Gauss on Nostr: #Ireland ran without a state for over 1000 years under Brehon Law, and it worked ...

#Ireland ran without a state for over 1000 years under Brehon Law, and it worked better than most modern legal systems. From roughly 600-1600 CE, Irish society operated through competing law schools (the Brehon judges) who earned their authority through reputation and legal expertise, not political appointment or state backing.

The system handled everything from property disputes to homicide through sophisticated restitution rather than punishment. Kill someone? You paid their family based on their social status and productivity (honor-price plus body-price). Steal cattle? You returned multiple cattle plus compensation for the disruption. No prisons, no executioners, no massive bureaucratic apparatus eating tax revenue.

What fascinates me most: legal enforcement happened through insurance-like arrangements and social ostracism rather than state violence. Communities essentially "fired" people who refused arbitration by cutting off trade and protection. (Try explaining that efficiency to someone who thinks we need 2.3 million Americans in prison today.) The Normans and later the English had to systematically destroy this decentralized order because centralized states cannot tolerate competing power structures...

#economy #libertarian