23A003 A Pretense of Justice by Jim Davies, 1/17/2023

Upon hearing the suggestion that we'd all be many times better off without any government at all, some people say "Yes, but how about...." something they see as essential, and which government is currently doing. On January 3rd we looked at "Defense" in that context, and here let's consider the next most common concern, Justice.

There's no argument: any society must have a way to right wrongs as far as is feasible. But to allege that only government can provide it (or even provide it at all!) is something else altogether. Problem is, in the current criminal "justice" system, we don't have one. It's a vast, sick pretense.

The monopoly is based on the theory that a group calling itself "government" writes laws that all must obey, and punishes those who don't. It's a system of retribution; harm is done to the harm-doer. If caught.

So for example if A murders B and A comes to trial and is convicted, A will be executed or locked up in prison, according to the savagery of the law-writers, but the family of B, who loved and depended on him, are thanked for their testimony and told to enjoy the best of luck. The victim, in other words, is incidental to the process. Meanwhile the lawyers earn a nice fee, the perp is made to waste years of his life, and taxpayers are forced to pay the bills.

Such a process bears no relation to justice, except to reduce it.

True justice means the restoration of lost or damaged rights, and that is what will prevail in the coming zero government society (ZGS). There will be no laws, because (a) there'll be nobody to write any and (b) laws are 100% superfluous anyway. We all know that murder, assault and theft are morally wrong, there's a built in conscience that tells us so, in every human being. So if the right to life, liberty or property is taken away (on purpose or by accident) justice demands that it be restored, as far as is feasible. Justice is not retributive but restitutive.

So in the ZGS, justice (an industry, not a system) will be radically different. There will be many individuals and firms competing, all on the free-market basis of pay for performance and excellence: detectors, forensic experts, advocates, courts and judges or arbiters, monitors to ensure satisfaction of verdicts, publishers of outcomes, etc. And the only matters to engage them all will be those in which one person alleges that another has done him harm and refuses to make amends.

This was the basis of justice in the Icelandic community after it had formed out of refugees from Norway, in the two centuries following 860. When a killing occurred (accidental or in a fight) the killer normally apologized to the victim's family and paid it a man-price or wergeld, or compensation. Only if that could not be agreed was the matter referred to a court or ting.

Obviously, in-depth universal re-education is a prerequisite for all that, for the "eye for an eye" mentality has a long history; and that's what TOLFA is for. In fact, the ZGS cannot come into existence at all without the radical revision of understanding of reality that such a school provides.

One of the results of that learning is to grasp that in a free-market ZGS, reputation is of paramount importance. With a good reputation, for honesty and recognition of everyone's equal rights, abundant trading will be fully feasible and only the sky will limit the prosperity than can be achieved. Once such a reputation is lost, however, the opposite will apply - and that will be the powerful incentive for everyone to obey the order of a court. Flouters will tend to starve.

In the very rare cases of repeat violators of rights, assuming the violator can find a way to sustain his life, remember too that there will be no laws in the ZGS restricting the use of firearms in self-defense. The more often a serial rapist assaults a victim, in other words, the higher is the risk of being shot dead while doing so.

Justice being an industry, with market pressures applying, other solutions may well appear for the impulsively violent. Perhaps some medic will invent a pill to modify behavior. Perhaps others will offer a protective workplace, being paid out of what the misfit earns. When limits are abolished, who knows what creative ideas will flourish?

I used to think, like even Ayn Rand, that the justice function was among the last to need removal from government control. I now realize the contrary is the case. It's not a question of worrying that, absent government, justice will suffer; on the contrary, it's the very first function I'd like to see out of the suffocating, arrogant hands of monopolist rulers; for only then can true justice even appear.

He gives details here.