The road to nowhere

Among anarchists there is a lot of debate over certain topics. This debate is fueled by the search for viable answers to objections raised by statist sheep. One of the most hotly contended subjects is the construction and maintenance of roads. Statists always claim govt is essential to maintain communal property like roads. Anarchists inevitably point to toll roads as the solution. Unfortunately, most of these solutions are insanely convoluted and completely ignore the fact that roads are not an economic problem, they are a fluid dynamics problem.

It occurred to me during a discussion with one of the few true anarchists I know that the typical anarchist solution completely misses the point. There is a solution that not only solves all the issues with the roads, but also solves many environmental issues as well.

Intra-city roads are a non-issue because they can easily be maintained by a voluntary-membership maintenance collective not unlike a chamber of commerce or similar business group. The problem is how to transport masses of goods between distant cities. One solution is maglev trains. These are in use already, it's a viable technology to replace much of the road traffic. But it's limited. You can't have rail service to every tiny village. And it is still a hugely expensive idea that would be hard to fund without stealing money from, aka "taxing", people.

But there is a technology that can reach everywhere with unlimited flexibility. It's a technology that would allow anything that is currently moved by truck to be moved without any need for roads or rails at all; Airships

Yes, my friends. I'm saying that if we wish to live on a free planet we have to first undo the bonds that shackle us to the earth. The first benefit of such vehicles is that they can carry literally anything anywhere. They are actually more flexible and efficient than trucks. Airships can fly above the weather rather than being delayed by it. Airships wouldn't be slowed by construction, landslides, icy roads, traffic, or any of the other things that routinely hold up trucks. Their higher speed and ability to fly in a straight line mean airships can deliver people and products much quicker than trucks. While the ability to land in a fairly small area, the quiet operation, and the relative fuel economy make airships more practical than standard cargo planes. Airships would make a huge difference in the global economy.

The ecological benefits are even more impressive. Since such an airship could easily be powered by solar panels, no fuel would be needed. Imagine carrying ten truckloads of apples from California farms to markets in New York without burning a single drop of oil. Imagine doing so without the need for thousands of miles of roads slicing through the wilderness and impeding natural migratory patterns.

But freedom is the ultimate benefit of airships and air travel in general. You leave from wherever you happen to be and land wherever you wish to go. You are completely unrestrained by the rest of society. I believe this is why personal air travel is so heavily restricted by govts. They know they couldn't maintain control if everybody owned a helicopter. You can't have mid-air border guards or sobriety checkpoints. Imagine having the ability to fly to Hawaii for the weekend without paying for air fare. Simply climb into your own personal solar-powered airship and take off. No traffic cops. No potholes. No traffic. No airport security.

Of course, there have been many discussions about personal air travel since the Wright brothers freed us from terra firma. And there is one objection that always comes up. Doomsayers always claim that people would be dropping from the skies like rain. They say the skies would be crowded, dangerous places. This fear is exactly what govts want. And it's completely unfounded. The reason roads are congested is because they are bottlenecks. Everybody traveling between two areas has a limited choice of routes. Funneling all these vehicles into a few, narrow bands of passage creates an artificial congestion. Air travel would eliminate this. Instead of hopping in your car and driving to the nearest freeway to get to the city you would hop in your aircraft and fly in a straight line to your destination. The only people you would encounter on your trip would be people who lived along the same path. And air travel allows for three dimensional movement. So whereas roads force everybody into a narrow strip of asphalt, the sky is wide open. This allows people to be hundreds of feet apart at all times even when there are hundreds of vehicles in the same area. There is simply too much open air for congestion to be an issue.

Lighter than air machines are also failsafe, unlike planes or helicopters that plummet to the ground when they lose power. Which takes away the other safety concern of the Doomsayers.

So there you have it. The skies provide the solution to anarchy's biggest dilemma. They also offer a solution for our environmental woes. The only group that loses if we take to the air is govt. And that's one group that could stand to lose.