Unreal Estate For Sale

By Tom Creasing
[email protected]

Exclusive to The Libertarian Enterprise

         I was looking through the Erewhon Times the other morning and saw the most amazing coincidence. Two advertisements, side by side, for identical houses, with identical parcels of land, in similar parts of the Rocky Mountains. The price was identical. There was one big difference, though. One homestead was located in a place called Galt's Gulch, U.S.A., while the other was located just outside Greater Laporte in the North American Confederacy.
         Which house would you prefer to live in?
         Which area would you rather call home?
         Despite the fact that both areas represent libertarian/anarchist utopias (sadly, "utopia" means "nowhere") they are actually radically different concepts and very different visions of how an anarchic society should best operate to provide maximum benefits to its members. Your preference between the two, therefore, says something about your own personal views on anarchy and its structure.
         Galt's Gulch, you see, is the classic gated community. Residence is by invitation only and is reserved for the elite of society who've proved themselves through breeding and economic success. Mere proper attitude is not sufficient; the Gulch is filled with "natural aristocrats". The activities there are quiet and cultured, though to be fair there is a great deal of industrial hustle and bustle as well. Certainly there is no lack of physical and social comfort. It represents, in its way, the ultimate getaway from the problems of statist society, the "cabin in the woods" writ large and comfortable. If you're permitted entrance, then the good life is yours to have. Getting past that gatekeeper, though, can be a problem, as the sole measure of "success" seems to be the acquisition of wealth.
         Not that there's anything wrong with the acquisition of wealth, mind, but it seems that a culture based solely on wealth produces the classic Adam Smith "brittle society," one that falls apart at the first serious stress.
         Contrast this with the North American Confederacy, which welcomes anyone and everyone who agrees to simply abide by its rules. Living and working in the Confederacy are all that are required to be a member of that society and to enjoy its benefits. Having a bank account in Laporte is, I've heard, optional.
         The Confederacy, then, represents libertarianism/anarchy at the other end of the spectrum from isolationism. It is a teacher, putting on public display all of the good things that happen when statists can't lay their tentacles on half to three-quarters to ninety percent of everything through taxes and regulation. It is the human imagination and spirits of invention and adventure set free to grow to infinity, for these things have no bounds.
         Those who would choose Galt's Gulch are, I would suggest, pessimists, believing that the only path to happiness lies in concealing themselves from Leviathan's tentacles, of finding a place to hide from the oozing slime of statism. Would-be Confederates, on the other hand, are optimists, seeing no boundaries in the future, and viewing themselves as people who would prefer to strike the chains from their fellows rather than merely dodge those chains themselves.
         So look at your real estate choice and ask yourself, "Am I working toward freedom for all, or just wanting to keep it for myself?" Think about what you have done lately to teach, to show, to grow the spirit of liberty in a land that needs it so desperately. Decide whether you'd prefer the enclosed safety of the mountains, or the infinity of the stars.
         Besides which, I'd take a weekend with Lucy Kropotkin over trying to figure out the convolutions of Round-heeled Dagny's thoughts, anytime.

Attorney Tom Creasing has just returned to the 'States after a long period of working in South Korea. He now lives in Portland, Oregon.

Chaos: confusion with an attitude.
-- Lucille Gallegos Kroptkin

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