The state is the price we pay for failing to build a civilized society. The bigger, more powerful, and more authoritarian the state, the greater the failure. A centrally planned totalitarian state represents a complete defeat for the civilized world, while a totally voluntary society represents its ultimate success.

The state is an artifact of the willingness to peacefully engage in joint action, not a cause.

It is not peace, cooperation, collaboration, rights, property, business, rules of behavior, and rules of interpersonal interaction and engagement that cannot exist without the state, but rather it is monopoly power that cannot.

It is impossible that peace, cooperation, collaboration, rights, property, business, rules of behavior, and rules of interpersonal interaction and engagement only exist or operate effectively because a state makes it so. Those concepts must have existed, must have been known to have utility and validity before any state existed. It is impossible to form a state without them.

Civil society functions as it does in spite of the state, not because of it. It is our collective agreement to work together, to cooperate, to collaborate, to respect rights, to engage in business, to abide by commonly-accepted rules of behavior, and to follow commonly-accepted rules of interpersonal interaction and engagement that enable any organization or group (involving two or more people) to operate effectively--especially including the state itself.

Yes, we have conflicts with each other. But we rarely appeal to the state to resolve them. Certainly, edge cases happen where some external, neutral agency is needed to resolve disputes. But the free market can provide that function more effectively and at less cost than any monopoly can match--and can do so with less risk of corruption, precisely because there is no monopoly. 

"Great part of that order which reigns among mankind is not the effect of government. It has its origin in the principles of society and the natural constitution of man. It existed prior to government, and would exist if the formality of government was abolished. The mutual dependence and reciprocal interest which man has upon man, and all the parts of civilised community upon each other, create that great chain of connection which holds it together. The landholder, the farmer, the manufacturer, the merchant, the tradesman, and every occupation, prospers by the aid which each receives from the other, and from the whole. Common interest regulates their concerns, and forms their law; and the laws which common usage ordains, have a greater influence than the laws of government. In fine, society performs for itself almost everything which is ascribed to government." ~ Thomas Paine

Most of our interactions with each other involve fully consensual exchanges and transactions. That's our normal social behavior. Anarchism is simply the recognition of the fact that that's normal human behavior, and that therefore nothing else is needed. Nor wise.

"If anarchism makes any empirical claim, it is that humans have the capacity, indeed the natural inclination, to organize themselves into networks of mutual aid: we do not need a government holding a gun to our head to compel socially beneficial behaviour. Rarely do we get an opportunity submit this hypothesis to a conclusive test, as government and big business aggressively stamp out all but the subtlest and most underground of anarchist mutual aid efforts. But what happens in a cataclysmic event, such as an earthquake or hurricane, when powerful institutions are temporarily thrown off-kilter, at least locally? Hollywood disaster movies tell us that under these conditions, the thin veneer of civilization quickly falls away, and humanity descends into a Hobbesian “war of all against all”, replete with looting, murder, rape, and cannibalism — or at least that’s what would happen, if not for the efforts of the chisel-jawed hero. In fact, this disaster trope is almost entirely false. Rather, Rebecca Solnit’s A Paradise Built in Hell (Viking Press, 2009) establishes, from a broad survey of disasters, that the overwhelming response to disaster is a massive outpouring of mutual aid." => https://c4ss.org/content/38511

The alternative to a state is a society where "laws" (rules of engagement,) law enforcement and judicial services are provided by competing private institutions that have no monopoly: Only in that way can each individual personally consent to the 'rules of engagement' that will be used to govern and judge his actions.

“If an agency is the ultimate judge in every case of conflict, then it is also judge in all conflicts involving itself. Consequently, instead of merely preventing and resolving conflict, a monopolist of ultimate decision making will also cause and provoke conflict in order to settle it to his own advantage. That is, if one can only appeal to the state for justice, justice will be perverted in the favor of the state, constitutions and supreme courts notwithstanding.” ~ Hans-Hermann Hoppe

"Anarchy is the order of the day among hunter-gatherers. Indeed, critics will ask why a small face-to-face group needs a government anyway. [...] If this is so we can go further and say that since the egalitarian hunting-gathering society is the oldest type of human society and prevailed for the longest period of time – over thousands of decades – then anarchy must be the oldest and one of the most enduring kinds of polity. Ten thousand years ago everyone was an anarchist." ~ Harold Barclay, American anthropologist (Barclay, Harold (1996). People Without Government: An Anthropology of Anarchy. Kahn & Averill. ISBN 1-871082-16-1)

