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Quote by: SteveA I respect a lot of anarchist views. Ultimately, no matter the extent people realize it, everyone is still basically free to choose what institutions they recognize as having some authority over them (or even none at all, I guess). Though I think, in practice, anarchy only works peaceably amongst people with similar views or at least within some framework that people can agree upon boundaries when there's a dispute over something.
For a good look at anarchy in peaceful operation, take a look at businesses, churches, and community groups. Noone had to specifically create detailed laws and threaten the ude of force to get these to operate, these primary are created through social pressures (though ultimately I'm sure there's a limit at which things are handled in a more physical than social manner ... that's inevitable).
I think a minimal government is better though in that there's a more explicit agreement upon what boundaries people respect. Even the U.S. was based upon this idea as a republic of relatively independent states and did fine for a long time. |
I agree wholeheartedly! Anarchy does only work among people who share the same general views. FREEDOM AND EQUALITY! One cannot exist without the other.
But in all honesty, even among like-minded individuals, Anarchist societies are complicated affairs. That doesn't mean it's not worth it. Anything worth having is going to take struggle and hard work and compromise and all that. I look to Spain during the revolution for inspiration. And the Ukraine, were the anarchists fought the Reds and the Whites while organizing themselves along anarchist principles. (No one fights like an Anarchist!) Kronstadt and the Paris Commune. Alas, the authoritarians ended these noble experiments, but they were fine examples of Libertarian-Socialist organization.
Incidentally, I think that religion and business have a bit more to do with authority than social pressure. It's all about greed and power with those fucks.
Finally, about minimal government. If you take away the power of the government, something else will just fill that vaccum, whether it's the state governments or the industries. It doesn't do anything about the inherent problems of authoritarian systems. The powers you want to take away were put there for a reason, and they will be taken away for a reason as well.