Especially in recent times, it’s easy to get so caught up in looking at what is wrong with the world that we often forget to look at what the world we would actually want to see is like.  I can’t speak for everyone but the world I envision has very little restrictions…..a world without oppressive state powers.

To be clear a world without government isn’t a world without communistic tendencies. I fully believe that a world in actual “anarchy” would have the existence of both, likely separate. I personally don’t necessarily wish for an end of those ideas if they’re voluntary, it’s the second they’re forced on others that I take issue. Realistically, some communists living together doing their thing elsewhere should have no effect on my life.

But the society of which I speak is likely one off in the mountains, perhaps a mountaintop sprawl like the city of Taxco, Mexico. Grand and sparkling but basically isolated surrounded by harsh steep mountains.  Agorists tend to choose places like this because of the way that the geography is a sort of barrier itself to outsiders. Really only those truly dedicated will even find their way out to the remote location.

But within the city, there is bustling activity, especially during daytime. Think busy streets, many of them not even wide enough to fit a car because the city has grown organically with time. Some of the streets existed before cars were even a thing to take up space in the road.  Its a hodgepodge of streets going in random directions, yet somehow there’s an order to it and you never really feel “lost”.

The market is everywhere but especially condensed in one multilayered area of town.  It seems like madness to a newcomer but even after 2-3 trips the trained market lover will start to understand the sense contained within the madness.

Go down to the bottom and you might find the best food you’ve ever eaten. The layer above that might have clothes, office supplies and other things like that. Souvenirs for those just passing through. Above that, the produce, and at the top you find fresh meat vendors. All haphazardly stacked. All corridors lined with stands selling something, anything. The walkways are filled with people shopping, and people covered in items to sell yelling their wares.

This is the agora in its purest form. No regulation yet still containing a sort of organic, chaotic wonder. This leads to competition and greater innovation of the markets with everything from food to electronics. Without government regulations, you might even see cars that get 100m to the gallon, maybe even flying cars.The sky is the limit.

With a totally open marketplace, that goes for sex work and drugs too. You’d see stores dedicated to recreational drugs, selling sterilized paraphernalia to help keep disease down.  There’d be an emphasis on harm reduction instead of prohibition. This is a society that neither fears nor covets drugs.  Sure, there’s users, but with the taboo of it being “wrong” nonexistent, there’s no need to overindulge.

Prostitutes would have more incentive to remain clean and disease free to get higher prices.  Quality of sex workers would go up in general as would working conditions. What could be a taboo life path is taken as another respectable way to work for sustenance.

Women would also likely work in collectives with private security instead of pimps, because there would be no need to appeal to authority in a society such as this. They’re their own boss with total control over who they’re willing to see. This would probably be a world with more honest relationships, because it won’t be taboo to pay for sex. At that point, relationships would become more about building something and less about filling physical needs.

And speaking of security, this would be handled individually, primarily. With no gun restrictions, the common man would own and become familiar with guns. This would lead to a respectful society because it would be assumed most people have the means to defend themselves. You’re less likely to rob someone who might also have a small arsenal in their house, for example. For those not interested in doing that, private security will be available and reliable. And with private security, so will private gated neighborhoods exist, because some people have no issues putting their safety into the hands of another.

Property is what you can easily defend. That definition is going to change both by area and by the person. Some people will have others they band together with to support them, possibly family. They might end up with much bigger properties than, say, one lady who lives alone with her garden.

Property is difficult because many depend on that government piece of paper to say “I own this,” yet as we know from the existence of squatters, that doesn’t necessarily mean something in a world where government doesn’t exist. So what makes it “your property”?

There are many ways to handle this. For example this is one of the intended goals of Bitcoin, because you can record the sale of property in a Bitcoin transaction. But getting regular people to comply with what a blockchain says sounds a lot easier said than done. So talking in a society where government just doesn’t exist, and it’s agorism? Then your property is basically what you use and can defend.

The thing is there isn’t likely to be a whole lot of disputes over property in a society with so many guns. It’s generally easier to just go find your own place. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned it’s that there’s actually a lot of this planet that is fairly empty. There’s plenty of space for all of us.

So let’s move beyond that for a second for the roads. Now it turns out roads can actually be privately maintained. In places like Mexico where the government doesn’t always provide money for the roads, often you can find locals making things happen when it needs to be fixed. Without the state this would happen organically. The roads that are used would be likely repaired by those who use them most. Simple: if it needs to happen the people will make it happen. Private companies also have their special roads, which you can pay to use at tolls.

Now it’s time to talk about at home.  First we start with the property itself. Let’s say you find yourself an unclaimed mountainside that you are capable of defending. There’s no need to get a permit to start building, work starts when you have the materials to make it happen.  Experimental home design? Go for it. Want 100 chickens? Fine, if you can defend them.

From the home to marriage, imagine you have found the perfect person for you and you know you want to spend the rest of your life together. You have a relationship, you live together and eventually maybe even have a commitment ceremony.  If it doesn’t work out, you separate and move on. Simple, right?

Let’s say you have some kids. You might do so in your house or in a private birthing center. Your birth plan is up to you, from pain medications to help with breastfeeding. There’s no pressure to circumcise, vaccinate or do anything else awful to your newborn baby.

So you return home with that baby and you raise it the way you want, without looking over your shoulder. As the child learns, you let it develop at it’s own natural pace, allowing the child to blossom into the best version of themselves they can be, in a stress free environment without unnecessary competition, bullying and more.  Or you decide to pay someone else to educate your child because you work a lot. Whatever you do, it’s up to you.

Could you imagine such a world existing for us? This is why we as agorists do what we do, is to try and have some resemblance of something like that in our lifetime, even if it’s just in small ways. I’m sure anyone pursuing this lifestyle already knows the hoops that we have to jump through to avoid the state. Imagine how efficient and productive we would be without that stuff!

Anyway, that’s enough idealism for now. Back to the hustle.