Bitark’s Column
I often hear an objection like this addressed to me: “You are proposing rather radical methods of struggle; it would cost the authorities nothing to tighten the screws even further and put you on a bottle.” Such a position is not only mistaken but extremely harmful to libertarians, as it limits our methods of fighting against the state.
“Tightening the screws” (expanding the powers of security services and the definitions of “crimes” for repression) will very quickly lead to an autoimmune failure of the regime. This is what happened to most countries under the rule of the authoritarian right, who maximized the machinery of repression against their ideological opponents. These regimes collapsed, and now judicial proceedings for past repressions threaten their former leaders and accomplices. Since libertarian ideas were not widespread in these societies, the machinery of repression itself has not been completely destroyed, but it has been severely weakened.
Terrorists can make a bomb from fertilizer? Let’s monitor every farmer, just in case he is supplying them with fertilizer! Someone plans to use viruses as a deterrent weapon? Let’s send a security agent to every school laboratory, just in case a recruited teacher is helping grow viruses there! Someone is actively spreading the theory of the stationary bandit online? Let’s ensure that only theories approved from above are taught in universities!
Each such form of control slows down scientific and technical progress, creates an atmosphere of fear in society and, most importantly, guaranteed to carry a certain percentage of “false positives,” where an innocent person is condemned by mistake. The more spheres the state attempts to control, the higher the percentage of false accusations will be. This leads to hatred of the authorities by the entire society, even by its loyal supporters. The current government is brutally overthrown, and in such a way that for several generations to come, any authoritarian movements in the country will have no further chance. With a sufficient prevalence of libertarian ideas in society, nothing may appear in place of the overthrown government, which is precisely what we strive for!
