One of my objections to government is that none of us has ever been given the opportunity to discover what life might be like without it. Another is that systems which could be relatively simple, are often made unnecessarily complex, to justify the existence of those tasked with administering them.
I spent some forty years in business and perhaps I was fortunate with the people I employed, but my management philosophy was to lay down some basic rules...get the job done without shafting anyone...and then leave people to find their own way of achieving this. The reward was a share in the profits at the end of each quarter as acknowledgement of a job well done. It worked like a dream. Nobody skived, and everyone pulled their weight. Why wouldn't they? Their earnings depended on it, as did their standing within the team. We worked bloody hard, all for one and one for all and we had great fun doing it.
My view is that we live on a people farm. From the moment we're born, we're taught to believe ourselves incapable of managing our own affairs or looking after one another without expert intervention. We're encouraged to doubt our own judgment and place our faith in systems instead. We're demoralised, poisoned and mind-controlled, all funded by our own hard-earned cash.
I know this sounds simplistic but throughout my life I've seen countless examples of trust in people, giving them freedom and treating them like adults producing incredible dividends.
Or perhaps I'm just a superb leader of men!:)
As you know, my management style is very similar. And yet I still encounter many people that do not get that. Not every culture is set for individual problem solving. When I read a lot of anarchism books, I absolutely believed it was possible, by looking at the people around me - those with the same ideas and similar values. But as soon as I went out of that bubble, reality was different than what I thought. I don't think it's that simple anymore, there are many factors that play into it.
If you look at failed states, there's a lot of room for people to self-organize and prosper that way. But some organize in a peaceful way, constructively from my point of view, and others engage in violence against those. Both groups are self-organized. And although only one is sustainable (the raiders will die when there's nothing left to raid), both exist. And I don't think that will ever change, neither through education nor anything else.
Perhaps as you say it's a cultural thing. We have no European 'failed states' to serve as examples, and I've only ever employed Europeans.