For a deeper dive into how and why the stateless free market could obviate any need for a state, peruse the following:

_Why We Couldn’t Abolish Slavery Then and Can’t Abolish Government Now_ => http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=2589

_But Wouldn't Warlords Take Over?_ => https://mises.org/library/wouldnt-warlords-take-over

_The Production of Security_ => https://mises.org/library/production-security-0

_The Machinery Of Freedom_ => http://daviddfriedman.com/The_Machinery_of_Freedom_.pdf

_A Consequentialist Theory Of Anarcho-Capitalism_ => http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcxGXcmr4ig

Why the advantages of living in society do not justify a monopolistic state: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=0H2rSJayL_c

_The Myth Of Benevolent Central Authority_ => https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eA8w--EiH5k

_The State Is Not Great: How Government Poisons Everything_ => https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=KXNRzI64L9Q

Government: The Unnecessary Evil: => https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uCP0QY8vUo&feature=player_embedded

Government Explained => http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUS1m5MSt9k

Government Explained 2 => https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=NhSqzANQvbk

The Jones Plantation => http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=vb8Rj5xkDPk

Anarchy => https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=NwztaQgv3-Y

How Could A Voluntary Society Function? => http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tE9dZATrFak&feature=related

Criminal Justice In a Voluntary Society => http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUKF1tFf5_w&feature=youtu.be
Libertarianism and Property Rights from First Principles =>
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYloEOwKjjA

Law without Government: Principles => http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khRkBEdSDDo

Law without Government: Conflict Resolution in a Free Society => http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kPyrq6SEL0&feature=related

Law without Government: The Bargaining Mechanism => http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qmMpgVNc6Y

Law Enforcement Without Government PART 1 => http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJfaW5DnmbM&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PL62D40FEEC3CD7125

The Market for Liberty | Chapter 1: If We Don't Know Where We're Going... => http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKyt8ZmltY0&feature=related

State or Private-Law Society => http://mises.org/daily/5270/State-or-PrivateLaw-Society

REFLECTIONS ON LEGAL POLYCENTRISM => http://mises.org/journals/jls/22_1/22_1_2.pdf

Anarchy And the Law: The Political Economy of Choice =>  http://books.google.com/books/about/Anarchy_And_the_Law.html?id=nft4e62nicsC

The Problem of Political Authority: An Examination of the Right to Coerce and the Duty to Obey => http://www.amazon.com/The-Problem-Political-Authority-Examination/dp/1137281650

*The Tradition of Spontaneous Order* => http://www.econlib.org/library/Essays/LtrLbrty/bryTSO.html

*The Evolution of Cooperation* => http://www.amazon.com/The-Evolution-Cooperation-Revised-Edition/dp/0465005640

_The Evolution of Cooperation provides valuable insights into the age-old question of whether unforced cooperation is ever possible. Widely praised and much-discussed, this classic book explores how cooperation can emerge in a world of self-seeking egoists-whether superpowers, businesses, or individuals-when there is no central authority to police their actions. The problem of cooperation is central to many different fields. Robert Axelrod recounts the famous computer tournaments in which the “cooperative” program Tit for Tat recorded its stunning victories, explains its application to a broad spectrum of subjects, and suggests how readers can both apply cooperative principles to their own lives and teach cooperative principles to others._

*The Evolution of Everything: How New Ideas Emerge* => http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0062296000/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0062296000&linkCode=as2&tag=thewaspos09-20&linkId=WBYE3JE5DYBGJ45V

_The New York Times bestselling author of The Rational Optimist and Genome returns with a fascinating, brilliant argument for evolution that definitively dispels a dangerous, widespread myth: that we can command and control our world._

_The Evolution of Everything is about bottom-up order and its enemy, the top-down twitch—the endless fascination human beings have for design rather than evolution, for direction rather than emergence. Drawing on anecdotes from science, economics, history, politics and philosophy, Matt Ridley’s wide-ranging, highly opinionated opus demolishes conventional assumptions that major scientific and social imperatives are dictated by those on high, whether in government, business, academia, or morality. On the contrary, our most important achievements develop from the bottom up. Patterns emerge, trends evolve. Just as skeins of geese form Vs in the sky without meaning to, and termites build mud cathedrals without architects, so brains take shape without brain-makers, learning can happen without teaching and morality changes without a plan._

