The People Give the Orders and the Government Obeys, by Jeff Thomas.
The sign … in the state of Chiapas in Mexico … says, “You are in the territory of Zapatista in Rebellion. Here, the people give the orders and the government obeys.”
Well, of course, what that really means is that the Zapatistas give the orders, not the people as a whole. Still, the people generally regard the Zapatistas as being more representative of their wishes (and less parasitical) than the government.
Mexicans are further along than, say, Europeans or Americans in understanding the true role of government. The mask has been off for some time and the people understand that the government does not exist to serve them; it exists to enslave them – that is, to rob them of the fruits of their labour through taxation, whilst doing as little as possible to benefit them.
They understand that this is the norm for all governments and elections do little more than remove one parasite and replace it with another. ..
What they did:
The people of the town of Cherán became fed up with the struggle as to who rules over them and decided to take charge of their town themselves. In 2011, led by local women (including one granny), the population of 20,000 removed the bureaucrats, the police, the talamontes (the local mafia) and the rebels, and are now running their town themselves with volunteer citizens.
They’re not professing to be libertarian and yet, through common sense, they’ve established a form of rule that is remarkably libertarian.
The basic principle is that they make no laws. The citizens may do whatever they wish, as long as they do not aggress against other citizens or their property. Political parties have been banned.
Like a mediaeval European town, the three entrance roads are guarded by a militia, who stop anyone seeking to re-establish dominance over the town.
Pedro Chavez, a teacher and community leader commented, “To defend ourselves, we had to change the whole system — out with the political parties, out with City Hall, out with the police and everything. We had to organize our own way of living to survive.” …
The townspeople all know each other well enough that it was possible to organise quietly and plan a takeover in secret.
Although some of the younger men in the community wanted to execute the captured talamontes, police and bureaucrats immediately after the takeover, the women who had led the uprising wisely insisted that the violence must end and the captors simply be expelled, never to be allowed to return. …
And now:
To begin, crime is down dramatically. With organised crime removed, along with the police whom the gangsters paid off, capital crime in particular, has ceased to exist. (Most remaining crime has to do with alcohol abuse.) …
In reflection, it’s important that we recognise that the Mexican government is underfunded and in disarray. Although it does all it can to dominate all its states, it’s very limited as to how much it can actually maintain in the way of controls. …
This is essentially the same story as the US in 1776.
