Anarchism Versus Mythology
Anarchists are sometimes accused of being Utopian dreamers who believe humanity consists of saints. Nothing could be further from the truth. Anarchists know perfectly well that men are not angels. This is precisely why we recognize that a system rewarding the most corrupt people among us with power is a terrible solution, and expecting people to vote for the "common good" is an absurd fantasy.
Of course, a common belief is that we need government to provide essential services despite the well-known problems of corruption, waste, and abuse in government because somehow the free market would be worse. Examples used to support this claim usually refer to "unrestrained capitalism" as a bogeyman, but "capitalism" is all too often a weasel word used by people who want to conflate free markets with economic fascism under a single linguistic umbrella despite the diametric opposition of the two concepts. The specific examples provided are usually cases where government prevents free market action by supporting entrenched interests and preventing competition. In other words, government impeding the market while supporting the politically-connected does not work. Monopolies and cartels cannot function without government protection.
Of course, every government service, corporate bailout, subsidized industry, and enforcement system is also funded by taxation. Taxation is extortion under color of law, plain and simple. "Pay what we demand, or we will hurt you." Every "essential service" justified by proponents of government is a monopoly with all the attendant waste, abuse, and corruption people abhor. That is why government costs continually increase while quality plummets, and every election cycle is accompanied by promises to reform a system that is broken.
Government cannot work as advertised in school, media, and popular culture. It is built on a bad foundation, and none of the structure is any better. Peer through the propaganda and understand the truth. We do not need the State to be safe or prosperous any more than we need cancer to be healthy. Government is the poison masquerading as a cure.
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Freedom is the only thing that works in the long run, regardless of whether the idea is utopian; and it's the right thing morally.
The idea of government has been vastly misunderstood, perhaps by purpose,to mean doing more of what was it's original intention of just strictly protecting individual natural rights metastasizing into a more totalitarian system. You might be interested in a related post I made—https://steemit.com/freedom/@superfluousman/government-versus-the-state
Very well put sir! I too am an anarchist who refuses to be ruled by these suited terrorists. As I see it, it is just gang warfare and those who have the biggest gang write the rules.
Government: organized crime with better propaganda.
I have a few more posts in mind to cover some basic misconceptions about philosophical anarchism, too.
I have followed you, I look forward to reading your posts regarding philosophical anarchism. It is my belief that cryptocurrencies are going to allow people to remove themselves from "the system" without cutting themselves off from society..... Time will tell.
I am not an anarchist, not because it seems to me utopian, the reality is that today it may seem utopian and tomorrow be the most palpable reality, who imagined 300 years ago the world in which we live today; absolutely nobody.
I am not an anarchist for differing in many points, I do not want to comment on that, but rather I want to ask you a question to know what an anarchist thinks about it.
Anarchism is only possible if people want to be anarchists, but if people want to have a state then you can not do anything but try to convince them, you can not force them to be anarchists.
Then what I want to ask you; How do you think you could make a transition to anarchism?
Greetings.
Decentralization is the only way. The breaking up of political units to more and more local and autonomous governance. But you're right, you can't force anyone to be anything or even convince people to change.
That in my opinion is the main problem, the fact that people do not want to integrate into this society makes it impossible for me to think that it is really feasible, at least in the nearness.
The communists fixed the problem by imposing on people, but their excessive control instead of liberation ends up drowning both the economy and society itself.
I don't mean to sound glib, but I suspect you spend most of your life living as an anarchist already. Do you seek voluntary associations and exchanges with others, or do you initiate coercive force?
What does the government do now that is essential to your life and well-being?
Although not entirely, yes to a large extent, but it is irrelevant.
I am not directly opposed to anarchism, I am very libertarian, but what I am saying is that many people are pro-states and usually these people are the majority in almost all countries, and although you could reduce it to a minority, I do not think they will ever disappear, What is it like to have an anarchic state if you have inhabitants who want to have a State?
I plan to touch on that topic in a future post in this series. "OK, so what can we do now?"
Perfect, I'll follow you then.