Who will
build the roads? I have been asked this question enough times to make my head
hurt, as most free market Libertarians have. Libertarian scholars much wiser
than I have answered this question,
but the
inevitable follow up is, "Is there an example you can point to where this
would work?"
I think
there is.
The Dalton Highway, otherwise known to Alaskans as the Haul Road, is what I think is the closest
example to an Anarchist road in America.
Financed in 1974
by the State and different oil companies and built by Alyeska Pipeline Services,
the Haul Road was built to service the North Slope oil fields of Alaska.
Alyeska maintained the road until the State of Alaska took over this service. This
"service" is such that, just this year, a 150-mile stretch of the
road was so bad that 15 mph was too fast to travel. A truck driver hopped into
a State road grader and did a little road maintenance himself for about 30
miles; it turned out to be the best stretch of the road. The State was quite
miffed because one person did that much during a time the DOT was complaining
about lack of funding (but no one will rat out the driver who did it). The trip
to Deadhorse is nearly 500 miles from Fairbanks, the industry hub for the oil
fields.
There is one
private "truck stop" on the route at the halfway point, Coldfoot, population of about 10. In the 12 years that I have driven
the route, I have seen maybe a dozen Alaska State troopers on the road. For the
most part, you can travel to Deadhorse back and forth for an entire winter and
not see a cop. You would think that this would mean the road is in total,
constant chaos, with road rage in abundance and crime around every corner.
Not so. The
truck drivers that operate on the road have an unwritten code of ethics that
provides for a safe trip on an otherwise dangerous road. Every driver governs
himself. While the State does have a speed limit, it is rarely followed when
the road is in good condition. But when two trucks meet on the narrow roadway,
they slow down to a safe speed of around 35 mph or less, so they won't
"rock" each other from loose gravel on the mostly gravel road. There
is no State law requiring this, but it is a soon-to-be-sorry trucker who is new
to the road, who won't listen to friendly advice and who decides he wants to
drive in an uncourteous manner, not slowing down when meeting oncoming traffic.
If you are known to rock other trucks, the word spreads quickly, and when you
meet a few trucks together, they will put the hammer down and make sure to rock
your truck. Everyone on the road
knows who "that guy" is; the law says he can drive 50 mph and by
golly, he is going to.
After a few
windshields and the paint being literally rocked off his truck, he gets the
point, and becomes a courteous fellow. Social pressure at its finest.
The weather
on the road can drop below -50 in the winter, and although the law doesn't
require anyone to stop and help a stranded truck driver, again the word will
get out that you don't want to be a nice guy. Since it is not a matter of if,
but when, you yourself will break down, you put yourself in harm's way; no one
will stop to help you. There is no cell phone service for about 450 miles of
the trip, and AAA is out of the question. Your life literally depends on how
you treat your neighbor. Company rivalries, feuds and squabbles that may happen
in town, all go by the wayside. There are several accidents that happen on the road every year, and everyone stops to
help. Troopers rarely, if ever, are called out, and somehow the incidents seem
to take care of themselves. Within a day or so, the accident is completely
cleaned up, no citations are issued, and the road continues to operate. Private
insurance picks up the tab.
A couple
years ago there was one nasty person who happens to be employed as a revenue
officer by the North Slope Borough, known in other terms as a cop. This armed
bureaucrat took his job of being a protector to great lengths, and was known to
be very uncourteous, to rock oncoming traffic, to write numerous citations of
protection, and was quite arrogant to others on the CB radio. He had a badge
and he let you know it. He was a jerk. One fine day when the temperature was
hanging around -50, his car broke down, a couple of hours from his home base of
Deadhorse. No one would help him. No one even cared that he was broke down. He
had to sit in his car and wait for a Borough tow truck to come rescue him. I
hope he got a little chilly. He now rarely roams the road looking for people to
protect. He gets it now.
When you
arrive to the oilfields of the North Slope, you are required to stop at a
security gate before you can gain access to the 200,000 + acre field, operated
and maintained by various oil company operators. This is not a State check
point, it is the entrance to a free market society. All of the roads around the oil field
to the different drilling sites are built and maintained by the different oil
companies.
The guards are usually very friendly and accommodating, they
are private persons making a living like you. They have no weapons, (although
some do carry guns for protection against bears). When you are on the field you
agree to follow the posted speeds, and various traffic and safety rules that
the oil companies have made. There are various security folks driving around,
and they will pull you over if you are flagrantly breaking a rule.
But no State cops.
My brother was pulled over for speeding recently, the
security guy was nice, explained to him why he pulled him over and said, "
I am going to write you up unless there was an emergency reason for your
speeding, but there is no monetary fine or penalty involved. But I have to warn
you if you get 3 of these you won't be permitted back onto the field, but you
can appeal this".
It was very cold out so my brother said, "let's go sit
in your vehicle I want to talk to you about a few things". My brother got
into his pickup and explained how they were engaging in a voluntary law society
right then (while this guy is writing him up), and how since there was no force
involved or implied, neither party felt threatened. My brother told how it was
in his best interest to follow the rules so he could make a living on the oil
field, and yet he wasn't forced to be there and no one was going to shoot him
in the head for breaking a simple rule. A monetary loss if you decide to be
stupid since you won't be allowed to work there anymore, but no force is
involved, and it's all voluntary. The security guy really got the idea, and
said he thought it could work in every day society as well, you have a private
road, obey the rules or they don't allow you to use their property.
My brother has commented to me that at no time has he ever
felt threatened when working there, or interacting with security, and I can say
I have never felt threatened either, which is a far cry from when I see
flashing blue and red lights from a car of a person who wishes to give me a
little State protection.
I have not heard of anyone being murdered there, in fact I
have heard of little to no crime, and there are about 30,000 plus people
working up there at any given time. It is its own sprawled out city.
Imagine
that, a lesson in Anarchy, a free society example, being put into practice by
those giant, evil, oil corporations.
The next time you see a car broken down by the side of the
road, with cars speeding by consider that the Officers of Justice [sic] threaten
to fine individuals not licensed by the state who try to show real compassion
to their fellow men. In
Alaska, you can be given a citation from the State for stopping to help someone
pull their car out of a ditch. Or a fender- bender with a cop eagerly writing a
citation, not so the person at fault can pay restitution to the person he hit,
but so the State can get its fair share, you can thank the roadfare/welfare
State, who in its infinite wisdom of owning all roads has destroyed the meaning
of self-ownership of the people driving on them, and made them forget the value
of their neighbor.
And when
people ask you "Who will build the roads?" and insist that it just
won't work, you can point to the Haul Road of Alaska, the Anarchist road of
America.
