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Are you an anarchist? The answer may surprise you (2000)

theanarchistlibrary.org

11–20 of 839 posts

Re: Are you an anarchist? The answer may surprise you (2000)

#11
“Anarchists are simply people who believe human beings are capable of behaving in a reasonable fashion without having to be forced to.”

My anarchist sympathies want this to be true but this is a demonstrably false fairy tale. Just look at how we treat the planet and other living things in the presence of lawful order. Why would you assume that we would act righteously in the absence of law? It is painfully obvious that we would act much worse under anarchy.

Re: Are you an anarchist? The answer may surprise you (2000)

#12

Yes, apparently he died last week. The person said to be behind the phrase we are the 99% at the Occupy Wall Street movement. He was an interesting character. My question would be: do anarchists really work as professors at the London School of Economics? And Yale? Aren't you a 'system man' at that point?

We all have to live in this system, it's unrealistic to think all anarchists should be ideologically pure and live in the woods off the land like Kaczynski.

I believe thinking and writing and getting these ideas into the mainstream can be a form of praxis. As Zizek says, sometimes the most revolutionary thing to do is nothing at all.

Re: Are you an anarchist? The answer may surprise you (2000)

#13

It's great to have people with diverse opinions - we are richer for that. ... but some people like Graeber, make the transition from spreading a mesage form of activism to violent and destructive activism. Not only does that alienate people, it's also findamentally wrong in a democracy. If you cannot convince people to vote differently with your words, then using violence and intimidation makes you a cancerous part o…

> Graeber

> violent and destructive activism

When? Where? What? This is something I never heard of.

Re: Are you an anarchist? The answer may surprise you (2000)

#14

It's great to have people with diverse opinions - we are richer for that. ... but some people like Graeber, make the transition from spreading a mesage form of activism to violent and destructive activism. Not only does that alienate people, it's also findamentally wrong in a democracy. If you cannot convince people to vote differently with your words, then using violence and intimidation makes you a cancerous part o…

David has never done anything violent or destructive, and it’s disrespectful to make those kinds of false claims.

Re: Are you an anarchist? The answer may surprise you (2000)

#15
post #6

Yes, apparently he died last week. The person said to be behind the phrase we are the 99% at the Occupy Wall Street movement. He was an interesting character. My question would be: do anarchists really work as professors at the London School of Economics? And Yale? Aren't you a 'system man' at that point?

You can be a capitalist and still say true statements about anarchism, both supportive and unsupportive. Or vice versa.

Once you support anarchism, your other positions become oxymorons because you're working to eliminate the systems that make organization possible.

Re: Are you an anarchist? The answer may surprise you (2000)

#16
The major problem with anarchist and libertarian philosophies is being demonstrated in the US right now ... at least 30% of the population is willingly supporting a man with despotic intentions, seemingly to it's bitter conclusion. The secondary problem is there are always sociopaths willing to use that 30% for their own ends.

Re: Are you an anarchist? The answer may surprise you (2000)

#17

Yes, apparently he died last week. The person said to be behind the phrase we are the 99% at the Occupy Wall Street movement. He was an interesting character. My question would be: do anarchists really work as professors at the London School of Economics? And Yale? Aren't you a 'system man' at that point?

Doesn't surprise me considering neoliberalism and anarchism have a lot of the same goals in terms of dismantling the state.

Re: Are you an anarchist? The answer may surprise you (2000)

#18
The early descriptions reminded me of libertarianism. did anyone else feel that?

“Libertarians seek to maximize political freedom and autonomy, emphasizing individualism, freedom of choice and voluntary association.”

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libertarianism

Re: Are you an anarchist? The answer may surprise you (2000)

#19

“Anarchists are simply people who believe human beings are capable of behaving in a reasonable fashion without having to be forced to.” My anarchist sympathies want this to be true but this is a demonstrably false fairy tale. Just look at how we treat the planet and other living things in the presence of lawful order. Why would you assume that we would act righteously in the absence of law? It is painfully obvious th…

Many people believe they put their part in through paying taxes to the state, and thus don't have to worry any more. Also tragedy of commons, etc.

Re: Are you an anarchist? The answer may surprise you (2000)

#20

“Anarchists are simply people who believe human beings are capable of behaving in a reasonable fashion without having to be forced to.” My anarchist sympathies want this to be true but this is a demonstrably false fairy tale. Just look at how we treat the planet and other living things in the presence of lawful order. Why would you assume that we would act righteously in the absence of law? It is painfully obvious th…

Having law is different than enforcing law.
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