Foundations of Politics – Anarchism
Gosh, it’s been three weeks since my last Politics class – I’d forgotten what everyone in my class looked like!
Date: 2 November 2009
Session topics: Anarchism
Three things that I learned:
- According to Anarchists: the State is the root of all evil; there must be unity of means and ends;we can have order with law, society without state and civilisation without authority
- Two main types of anarchist thinking: Individualist (Bukunin) and Collectivist (Kropotkin)
- Anarchists hate Capitalism because it is a symptom of the State, not a cause (as opposed to Marxists who see it t’other way around)
One thing that I learned that I will be able to use in the future: Better technology has lead to a rise in Anarchism
I am still unsure about: Why we are more free without some sort of state than with one. Is Freedom an end into itself? Useful thoughts for my essay
Interesting issues: Opposition of Marxism and Anarchism, technology as an Anarchism-enabler
Ideas for action:
- include anarchistic ideas of the primacy of freedom in my essay
- Check out Ursula Le Guin – the Dispossessedd and Marx – The Civil War in France
Feedback from others:
What can be used in the Learning Review:Better note-taking
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“According to Anarchists: the State is the root of all evil; there must be unity of means and ends;we can have order with law, society without state and civilisation without authority”
We do not believe that the State is the root of *all* evil. However, it is the major contributor. Evil is kind of a strong word. One that is too subjective for anarchist theory, in my opinion and in this case.
The State is the major cause for our lack of freedom and equality. It is a source for injustice of all sorts. i.e. classism, sexism, racism et cetra. Not to mention genocide, war, and other atrocities on a world wide scale. It perpetuates the idea of capitalism and, thus, wage slavery.
“Why we are more free without some sort of state than with one.” (sic)
It isn’t, not necessarily. We do not argue that a society without government is better than one with government. Although, that argument could probably be successfully made.
What we argue and believe is that a society based on Anarchist principals is better (more free and equal) than any society could ever be under an imposed State.
For that matter we are not even against governance. We are against imposed governance. We have no problem (social anarchists) with government as long as it is voluntary by those who are governed.
oi, I could go on forever. If you want to continue this as a discussion you can contact me on my youtube channel. Ciao
Equality in Liberty!
Brian
Brian
Tuesday, November 3 2009 at 1:34 pm
Thanks for the thoughtful response, Brian, and you’re right to pull me up on my lazy shorthand use of the word evil.
I asked ‘Why are we more free without a *state* than with one’ rather than government – I understand the acceptance of temporary voluntary governance but don’t understand how Anarchy could encompass a decision to more permanently ‘outsource’ governance (in other words, create a state). If one prefers not to be fully involved in decision-making and governance and would rather ‘outsource’ that, should they not be free to do so? I fully support compulsory voting in parliamentary elections, but am happy to choose how much more I am involved in the governing process beyond that.
How to handle issues such as education and health, for example? Expecting all members of a community to be able to make decisions in these areas, and for there to be harmony across multiple communities seems difficult.
On the other hand, I would love to see a more politically-involved populace and can see the attraction of many of the Anarchist principles. Also very pleased that there’s ONE ideology that holds, as I do, that most people are ‘good’.
thesvelteone
Tuesday, November 3 2009 at 2:10 pm