On the Subject of Confusion, Referring to Anarchy

[citrakayah]

I am very confused about anarchy. Very, very confused. Possibly because I have traditionally associated it with libertarianism.

Comments

[jewelfox]

Anarchy is rev_yurodivy's specialty. >_>b They're a big fan of Christian Anarchists like Ammon Hennacy.

As I understand it, anarchy is actually the diametrical opposite of libertarianism. "The Kingdom of God is anarchy"; the complete absense of compulsion by force. Libertarianism is all about stepping aside and letting others compel you all they want, if they happen to be big and powerful enough.

This isn't how libertarians sell their philosophy, of course. >_> They're just completely blind to the ways in which government currently acts as a check on the coercive force of powerful people and large corporations. Their solution to every problem is "the free market," but if a market becomes monopolized or monopsonized the burden is on the weakest persons to change that by acting individually. And rich people are supposed to be free to do whatever they want, but if you're so poor you don't have the freedom to do anything but work on the rich people's terms, then tough cookies.

I personally lean towards socialism, in the sense of like Sweden and Norway. But my ideal society would be one in which coersion never had to be applied to get people to stop hurting each other, because it'd be healthy enough to be able to resolve any such crisis without it. That's what anarchy would be like, I guess.

[citrakayah]

Yes, I do dislike libertarianism. Have a special loathing for the philosophy, really, especially since it got Randized.

So how do anarchists propose to make such a society a reality? And would one necessarily have to abolish the government to do this? The more I learn about anarchy, the more it looks like a bunch of libertarians took the idea and ran with it.

I also favor socialism. Proud dirty socialist!

[jewelfox]

Yuro pointed out to me that I'm basically describing anarcho-pacifism, which is one specific type of anarchy. It's just the only one I feel makes any sense. >_> I'm pretty sure it's the closest to their values as well.

I can't really speak for anyone else? I've seen things like "not voting" seriously thrown around as anarchist lifestyle suggestions.

For me personally, the goal isn't "implement anarchy" so much as "abolish abuse." I don't want anyone to be able to bully, negate, or hurt anyone else. I support anything that brings society closer to that goal, or that brings me personally closer to a living situation in which I don't have to fear I'll be hurt or denied anything I need.

I'm not completely sure that "absence of government" is required. When I look at power structures, I don't see whether they exist or not so much as how democratic they are, and whether the power is spread out evenly among everyone. Is anyone being left out? Does anyone have so much they can hurt others with it, by accident or on purpose, and if so what's keeping them from doing so?

Whether it's "anarchist" or not, from what I've seen a good democratic socialist government really helps level the playing field, and act as insurance against power imbalances. I also feel things like the Internet, and unions, and co-ops and employee owned companies, are positive steps towards a world with no bullying.

I don't know what that world will look like, any more than I have any idea what kind of electronics we'll have even 20 years from now. I think it's worth working towards as a goal, though, and I think that basically makes me an anarcho-pacifist.

[citrakayah]

But anarcho-pacifism also talks about how one gets to that goal. To my knowledge, it doesn't seem to permit the threat of legal and/or financial consequences to get to the end goal... though I suppose there's a spectrum, and one can be opposed to physical violence without being opposed to legal or financial force (when it's applied in a way to overall benefit people).

I can't really speak for anyone else? I've seen things like "not voting" seriously thrown around as anarchist lifestyle suggestions.

Most of the ones I've seen involve 'abolish government and let the free market or private individuals take care of everything'. This has not raised my opinion of anarchy.