a thoughtful web.
Good ideas and conversation. No ads, no tracking.   Login or Take a Tour!
comment by wasoxygen

This was fantastic; thanks for sharing it. You reminded me to post a slightly less farcical item on the topic that I had been sitting on.

Note the reference to Lisowski.

    In 1604, during the early stages of the Polish-Swedish War, the Sejm of Commonwealth failed to gather money to pay its soldiers fighting in Livonia against the Swedes. Aleksander Józef Lisowski became one of the leaders of the resulting konfederacja - a mutinied part of the army, that decided to gather their wages by pillaging local civilians, not caring whether they pledged allegiance to Poland or Sweden.




kleinbl00  ·  3660 days ago  ·  link  ·  

wasoxygen  ·  3657 days ago  ·  link  ·  

"It's better in Somalia!"

    The data depict a country with severe problems, but one which is clearly doing better under statelessness than it was under government. Of the 18 development indicators, 14 show unambiguous improvement under anarchy. Life expectancy is higher today than was in the last years of government’s existence; infant mortality has improved 24 percent; maternal mortality has fallen over 30 percent; infants with low birth weight has fallen more than 15 percentage points; access to health facilities has increased more than 25 percentage points; access to sanitation has risen eight percentage points; extreme poverty has plummeted nearly 20 percentage points; one year olds fully immunized for TB has grown nearly 20 percentage points, and for measles has increased ten; fatalities due to measles have dropped 30 percent; and the prevalence of TVs, radios, and telephones has jumped between 3 and 25 times.

source

user-inactivated  ·  3657 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Wait, that's really interesting. Why is this? Is it a case of Somalia's (and much of Africa's) predisposition to clan-style "government"? In one sense, Sub-Saharan Africa was a series of stateless societies for thousands of years. In another, the "state" was derived from the extended family unit. Maybe. I don't know much about this.

EDIT: I'd like your thoughts on this and I think at some point the larger question should be posed to hubski: "are the least-effective governments in the world worse than statelessness?" Very interesting topic.

wasoxygen  ·  3655 days ago  ·  link  ·  

That's the best I can do without asking you to read the paper. Some highlights:

    In 1970, under the influence of the Soviet Union, Barre transformed his military dictatorship into a socialist one. Full-scale central planning pursued under the government’s policy of “scientific socialism” brutalized the Somali people. The government slaughtered civilians who posed threats to the government’s plans or political power, used coercive intimidation to create artificial support for its activities, and forcibly relocated others to further the political or economic ends of Barre and his cronies. “Both the urban population and nomads living in the countryside [were] subjected to summary killings, arbitrary arrest, detention in squalid conditions, torture, rape, crippling constraints on freedom of movement and expression and a pattern of psychological intimidation” (Africa Watch Committee, 1990, p. 9).

    The state ruthlessly suppressed free speech and controlled all forms of information reaching Somalis. Newspapers (only one was officially permitted by the government), radio, and television were fully censored and dissent in any form squelched with force. Under Somalia’s National Security Law No. 54, “gossip” became a capital offense. Twenty other basic civil freedoms involving speech, association and organization also carried the death penalty.

    In 1975 all land was nationalized along with nearly all major industries and the financial sector. This facilitated government’s ability to expropriate citizens’ property for state projects, like massive state-operated farms, and for politicos’ personal use. Unpopular minority groups, such as the Gosha, were particularly easy prey. In the 1970s and 1980s Barre expropriated Gosha-occupied land to create state-owned irrigation schemes that benefited his allies. In other cases his minions expropriated land for their private use, making Gosha serfs on their own property (Menkhaus and Craven, 1996).

    State control of industry in Somalia created inefficiencies like in the Soviet Union. Between 1984 and 1988, for instance, the government-owned Kismayo Meat Factory was open only three months per year. Government also owned tanneries. The “Hides and Skins Agency” paid herders less than half the market value of hides to process in these factories. These firms also utilized only a tiny fraction of their capacity. All told, capacity utilization of Somalia’s state manufacturing firms was less than 20 percent (Mubarak, 1997, p. 2028).

    In the 1980s government turned to inflation to finance its corrupt and bankrupt projects. Between 1983 and 1990, average annual depreciation of the Somali shilling against the US$ was over 100 percent. In some years depreciation exceeded 300 percent (Little, 2003). Hyperinflation destroyed the savings of Somalis who managed to accrue modest sums over time.

    In January of 1991 a coup d’état toppled Barre’s regime, creating statelessness in its wake.

    By the late 1990s peace prevailed over most of Somalia. Until 2006, when the attempted reestablishment of central government sparked new violence, conflict was isolated and sporadic, confined when it did occur to pockets of small-scale rivalry in a few areas (Menkhaus 1998, 2004; Nenova, 2004). Important to this expanding peace was expanding commerce, discussed below (Menkhaus, 2004; Nenova, 2004).

    The data depict a country with severe problems, but one which is clearly doing better under statelessness than it was under government....

    Data for the pre-1991 period come from the United Nations Development Program’s (UNDP) Human Development Report-Somalia 2001 and the World Bank/UNDP’s (2003) most recent Socio-Economic Survey in Somalia. Data for the post-stateless period are from the CIA World Factbook (2006), UNDP’s (2001, 2006) Human Development Report, the World Health Organization’s WHO (2004) Somalia Annual Report 2003, and the World Bank/UNDP (2003) Socio-Economic Survey in Somalia. Table 1 contains all 18 indicators and the results of the pre and post-statelessness comparison.

