Told by Bitarch
Among many oppositionists, there is an opinion that it is enough to do in Russia “as in Europe” and we will live almost in paradise. They usually praise Western countries for the separation of powers, honest courts, a transparent budget, smart regulation, fair taxes, freedom of speech, and many other things missing in the RF. But some of these people then begin to notice that all those achievements, for which they were ready to leave their homes, are slowly but surely fading even in their beloved West, let alone being transferred to Russia.
Why does this happen, and why is it pointless to wait for the state to improve, just as it is pointless to emigrate? I am ready to propose a hypothesis based on thoughts from the lectures of the famous sociologist Ella Paneyakh (they are on YouTube). I cannot guarantee the absolute accuracy of this hypothesis, but I believe the probability of it being true is over 99%.
In her lectures, Ella explains the theory of the stationary bandit, explaining the positive (creative, progressive) vector along which the state guided society as a necessity for military superiority over other stationary bandits. If one of them preferred traditional values and obscurantism, while another preferred progress and human rights, the latter would sooner or later achieve technological superiority over the former. Ultimately, traditionalists and supporters of a “brutal” violent hierarchy were simply conquered by more progressive states. Since the development of technology is impossible without respect for the individual and human rights, states were forced to adopt the best practices for ensuring personal freedoms from one another, increasing trust in the tax system through a transparent budget, creating social elevators for youth, fighting corruption, and offering asylum to defectors.
After World War II, as a result of the emergence of the doctrine of deterrence through the threat of mutually assured destruction, wars between more or less developed countries ceased completely. After all, no politician will dare to start a war if they know they themselves can be destroyed. As a result, the incentive to develop and create better conditions for their own citizens disappeared. After all, no one is threatening you, and your own population can be suppressed even with ordinary batons and tear gas.
The lack of an incentive to develop does not mean a stop in the competition of state practices; it is just that now states adopt methods of oppressing their own citizens from one another — hidden taxes, internet censorship, fighting protests and rallies, social ratings, surveillance, etc. You have probably noticed that some of these appeared first here and then in the West, others vice versa. But in general, both here and in the West, the volume of rights and freedoms is gradually, and at an increasingly rapid pace, decreasing. Emigration becomes pointless, because after a certain amount of time, all those shortcomings for which you left will also appear in your new location.
How can we bring back the competition of positive practices? By getting rid of the territorial monopoly of the state and moving to a system of extra-territorial contractual jurisdictions (ETCJs), we will create an incentive for individual ETCJs to compete for citizens. After all, switching to another ETCJ would be as simple as changing a mobile operator. Consequently, the managements of these companies will be interested in offering the best conditions for citizens.
