Spontaneous Order vs. Regulation and Planning

Well, sort of …
Traffic Anarchy A friend recently sent us a link to a video of Meskel Square, a busy intersection in Addis Abeba, with the remark: ‘You’ll like this, it’s about anarchy’. The video is in time lapse, so things are not quite as dramatic as they appear, but it still offers an interesting object lesson.
This large intersection with its enormous traffic volume has no traffic lights, no traffic signs, no cross-walks and no policemen guiding anyone. Nothing. And yet the flow of traffic is quite smooth; drivers and manage to cross or turn onto the main road without problems, pedestrians likewise manage to negotiate the intersection quite easily, and there are no accidents. It is as if an invisible hand were guiding things: every so often, everyone will slow down enough or stop to give others a chance to move on.

Meskel Square in Addis Abeba – a major intersection that needs no traffic lights, no traffic signs and no traffic police – and yet, it works quite smoothly.
Obviously, humans are quite capable of cooperating even in the complete absence of regulations and their enforcers. It is in this sense that the scene is ‘anarchistic’. However, what it is not, is chaotic – it only appears to be at a superficial glance. In reality, it is an example for spontaneous order, just as the market economy is an example of spontaneous order. The so-called ‘anarchy of production’ that is the hallmark of the market economy is vastly superior to any attempt at central economic planning (unfortunately, even today many intellectuals are stumped by this fact and unable or unwilling to accept it).

This post was published at Acting-Man on January 8, 2015.