    Importantly, the indicators in Table 1 also do not measure the substantial increase in personal freedoms and civil liberties enjoyed by Somalis since the emergence of anarchy. The Somali government ruthlessly suppressed free speech, censoring newspapers, radio and television. Most forms of free expression were punishable by death and foreign travel was severely restricted. Today, in contrast, Somalis are free to travel as they please (restricted only by governments of other nations) and enjoy greater freedom of expression, both privately and publicly. 20 private newspapers, 12 radio and television stations, and several Internet sites now provide information to the Somali public (Freedom House, Reporters Sans Frontieres, 2003). Satellite-based televisions enable the transmission of international news services, including CNN (Little, 2003, pp. 170–171). Authorities in Somaliland and Puntland have attempted to interfere with media providers in their territories, but freedom of expression remains improved compared to its status under government. This constitutes an additional important, though unmeasured, increase in Somali welfare under anarchy.

Also consider Wikipedia's article on the history of Somalia after the fall of Comrade Siad — though it is Wikipedia, so due attention to sources is advised.

    The New York Times referred to post-state Mogadishu as "the ultimate example of deregulation," noting that "[g]utsy entrepreneurs, including some women, opened their own hospitals, schools… telephone companies, power plants and ports".

    Somalia has some of the best telecommunications in Africa.... According to the CIA World Factbook, private telephone companies "offer service in most major cities" via wireless technology, charging "the lowest international rates on the continent."

    private entrepreneurs have offered electricity generation on a localised basis, typically offering a choice of daytime, evening or 24 hour electricity. Gaalkacyo, a desert town in central Somalia, was provided with streetlights by local entrepreneur Abdirizak Osman, who expanded his enterprises from telecommunications to power generators, not only lighting the town but also supplying free electricity to the local hospital.

    Since the fall of the government, dozens of private newspapers, radio and television stations mushroomed (Mogadishu has two fiercely competing TV stations), with private radio stations or newspapers in almost all major towns.

    In 1991, before the collapse of the government, the national airline had only one airplane. Now there are approximately fifteen airlines, over sixty aircraft, six international destinations, and more domestic routes in Somalia. Private airlines, including Air Somalia and Daallo Airlines, serve several domestic locations as well as Djibouti, the United Arab Emirates, Paris and London. According to a 2005 World Bank report, the "private airline business in Somalia is now thriving with more than five carriers and price wars between the companies."

    Following the destruction of educational systems and infrastructure during the civil war, many new educational institutions were opened by community members, private enterprises and Islamic NGOs.

    Rival producers of Somali shillings emerged after 1991.... Private remittance companies known as hawala assist in the transfer of money. One of the largest such companies, Al Barakaat, was shut down in 2001 by a U.S.-led initiative due to alleged terrorist ties; the company's communications business, with more than 40,000 subscribers, was also shut down.
user-inactivated  ·  3654 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I did read the article, and I read about a dozen Wikipedia pages and had a discussion with a friend on facebook about Xeer law. Really interesting idea. More reading to come, I suppose.

wasoxygen  ·  3654 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    I did read the article
That's great; I apologize for hinting otherwise. It's a complex subject, and one that deserves better than cartoon discourse.

    Wait, that's really interesting. Why is this?
I would be interested in your thoughts on this question as well. From the paper it sounds like the biggest factor in the improvement of Somali welfare was the removal of that brutal thug Barre. Almost anything would be an improvement.

Somalia makes an interesting case study for the idea that people can manage their own affairs without a central government to boss them around and provide missing public goods. Of course, outcomes won't be perfect, but neither are they with the current system. Spontaneous order in the challenging environment of Somalia is providing not just roadside fruit stands, but cell phone service and airlines.

Most people are willing to at least entertain thoughts of private, profit-based schooling and perhaps transportation. But eyebrows usually go up at the idea of law provided by anyone but The Man. Did you get any insights on how Xeer law is perceived by people who live with it?

user-inactivated  ·  3654 days ago  ·  link  ·  

^I read the paper, I meant to say. Or about 75 percent of it.

I think Xeer law is just ingrained. And it makes complete sense to me that a society which has a) terrible experiences with law-from-above (both European and local), and b) a tradition of natural law by seniority would adopt and work well under a system like that. And the argument that LDCs can't do any better under centralized government is intoxicating.

I'm more interested in the c4ss et al. idea that this is an example some third world countries are setting for the first world. That an equivalent of natural law can be successful in developed countries where the problems with governmental law aren't immediately obvious (like they were in Somalia). You can mock the current "libertarian paradise" all you want but for those in power it is a paradise -- therein the problem. Etc.

My facebook pal is as libertarian as you can get. He believes firmly that government of the people by the people will happen economically -- markets can create functional private legal systems, and so on. Polycentric law. But Xeer law reminds me more of the sharia law, or more accurately Fiqh, which I can't see working in a developed country -- since the main reason Xeer/Fiqh works at all both in Somalia and (at times) in the Islamic world is that the entire societies in question share strong fundamental beliefs. Homogenous societies are on their way out.

    Most people are willing to at least entertain thoughts of private, profit-based schooling and perhaps transportation. But eyebrows usually go up at the idea of law provided by anyone but The Man.
This is also interesting because what works for one should in theory work for another. If implemented well.