Why do you believe in it, do you approve it in theory or also in practice? I think a lot of people approve of anarchism in theory but rejects the possibility of it to be put in practice unless we live in an utopia… which I don’t think we do, unfortunately. Maybe techno-anarchism would be more practical? Technology is such badly regulated and ordinary people are punished harsher than corporate so I really think techno-anarchism deserves a lot more attention (not saying anarchism itself doesn’t) I see a lot of people here are more knowledgeable than me so don’t take my word so seriously, maybe I shouldn’t be expressing my idiot thoughts on it, or maybe just embrace it and ask regardless of any shame I might get.
I’m not trying to be mean to anyone, just genuinely wanted to discuss with whoever is willing to chip in on the topic.
If by viable you mean able to be implemented without enormous problems, I would argue that capitalism isn’t viable. I believe anarchism would be better for more people than the status quo, so I’d say it’s viable in comparison
Edit: to answer the other part of your question, I practice anarchism in my daily life. Anarchism, to me, is a value more so than a political ideology. I don’t believe in hierarchy, so I don’t perpetuate hierarchy, and I actively work to dismantle it around me
Damn yo, i think i might be an anarchist
What are some examples of that in your day to day life? If you don’t mind sharing.
Nice try, fed!
Jk, but this isn’t an anonymous account, so I can’t go into much detail on the praxis/direct action side of things. I will say that, as I believe the state, its laws, and its enforcers(cops, etc) are illegitimate, I give them no bearing on my behavior (i.e., I disregard laws (I’m not a sovcit though- I understand the consequences)). Similarly, I believe healthcare should be free, so I don’t pay my medical bills; I believe food should be free, so
𝚁𝙴𝙳𝙰𝙲𝚃𝙴𝙳; and so on, though those are more egoist examples.A few interpersonal examples that come to mind:
As a therapist, the first thing I always do with a new minor client is clarify that they absolutely do not have to participate. I also discuss involuntary committal with new clients, and seek their consent ahead of time to make that decision for them should it come to it, and if they decline then that’s that as far as I’m concerned.
I practice relationship anarchy, so I place no restrictions on my partner, and our resources are pooled.
I even avoid exerting authority/power over non-human animals if I can avoid it, including our cat and even insects and such- basically I don’t touch them unless they come to me, and I also follow a vegan lifestyle.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Anarchism/comments/jp3q4p/comment/gbesw1p/
About preventing crime, the short version is that it starts in the home.
Much violent crime can be traced back to cultural factors. Violent crime, such as murder, would probably decrease dramatically in an anarchist society because most of its causes — poverty, televised glorification of violence, prisons and police, warfare, sexism, and the normalization of individualistic and anti-social behaviors — would disappear or decrease.
The differences between two Zapotec communities illustrates that peace is a choice. The Zapotec are a sedentary agrarian indigenous nation living on land that is now claimed by the state of Mexico. One Zapotec community, La Paz, has a yearly homicide rate of 3.4/100,000. A neighboring Zapotec community has the much higher homicide rate of 18.1/100,000. What social attributes go along with the more peaceful way of life? Unlike their more violent neighbors, the La Paz Zapotec do not beat children; accordingly, children see less violence and use less violence in their play. Similarly, wife-beating is rare and not considered acceptable; women are considered equal to men, and enjoy an autonomous economic activity that is important to the life of the community so they are not dependent on men. Regarding child-rearing, the implications of this particular comparison are corroborated by at least one cross-cultural study on socialization, which found that warm, affectionate socialization techniques correlate with low levels of conflict in society.
https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/peter-gelderloos-anarchy-works#toc42
As for the re-emergence of hierarchies, I think that the notion of anarchism is essentially ‘checks and balances’ turned up to 11. You get to a society that’s an ecosystem of fluid social relationships, and an anti-authoritarian culture which makes it impossible in a million ways for anyone to accumulate power. If we could get there, I think it would be more robust than current liberal democracy, where the branches of government can cooperate and you need buy-in from less people to enable power to be accumulated.
IMO, good anarchist praxis is to 1) encourage and popularize anti-authoritarian parenting methods and 2) build strong community groups and mutual aid networks.
In the now, I believe in Mutualism and Solidarity Economies as a means for preserving liberty and keeping one another safe.
No.
Unless this is the anarchism communi- . . it is?
Yes.
I agree, I think.
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My thoughts about power balance, power vacuum and so on are simple.
Those who’d want to take power are usually cowards. It’s no good to dead. It’s no good if there’s nothing remaining to have power over. The one who can destroy a thing owns it.
There’s the Cold War MAD doctrine which was employed by all sides and simultaneously vilified by green, pacifist etc parties. But maybe now we can see how the world without MAD looks and see that it’s better when everyone is armed to their teeth.
You can come to the truth from anywhere if you seek it honestly. It’s the same with weapons - everyone arming themselves and being ready to defend themselves create a group immunity, where sociopathic behaviors get rewarded less, and sociopaths are more challenged in accumulating power. Again, the only real kind of ownership is where you can destroy your property. You own your life when you are capable of sacrificing it as you wish. When a society is armed to its teeth, then its power imposed upon any kind of power-accumulating authorities is more than theirs, and when it’s disarmed, it’s nothing compared to theirs.
People being accustomed to anarchy and actively wanting it are not enough. People want to try all kinds of things. People fear. People are malicious. People want worse societies when they believe they will be the ones imposing injustice upon others. People are also just stupid.
The Internet is not an example of anarchy, of course. It’s nothing without its backbone cables built with participation of governments and enormous corporations and treated as strategic assets. It’s no more anarchist than sea ports. There was a sprinkle of anarchy there in its transient years from an elitarian scientific thing to a common medium. That was not stable. Nothing anarchist can be stable in a system of dominating hierarchy.
I admit it was easy to buy into this fairy tale when I was a kid. In 2006 it seemed that the humanity is one step from becoming free and, well, humane.
All that said, I think eventually we win.
But we can never know, because our perception is always poisoned. It’s much easier to do that than to thoroughly weed us out (it has a better characteristic considering their superior power, while the latter is not plausible to do). That’s what the adversary is always doing. Any “smart and considered” action is likely wrong, because it’s based on compromised perception. This is just like scammers calling you to “help catch criminals” or something.
The only way anarchism ever succeeds is by acting on rigid principle, as if fighting blindfolded.
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It’s funny because China (and a number of countries including the US, but particularly China) doesn’t really like how open and decentralized the Internet is. If the Chinese government had their way it would not look like this, but somehow they were pushed to join in.
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