What if... the state disapeared

Imagine the possibilities with no centralized government. Numerous small time groups would enforce their own laws. Constitutions would mean more on Ebay than in the halls of congress. Lack of Federal aid would mean some of us would have to find a job cleaning motorcylcles for over the hill gangs of Harley Davidson owners. Ponce wouldn't be able to run for President. Lastly, we would see large billboards of Tobodai saying "I told you so".
    

Edited by Seko - 13-Oct-2006 at 12:25

Lawyers would be out working for McDonalds since there would be no law for them to uphold. The interesting part? When the once proud attorney slips and falls, while cleaning Micky D's bathroom stalls, he's got no one to sue.

Like you said, "I think I'll like this world."
    
    

Edited by Seko - 13-Oct-2006 at 15:09

Originally posted by Constantine XI We would see hot potch feudalism, without any doubt. These mini fiefdoms would coalesce into large holdings which would then fight eachother to become extended communities ruled by powerful families. And so the whole evolution towards statism begins again......

Sometimes states dissapear, indeed. Some examples are the life during the Dark Middle Ages or the life of the frontier towns of the U.S. or in the Amazonia.

The nation state could quite easily disappear. However there will always and has always been (in times of peace) a sort of power structure that people seem to be considering the state. Whether this is a feudal, tribal, dictatorship or whatever it'll exist.

I'm not sure if the democratic-nation state is much of an improvement on a monarch-empire anyway.

This question looks a bit childish (no offence).

Originally posted by Arb�r Z This question looks a bit childish (no offence). If the state dissapears, and if the human civilaztion is still at this point, then believe me, after a year of mish-mash(or even less) the state will reapear.

Well I'll take the adjective childish as a real complement as we all know the child ask the elementary questions that we -grown ups- usually refuse or are unable to ask ourselves as we take so many things for granted.

So Daddy, is it possible a society without a state?

Just two things otherwise I'll be here for ages:

1) The welfare state is going down and there is virtually no country in the West where it is qualitatively progressing.

2) The nightwatcher is sick: armies incapable of facing terrorism (see the English army today), the National Banks getting increasingly independent, police unable to maintain law and order, companies and industries developping selfenforcing methods and so on.

I tell you the system is sick and it needs to be reformed. But reformation itself is dangerous. So, the question is childish but not irrelevant.

State for me is of course government, and I mean all government that is from the White House and number 10 to the city consil in the smallest village. So what I'm talking about is indeed the government, but if it goes down it'd bring in its fall many other things. I'd affect for instance the economy has economies are integrated at the level of the nation (still), it would affect education has well as 'our nation's history' in school wouldn't make any sense.

Besides I'm not sure I understood your point about history and geography.