…

  1. Fund a military
  2. Furnish courts and criminal justice system
  3. Assess taxes
  4. Help the poor
  5. Fight pollution

These particular ideas, about how a government must work, are like a well-guarded fortress of the mind. The person you’re trying to persuade will be more highly resistant than usual to a post-statist solution. You’ll be tempted to avoid these matters and instead present ideas where agreement is more likely.

But we’ve found this persuasion strategy rarely works. Mere days after what seemed like a fruitful discussion, people will forget agreeing with you (the Rubberband Effect). Why?

  • The pillars reinforce the idea that The State is a necessity.
  • If you already have a State, then it might as well help with other things.

However, if you can knock-out foundational pieces of The State, the payoff is huge. Pull these pillars, then it becomes much more obvious how the smaller issues can be better handled with a voluntaryist approach.

By Jim Babka & Perry Willis

Does this way of thinking intrigue you? Want to learn more or participate in creating such a society? Then join the Zero Aggression Project using this subscription form…

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