A recurring argument from the political left claims that because human beings evolved to live in groups and naturally thrive within social units, this somehow proves the validity of communism or state-enforced collectivism.
The idea is presented as if human cooperation itself is evidence that central planning or communal ownership is the “natural” social order. The implication is that libertarians, because they emphasize individual rights, must be trying to deny the social nature of humanity—or worse, that libertarians allegedly prefer living in isolation, cut off from the benefits of community.
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Introduction: The Misconception About Human Nature and Politics
The argument that humans evolved to live in groups, so therefore communalism is justified, doesn’t just misrepresent libertarianism; it misunderstands human nature altogether. Humans are social, cooperative, and capable of tremendous achievements through voluntary interaction. But this truth does not imply that we must be governed by collectivist principles, nor that we owe our lives to the group.
Cooperation and collectivism are not synonyms. One arises naturally; the other must be imposed.
To understand this distinction, it helps to revisit one of the most profound illustrations of human cooperation ever written: Leonard Read’s classic I, Pencil.
In that essay, Read demonstrates that something as simple as a pencil is the product of countless individuals—loggers, miners, engineers, shippers, merchants—each performing their own specialized function, often without ever meeting one another. Their cooperation is not the result of central planning or communal ownership. It is the product of voluntary exchange within a free society.
This is the kind of cooperation libertarians celebrate. It is the type that emerges organically, without force, without coercion, and without political authority dictating each person’s role. Human beings benefit immensely from society, but that benefit does not require collectivism, and certainly not communism. In fact, the more voluntary the relationships, the stronger and more prosperous society becomes.
Humans Are Social, But That Doesn’t Mean We’re Collectivist
The idea that libertarians deny human sociability is one of the left’s most persistent myths. They imagine the libertarian worldview as hyper-individualistic, atomized, and antisocial—as if the philosophy demands that people live alone in the woods or survive on an island to prove their independence.
But libertarianism has never required such a thing. Libertarians acknowledge the obvious truth that humans evolved in groups, relied on others for security, shared knowledge, and created communal norms within early societies. There is nothing controversial about that. What libertarians dispute is the leap from “humans cooperate” to “the state must force communal arrangements.”
Humans cooperate because it is advantageous to do so. We form families, friendships, networks, businesses, alliances, and communities. We exchange ideas, create culture, develop languages, and innovate technologies. None of this requires a collectivist ideology. None requires the abolition of private property. None requires a bureaucracy dictating who shares what and how much.
Cooperation predates communism by hundreds of thousands of years.
The left’s mistake is in confusing the natural social tendencies of individuals with the political doctrine of collectivism. Just because people live together does not mean they must surrender their autonomy. Just because people benefit from others does not mean they are indebted to the group. And just because a society thrives when individuals interact does not mean the state must centrally plan their interactions.
The truth is much simpler: humans are social by nature, but freedom—not collectivism—is what allows that social nature to flourish.
Voluntary Exchange Is the Highest Form of Cooperation
In I, Pencil, Read shows how a seemingly trivial object embodies the contributions of countless people across the world. No single individual knows how to make a pencil from scratch. Yet pencils are everywhere. How? Not because the Politburo designed a plan. Not because society was organized into a commune. Pencils exist because millions of individuals voluntarily cooperate through trade.
This is society at its finest.
A logger in Oregon and a rubber tapper in Malaysia might never meet, never exchange words, and never owe each other anything personally. Yet their separate efforts, guided by market incentives, result in a finished product neither could create on their own. That is cooperation without coercion. It is a community without collectivism. It is an expression of human sociability at a scale no communist system has ever achieved.
Leftists often insist that libertarians ignore or downplay this interconnectedness. But the opposite is true. Libertarians highlight voluntary cooperation as one of the greatest achievements of civilization. It is libertarians—not socialists—who marvel at the spontaneous order of human interaction. It is libertarians who understand that society functions best when individuals choose their associations freely.
The left imagines that society falls apart without forced redistribution or centralized authority. They believe cooperation must be mandated, not recognizing that the most spectacular forms of cooperation in human history have taken place in free markets, not planned economies.
Communism claims to represent collective harmony. But markets actually deliver it.
You Can Appreciate Society Without Owing Your Life to It
Another popular leftist argument is that because individuals benefit from society, they owe society something in return. This “social debt” is then used to justify taxation, regulation, and collectivist control.
But this framing treats society as a creditor, and individuals as borrowers. It suggests that merely existing within a network of voluntary interactions creates some eternal obligation to surrender one’s earnings, freedoms, or independence.
This is backwards.
When a person participates in society, they are already contributing. They are working, producing, creating, buying, selling, sharing knowledge, raising families, and respecting the rights of others. The benefits they receive—safety, trade, culture, relationships, cooperation—are the natural result of living among other human beings.
No one is indebted simply for participating in civilization. You do not owe your life to your neighbors, and they do not owe theirs to you. The value exchanged within society is mutual. It is reciprocal. It is ongoing. You benefit from others, and others benefit from you. No coercive overseer is necessary to balance these relationships.
Communism misunderstands the nature of social interaction. It treats society as something artificial that must be enforced. Libertarianism treats society as something organic that emerges spontaneously whenever individuals are free.
Community Thrives When It Is Voluntary
One of the biggest misconceptions about libertarianism is the idea that valuing individual rights means rejecting community. But communities formed through freedom are stronger, healthier, and more stable than communities built on force.
When people choose their associations—choose their neighborhoods, choose their trades, choose their charities, choose their friendships—they invest more deeply in them. They care more. They contribute more. They participate willingly rather than grudgingly.
Communities under collectivism are imposed. Participation is mandatory. Resources are taken, not contributed. The group is prioritized over the individual, but only because the group is controlled by those in power.
There is nothing noble about forced cooperation. It is no more moral than forced labor.
Human beings naturally create communities. They join clubs, build businesses, form families, and develop cultures. Libertarians celebrate this richness. They simply insist that it happen without political coercion.
In other words, libertarians embrace community—but reject collectivism.
Conclusion: Human Cooperation Proves the Value of Freedom, Not Communism
The left’s argument collapses once the distinction between voluntary cooperation and collectivism is understood. Humans are social, cooperative, and interdependent. Libertarians do not deny this—they celebrate it. What libertarians reject is the notion that our social nature requires a collectivist political system.
You can benefit from society without being a communist.
You can participate in a community without being controlled by it.
You can appreciate cooperation without surrendering individual rights.
And you can live among others—benefiting from their knowledge, labor, and creativity—without owing your life to the collective.
Human cooperation doesn't justify collectivism. It justifies freedom.
Cooperation not domination. Freedom not slavery. Fight back in style! 