civver_764
Deity
Wouldn't this invite a sort of mob rule though? How would you prevent things like laws that discirminate against a certain race or laws banning certain religions from passing? Especially if your society lacks a centralized government. Who's there to protect people's rights, especially minorities?
^ I'd like an answer to that to, I once attended an anthropology lecture where the speaker contended that cultural homogeneity was essential to an anarchist community.
I echo this question.
Well, for starters, it is unlikely that a racist or a sexist or a homophobe would even be attracted to the idea of anarchism in the first place. Most of the anarchists I've met are pretty big on individual liberty lol.
However I can see where it would become a concern over time, the people who found an anarchist society are not the only people who are going to live on it. So yes, I and anarchism in general gives a great deal of thought to this problem.
I want to stress that just because there is a constitution or whatever you want to call it does not mean there is an absence of tyranny of the majority. I would even say that in representative democracy it is a greater problem. I mean, people will point to landmark Supreme Court cases and champion them but it took almost years after the constitution was written to take place. What really happened here was a change in public opinions towards race and sex and the like. Hell, we're still having problems with homophobia. Twenty, thirty years ago proposing gay marriage would have gotten you laughed at.
So representative democracy, "the rule of law", etc. do not protect anyone's rights. It's all public opinion. Racists will still elect racists into office, sexists will still elect sexists.
With anarchism, however, these authoritarian social ideas are directly challenged. Anarchists want to abolish all sorts of hierarchy, not just economic and political hierarchy. Indeed it seems pretty clear to me that most of these social problems are due to the culture and society we have in place today that enforces these things.
The system of direct democracy is much more capable of dealing with these issues than representative democracy. If a minority feels their rights are being violated they are free to speak up at any association or assembly and argue their side. They are not isolated from the political process, connected only through the chance that enough candidates who endorse their interests are elected and then that they actually stay true to their word, they have the same opportunity to argue their case to everyone else up front.
It should also be noted that most things do not require community decisions. It is a very strict structure. The idea of, for instance, the community deciding what other people can and cannot do in their bedrooms is absurd. Most of these issues will be dealt with individual to individual.
Being the lesser of two evils does not make something good or justified.So if the state is good at that and other things, they why is the state not able to justify itself?
Through participatory work groups.How should large projects like highways and airports be put together?
Well the community would be pretty pissed off at you.If I steal somebody's car, what happens?
Volunteer members of a community militia most likely.* Who arrests me?
There wouldn't really be any set in stone laws, certainly not in the form of a written constitution. The party who you harmed(by taking their car) who either work out an agreement with you, or if they(or you, I guess) were unsatisfied they would take the matter up with a third party(probably the community as a whole).* Who decides under what statute I would be charged under?
While it would vary from place to place, the jury would still be drawn randomly. That's if there was a trial at all. Many times disputes can be worked out without involving any third parties. If there was a trial though, they would reach an agreement wherein some consequence is exacted on the "guilty" party. I'm not actually sure if the judge or the jury would decide this, I imagine it would vary between different communities. But generally if someone stole your car they would probably have to do some sort of service for you, or else the community will "boycott" them, so to speak. You wouldn't be able to reap the benefits of what was being produced.* Who is the jury in the trial? (Is there a trial? What's that process?)
They would be appointed by popular vote.* Who can be appointed to be the judge? If it is a non-hierarchical society, can there even be judges?
That is a hierarchical relationship and certainly an unnecessary one and so it goes against the very principle of anarchism.* If it is decided that I'd be punished, what is stopping the system from having me tortured?
Most anarchists don't want to deal with criminals in terms of revenge, and prisons would not exist. The more dangerous members of society, such as psychopaths and murderers, would probably be kept in mental hospitals for their own safety and the safety of the community.
Of course. Why not?What grand projects could be accomplished by an anarchist country, as opposed to one such as the 20th century United States? Could a Hoover Dam, Space Program, or Internet have been created without some form of government?
Anarchism comes from a greek word meaning "no rulers". A boss is a ruler.Is not the definition of anarchism lack of a state? How do anarcho-capitalists NOT count? Or did you mean just for this particular thread.
Direct action.Also, how would you consider anarchism should be instituted? Violent or non Violent? If non Violent, how?
Because communism is the ideology that empowers the individual.1. Aren't anarchists supposed to be about individual freedom? Yet you have consistently defended communism and socialism as "real anarchism". Why do you support communism yet call yourself an anarchist?
No I don't. Unlike you collectivism does not equate to Stalinism for me.2. Don't you think it's contradictory to call yourself an anarcho-collectivist when, in fact, individual freedom in the form of anarchy is completely contradictory to collectivism?
It's a counterweight to the problems of capitalism.4. Anarchism is supposed to be a form of ethics, yet you have consistently advocated the use of force for controlling members of a community and taxation. How do you square this up with your supposed anarchist beliefs
It's pretty easy to think of an anarchistic area as one "nation", just organized differently, and able to exchange goods with other nations.1) How do you cope with living on a planet where Anarchy has no place and the State rules above everything? Starting, for example, from the means of survival which depend on money which is clearly an alien concept to Anarchism
Associations between workplaces, prices of different goods, etc. It would vary widely.]2) How can there be direct democracy without a state? What would people vote about?
A state could recognize an anarchistic area as a country, just organized differently.3) There can't be real anarchy in any part of the planet until when there are states in other parts of the planet, do you agree (because States only recognize other States, and Anarchy is not a State)? This kinda contradicts your claim that Anarchy is not Utopia. Why if not.
I'm a fan of protests, but starting fires could actually hurt people and is a bit too far.How do you feel about the protests in London today?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-11829102
Did they go too far?
Are they even anarchists?
And I have no way of knowing if they are sincere in their beliefs. Starting fires doesn't mean you believe something else all of a sudden. I do think a lot of people have hijacked the ideology just because they like to smash stuff.