this is post is based on a conversation i had with someone about whether we positively connect our anarchism to democracy or not, because on one hand the democratic ideal, of everyone being in power and making decisions together is pretty neat and anarchist, and that’s also what many people think of when they hear democracy, but then democracies (as in democratic organisations and states) since the greek inception of the word also have almost exclusively been the ruling of a privileged few over the rest, with just enought power (or illusion of power) handed back to us that we wouldnt rebel. as one argument goes: if “democracy” literally means “rulership of the people” then who are the people?
sadly we did not kiss after the conversation :<
but i think we agreed that honestly either is fine ฅ>⩊<ฅ
and now: me rambling about anarchy :3
if you are wondering now “anarchy? isnt that when everyone just does whatever they want and fucks everyone else over?? isnt that just destructive chaos?”
then well, that is one definition of anarchy but it is not the anarchy that anarchists desire ;3
anarchy as anarchists understand it is a society organizing itself by anarchist principles. this expesses itself through things such as mutual aide, free association, absence or minimalization of hierarchies and direct action.
basically people getting together in all areas of their lives, to together fulfill their needs, help each other, make decisions among those affected and resolve conflicts together. it’s ofc not always glamourus, no society is, but we believe that it is a better way of living and organizing and we can start building it here and now by just doing those things
important values of anarchy are equality, freedom, solidarity, consent, and uniqueness. those are also shared (or claimed to be shared) by other political movements and organizations, but i would argue that most put other things first such as upholding the current system, maintaining and extending the rulers power and such.
ofc not all anarchists think alike so at the end of the day this is just one perspective out of many
if u are intrigued now and wanna hear more about anarchism, you could check out the anarchist faq or ask in the comments but pws don’t be mean
If you are genuinely curious, here is one of many places you can start: https://crimethinc.com/2016/09/28/feature-the-secret-is-to-begin-getting-started-further-resources-frequently-asked-questions#faq
Nothing here really touches on utilities or infrastructure. I am actually currious, so I’ll rephrase the question;
How does an anarchist polity handle utilities and infrastructure?
“In the terms of public utilities, such as water and power suppliers, they could be self-managed by their workers in association with municipal co-operatives — based on one member, one vote — which would be a much better alternative than privatising what is obviously a natural monopoly” – https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/the-anarchist-faq-editorial-collective-an-anarchist-faq-full
I know I can’t speak for every professional, but a lot of them are more than willing to mentor the next generation of infrastructure maintainers, and many of them got involved in their profession because they enjoy the work, and would do it for the good of the community without pay, if only themselves and their family could live comfortably.
People that are currently doing what they are doing to maximize their income will likely not find a position like that in any anarchist society, but they also might find freed from the positional goods of Capitalism they might enjoy doing other productive things at least some of the time.
Syndicates would replace standardization organizations like IEEE and NIST and infrastructure that would benefit from intra-community compatibility will naturally benefit by alignment with those standards.
I could give you an answer. I have a couple prepared: “The same way it does right now except without the state or capitalism”, “Councils set up that co-ordinate efforts between different local groups and, for lack of a better word, contractors that actually do the work”.
But a better answer is I don’t know. I can’t know because I don’t have any experience with infrastructure construction or maintenance. I can only guess. But I do know that an anarchist who does have the experience will be able to answer these questions and I will help them any way I can. Anarchism isn’t about listening to a single persons answers. It’s about collecting the knowledge and experience of everyone involved and have them come up with solutions together. Any answer from a single person is flawed, by combining our ideas together we could make something least flawed. That’s what anarchy is about.
Every one of those answers assumes that people magically become better. Like I said, a pipe dream of people with no life experience.
we live in a horrible society which pushes ppl to be horrible to each other. assuming that people would be as horrible in a better sociaty is unrealistically pessimistic. i don’t blame you too much for the assumption, cause its kinda what we are taught but, it is defo bs
It’s been the rule for the entirety of human history.
no i dont think it is a “rule for the entirety of human existance” there have been plenty of rulerless societys and there have been plenty of better ppl its js that the folks willing to murder ant impirialize are gonna grow quicker and push there views onto other folks
“plenty of rulerless societies”
Such as?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_stateless_societies
Real quick googeling so it might not be the best information but something to get you started :)
You sound historically illiterate. That certainly has not been the case.
Name some successful anarchistic societies then.
A quick Google search (or your search engine of choice) could do that, but I’d like to highlight the Zapatistas. Though they don’t define themselves as such, as “anarchism” as it is defined is connected to Western civilization, they display many anarchist adjacent values and organization. They’ve been very successful. No police, no state.
Edit: Also like, the majority of human history. Centralized governance with monopoly on the use of force is a relatively new concept, in the grand scheme of human history.
First you need to have a solid measure of both “success” and “anarchistic”. Does the CNT/FAI count? Rojava/DAANES? Paris commune? Tribal societies basically anywhere pre-civilisation?
There are reasons to discard every anarchist experiment or society because you do not deem them “successful”. Especially if you measure success in an archic way.
Or maybe you just lack faith in people due to only being exposed to the worst of them. As my (yes, very short) life experience as only proven that people are more than capable of living anarchicly. Have you ever been to an anarchist bookfair? Sat in an anarchist cafe and listen to a passionate presentation about pigeons? Or sit in that same cafe playing cards into the night? I feel like I have more than enough experience to know that people are capable of organising and acting anarchicly.