The "Good" Life

In the Market Society, every individual survives by satisfying his Customer - who is his King, his Lord. Whereas the actual King taxes him, the Customer-King is his Patron, who understands and appreciates his Product. He comes in the shape of Man - and namaste means "The god in me salutes the god in you."




So, as the Dylan song goes:

It may be the Devil,
Or it may be the Lord,
But you gotta serve somebody.

Thus, to serve The State is to serve the Devil. To serve the Customer is to serve the Lord. If you do so honestly and faithfully, you will surely prosper. Your life will be a "good" one.


The question then arises about "politics." How much of this do "good people" need in their lives? I thought up the answer as follows:


Suppose we are all citizens of a small town. In the town, there is a Town Hall - for "civic politics." And there are bars, cafes, theatres, nightlife and so many other diversions and entertainments. Would you like to attend a Town Hall meeting every day? Every other day? Or only once in a long, long while? Quite obviously, the "good life" contains very little politics.


But this much "free politics" is an essential component of Liberty. There must be Town Hall meetings sometimes, when important issues arise that affect all. In Goa, for example, I would recommend town hall meetings over the issue of State Police harassment of ganja-charas tourists - who are their Customers, and from whom they would like repeat business. Without the essential Liberty of free, civic politics, there is no way of acting "politically" to solve this problem.


But once the purpose is attained, and police harrassment is permanently eliminated, it must be business as usual. The "good life."


Democratic socialism - or Statism - with all its "multi-party" gangs of "politicians" - has had one dreadful impact: they have politicized everything. Peter Bauer was the first to point to the "politicisation of economic life" under Statism. With rampant interventionism, businessmen devote more time to politics than enterprise. Politics determines everything. Thus, "democratic socialism" means nothing other than total politicisation, while a Free Market Society is its very opposite.


So, in socialist Goa these days, there is a great deal of "politics" over what language a child should learn. As if such decisions must be made by "elected representatives" and not by the parents, who would surely consult the child. If there was no State Education, this decision would be taken by individuals in a free market for knowledge.


This politics is a disease - and it has nothing to do with the "civic politics" of a Town Hall Meeting. Yet, we don't want too many town hall meetings to attend, do we? We would rather attend to business, or pursue leisure, than spend time on free, civic politics.


In the Olde City of London, the "one square mile" that has preserved its civic independence and traditions for over 800 years without ever increasing its "territory," they elect a Lord Mayor and two Sheriffs once a year - and everyone returns to "mind his own business" after that, for another year. These public officials, on the other hand, lose - for they are unpaid, and their businesses might suffer. Yet, this "politics" is important - for this is what has kept the King out of the City, right to this day. But the real purpose of the citizens in not politics; it is commerce. The City is the epicentre of Capitalism - or should I say "was"?


For serious students I recommend Anthony de Jasay's Before Resorting to Politics.