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Noam Chomsky – "On Anarchism" [video]

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Re: Noam Chomsky – "On Anarchism" [video]

#2

Post by chj »

The book in discussion:

"On Anarchism provides the reasoning behind Noam Chomsky's fearless lifelong questioning of the legitimacy of entrenched power. In these essays, Chomsky redeems one of the most maligned ideologies, anarchism, and places it at the foundation of his political thinking. Chomsky's anarchism is distinctly optimistic and egalitarian. Moreover, it is a living, evolving tradition that is situated in a historical lineage; Chomsky's anarchism emphasizes the power of collective, rather than individualist, action.

The collection includes a revealing new introduction by journalist Nathan Schneider, who documented the Occupy movement for Harper's and The Nation, and who places Chomsky's ideas in the contemporary political moment. On Anarchism will be essential reading for a new generation of activists who are at the forefront of a resurgence of interest in anarchism—and for anyone who struggles with what can be done to create a more just world."

http://www.amazon.com/Anarchism-Noam-Chomsky-ebook/dp/B00E25...

Re: Noam Chomsky – "On Anarchism" [video]

#3

Post by javert »

Anarchism is pure nonsense. There is literally no such thing as "no government."

In a "state of nature," every government is size 1---you. You are responsible for retaliatory and initiatory force, and every interaction is foreign diplomacy with a gun behind it.

From there, things can (and will) evolve so that there are larger governments, but you cannot get "no government."

Re: Noam Chomsky – "On Anarchism" [video]

#4

Post by agilebyte »

javert wrote: post #3

Anarchism is pure nonsense. There is literally no such thing as "no government." In a "state of nature," every government is size 1---you. You are responsible for retaliatory and initiatory force, and every interaction is foreign diplomacy with a gun behind it. From there, things can (and will) evolve so that there are larger governments, but you cannot get "no government."

In Introduction to Anarchism, the author suggests that the future direction in anarchism could be to support local governments and having power on a local, rather than national level.

http://www.amazon.com/Anarchism-A-Very-Short-Introduction/dp...

Re: Noam Chomsky – "On Anarchism" [video]

#5

Post by seanccox »

javert wrote: post #3

Anarchism is pure nonsense. There is literally no such thing as "no government." In a "state of nature," every government is size 1---you. You are responsible for retaliatory and initiatory force, and every interaction is foreign diplomacy with a gun behind it. From there, things can (and will) evolve so that there are larger governments, but you cannot get "no government."

"Pure nonsense"... is that your educated critique, or are you just trolling to make space for a straw man argument? Because I get the sense that you haven't read enough about anarchism if you think it constitutes 'no government'.

Re: Noam Chomsky – "On Anarchism" [video]

#6

Post by SwellJoe »

javert wrote: post #3

Anarchism is pure nonsense. There is literally no such thing as "no government." In a "state of nature," every government is size 1---you. You are responsible for retaliatory and initiatory force, and every interaction is foreign diplomacy with a gun behind it. From there, things can (and will) evolve so that there are larger governments, but you cannot get "no government."

So, you have no knowledge of the philosophy of anarchism (not even the amount of knowledge you would have gained from actually watching the video linked), but feel both empowered to dismiss it, and capable of explaining what it means.

Re: Noam Chomsky – "On Anarchism" [video]

#7

Post by anoncowherd »

javert wrote: post #3

Anarchism is pure nonsense. There is literally no such thing as "no government." In a "state of nature," every government is size 1---you. You are responsible for retaliatory and initiatory force, and every interaction is foreign diplomacy with a gun behind it. From there, things can (and will) evolve so that there are larger governments, but you cannot get "no government."

Your profile looks like you're an objectivist. But as others pointed out, you can't just dismiss anarchism off-hand.

As an objectivist, you're against coercion, but in favour of centralized power? Is that correct? If so, don't you think it's a contradictory idea?

Re: Noam Chomsky – "On Anarchism" [video]

#9

Post by jheriko »

javert wrote: post #3

Anarchism is pure nonsense. There is literally no such thing as "no government." In a "state of nature," every government is size 1---you. You are responsible for retaliatory and initiatory force, and every interaction is foreign diplomacy with a gun behind it. From there, things can (and will) evolve so that there are larger governments, but you cannot get "no government."

That is a most accurate observation, but what does it add to the discussion?

You have some implicit assumptions about anarchy there... why would there be guns? We aren't all americans you know...

Also, I don't understand the negativity, did you notice the sprawl of civilisation around you? That came from anarchy... its proven to work in some sense.

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