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Hello. I've been advised to post my questions regarding anarchy here. Here it goes:

I realise that there are many different models of anarchism, e.g., social anarchism, collectivist anarchism, individualist anarchism, egoist anarchism, religious anarchism, etc. So, whether for or against, one person's take on anarchism can be quite different from another person's, and if so, one person may envisage what an anarchist society would be like differently from another person... So,

  1. What is your definition of anarchism?
  2. What would an anarchist society look like based on your definition?
  3. Would your version of anarchist society work?

I'm just being curious to explore different views on anarchism. Thanks for your thoughts in advance.

Naomi 8 May 19
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1

The original forms of anarchism developed in the left. Marx and Marxists thought that a workers state would be needed to transition the opposing and overthrown capitalist state. Anarchists like Bukanin disagreed and argued that a workers state would just become a new despotism, which Russia and China has proven to have been shown as true. As far as anarchism, I take it to mean (from Rudolf Rocker) that authority and hierarchy should have to prove themselves as legitimate, as opposed to state legitimacy resulting from a monopoly on violence. Anarcho-Capitalists have a different take on what society would look like, but from my point of view, it would look like a multitude of workers' counsels producing and distributing based on everybody's basic needs and then progressing from there. Anarcho-capitalists focus on competition in nature, but left-anarchism focuses on the fact that mutual cooperation is also a natural phenomena; Peter Kropotkin's "Mutual Aid" does a really good job at highlighting this.

2

My definition is the classic an archon (without masters) as opposed to a hierarchy. In my belief system all human interaction should be voluntary and the use of force to validate ideas is counterproductive. I think without government or religious leaders everyone would figure it out. For many people the idea of self governance and thus taking responsibility for your actions and life is beyond most people. Here is alink that may or may not be helpful. 5stepstoanarchy.com

GuyB Level 6 June 14, 2020

Hello. Interesting. And thank you for the link. So, in a good anarchist society, human interactions are basically built on "trust" and through the principle of voluntarism... am I right?
How would you cope with bad people with a criminal mind in a voluntaristic society?

@Naomi Certainly "trust" would be a great place to start. However as you know there are people that simply cannot be trusted. I think the way to overcome this is the feedback that naturally occurs whenever you purchase a service or product. If a restaurant that had a reputation of making people sick, they would be quickly be out of business. Similarly if someone is known for defrauding people such as a financial institution the word would get out and people would stop using their service.

One instance that clearly shows this is Ebay. When they first started many people believed that there would be massive fraud. Would the product be as described? Would the person send the proper payment? Will they make trade difficult. To answer this Ebay set up a brokerage to handle complaints that might arise, to hold the money until the product or was verified as good, and if not to hold the money until the item was returned undamaged to the sender. Quickly this became a non issue because of the individuals rating based on percent of completed transactions and customer satisfaction. Now if you are shopping on Ebay and some one has a 95% or less you are unlikely to work with these people. That is an Incredible level of customer service, with the only reward or punishment being the reaction of the market.

For violent criminals you must understand that living by the non aggression principle used in voluntaryism does not mean that you are a pacifist. It simply means that you should not initiate violence. If someone were to initiate violence you are allowed to do whatever it takes with whatever means necessary to defend yourself, family, property, etc.

Currently in the United states, if you use a gun to defend yourself or your property the police are contacted, and typically if you shoot someone you will be arrested regardless of the situation. Even if the person is breaking into your home and you are defending your life your gun is taken from you and you are arrested until someone can investigate the situation to make sure you had reasonable cause. The government currently claims a monopoly on violence and anyone else using violence is subject to any laws that it feels fit to impose. In this I would refer to my original statement about personal responsibility and accountability.

I understand that the major concern for everyone just being able to use violence is that a tyrannically motivated group would just take over with violence, and the most violent group would "win" and rule over everyone. Possibly, but there is a belief (and some proof) that tyranny is unsustainable.

I do not pretend to think that the system of voluntaryism would bring about the utopia. There will be death, disease, unrest, crime, and general wickedness as has occurred throughout history for as long as recorded history has existed. I do think that given the opportunity to do as you please without someone ruling over you would lead to much more productive and happy lives. Our current government which as you know cannot be unsubscribed from you cannot refuse to pay taxes because of incompetence. Additionally we still have murder, fraud, crime, disease, general wickedness, and an authoritarian government that controls how you live, uses your tax dollars to prop up failing businesses, and hand out money to mismanaged banks.

Hahaha ok I will stop here as I am beginning to ramble and breach other topics for perhaps another discussion.

This of course is mostly my opinion. Do you think that this long winded rambling explanation sounds reasonable, or at least logically coherent?

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