GOING GALT IN BRITAIN: PEOPLE WHO LIVE WITHOUT THE STATE

Living without the state in Britain today: The case of the Irish Travellers by John Kersey Let us begin by defining terms. I am not talking about Romani Gypsies. Nor am I talking about New Age Travellers. Rather, I am talking about the distinct ethnic group present in the UK as well as in the USA – and rather obviously in Ireland itself – that defines itself as Minceir, or Pavees or an Lucht Siúil. In as much as anything is generally known about this community within the wider public, we have Channel 4 and its documentaries to thank. Even though these present a somewhat sensationalized and doubtless inaccurate view of Traveller life, and have given rise to complaints from Travellers themselves, they nevertheless are enough to enable us to understand some basic precepts of this extremely close-knit people whose society is otherwise impenetrable to outsiders. Why should libertarians be interested in Irish Travellers? For the simple reason that when in the UK, Irish Travellers demonstrate how a life may be lived within a voluntary society that has minimal interface with the state. In addition, their life illustrates what happens when a community decides consciously to live by and to perpetuate a set of traditions and a strong ethnic identity that persists for many generations, and that shows little sign of adaptation to wider norms or assimilation into the broader mass of society. When libertarian utopians talk about the communal purchase of a plot of land, the establishing of roots and the inculcation of particular values into a future community, they should be looking to Irish Travellers both as a rare example of success in maintaining a separate way of life alongside mainstream society and also as a warning of some of the difficulties that are likely to be encountered. Continue reading →