_Although we neglect, defy and ignore them, bottom-up trends shape the world. The growth of technology, the sanitation-driven health revolution, the quadrupling of farm yields so that more land can be released for nature—these were largely emergent phenomena, as were the Internet, the mobile phone revolution, and the rise of Asia. Ridley demolishes the arguments for design and effectively makes the case for evolution in the universe, morality, genes, the economy, culture, technology, the mind, personality, population, education, history, government, God, money, and the future._

_As compelling as it is controversial, authoritative as it is ambitious, Ridley’s stunning perspective will revolutionize the way we think about our world and how it works._

*Private Governance: Creating Order in Economic and Social Life* => http://www.amazon.com/Private-Governance-Creating-Economic-Social/dp/0199365164/ref=sr_1_1

_From the first stock markets of Amsterdam,London, and New York to the billions of electronic commerce transactions today, privately produced and enforced economic regulations are more common, more effective, and more promising than commonly considered._ 

_In Private Governance, prominent economist Edward Stringham presents case studies of the various forms of private enforcement, self-governance, or self-regulation among private groups or individuals that fill a void that government enforcement cannot. Through analytical narratives the book provides a close examination of the world's first stock markets, key elements of which were unenforceable by law; the community of Celebration, Florida, and other private communities that show how public goods can be bundled with land and provided more effectively; and the millions of credit-card transactions that occur daily and are regulated by private governance. Private Governance ultimately argues that while potential problems of private governance, such as fraud, are pervasive, so are the solutions it presents, and that much of what is orderly in the economy can be attributed to private groups and individuals. With meticulous research, Stringham demonstrates that private governance is a far more common source of order than most people realize, and that private parties have incentives to devise different mechanisms for eliminating unwanted behavior._ 

_Private Governance documents numerous examples of private order throughout history to illustrate how private governance is more resilient to internal and external pressure than is commonly believed. Stringham discusses why private governance has economic and social advantages over relying on government regulations and laws, and explores the different mechanisms that enable private governance, including sorting, reputation, assurance, and other bonding mechanisms. Challenging and rigorously-written, Private Governance will make a compelling read for those with an interest in economics, political philosophy, and the history of current Wall Street regulations._

*A Spontaneous Order: The Capitalist Case for a Stateless Society* => https://mises.org/library/spontaneous-order-capitalist-case-stateless-society [Available as a free .pdf]

_A Spontaneous Order: The Capitalist Case for a Stateless Society is an astonishingly concise, rigorous, and accessible presentation of anarcho-capitalist ideals. It covers a wide range of topics including: Money and Banking, Monopolies and Cartels, Insurance, Health Care, Law, Security, Poverty, Education, Environmentalism, and more! To enjoy this compelling read requires no previous political, philosophical, or economic knowledge as all uncommon concepts are defined and explained in a simple yet uncompromising manner. Take heed, this work is liable to cause radical paradigm shifts in your understanding of both the State and Free Market._

Anarchy – Never Been Tried? => http://www.notbeinggoverned.com/anarchy-never-been-tried-part-i/

Anarchy – Never Been Tried? Part II: Emerald Anarchy => http://www.notbeinggoverned.com/anarchy-never-been-tried-part-ii-emerald-anarchy/ 

Anarchy – Never Been Tried? Part III: Fire and Ice => http://www.notbeinggoverned.com/anarchy-never-tried-part-3-fire-ice/

Anarchy – Never Been Tried? Part IV: In The Beginning => http://www.notbeinggoverned.com/960/

Anarchy – Never Been Tried? Part V: Anarchy in the U.S.A.??? => http://www.notbeinggoverned.com/anarchy-never-been-tried-part-v-anarchy-in-the-usa/

Anarchy – Never Been Tried? Part VI: The Living Anti-Nation => http://www.notbeinggoverned.com/anarchy-never-tried-part-vi-living-anti-nation/

Introducing the Tarahumara => http://aianattackthesystem.com/2011/05/24/introducing-the-tarahumara/

Stateless Societies: Ancient Ireland => http://peacerequiresanarchy.wordpress.com/2012/12/30/stateless-societies-ancient-ireland/

Government Can Be Prevented! Repelling States: Evidence from Upland Southeast Asia => http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1715223

_ANARCHY LIVES: ROJAVA_ => http://bravetheworld.com/2015/06/02/anarchy-lives-rojava/

Ireland's Success with the Free Market and Anarchism => https://youtu.be/9JZKxggVZz0

The Decline and Fall of Private Law in Iceland => http://praxeology.net/libertariannation/a/f13l1.html

Privatization, Viking Style: Model or Misfortune? =? http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig3/long1.html