From Ho Chi Minh to Amsterdam: Spontaneous Order and the Phenomenon of Decentralized Society

I was in a classroom. Over thirty kids. I had a game planned, and it was going to be fun, goddamnit. The room was cramped, the kids were falling asleep in the lazy afternoon sun, bellies full of whatever weird concoction had been served for lunch that day. I thought my plan was pretty good. Maybe not my best ever, but good enough to get the kids to laugh and go along with me for the allotted duration of the lesson. Well....ermm...nah.

The kids were confused by the rules, and the awkward rapport between the homeroom teacher and I didn't exactly make for a warm and inviting atmosphere, where free translation between my English instruction and the Japanese students was to be readily had. I used what caveman-ish Japanese I could muster at that point and then got the game started. Except. I notice that no one is really smiling. Everyone looks nervous.

The game didn't go as planned. The kids could see I wasn't having fun either. It sucked. I had no choice but to keep up the stupid clown-ass saccharine smile and laugh at everything with exaggerated gestures and expressions. It was either that, or be my real self and just sit down on the floor and not give a damn what anybody was doing, write or draw pictures, and stare out the window. Not exactly "Teacher of the Year Award" behavior. Man. I am so relieved not to be anybody's "teacher" now.

You see, it wasn't that my plan had been "bad" or that the students were incapable of enjoying themselves. The problem was coercion. That's right. Top-down, all-seeing-eye type shit under threat of social sanction, humiliation, and ultimately, state intervention. All compulsory schooling is coercive, and all of it sucks. The few sparks of light and fun that do come of it are not results of centralized planning, but of the spirit of life and spontaneity which is always to be had, like an everlasting fountain of newness, if only one looks for it. It's the same kind of thing that enables tiny pink flowers to bust through concrete, and men to smile in the face of their firing squads.

All right. Let me take you to some shit that gets me really excited. First, let's talk about recess. With the scene I have just described in mind, now let's move out to the soccer field in front of the school. A group of boys is getting a game together, and they are arguing about who should be on what team. I don't say a damn thing. Just stand back. Just watch. In no time at all they have it sorted via rock, scissors, paper, and the game is on. What is even more inspiring to me is the times I have seen children create ENTIRELY NEW GAMES with complex sets of rules and get along fabulously all they while as they are doing this. Man oh man. So much different than my failed, centrally-planned zombie lesson from above.

Alright. Let's get the hell out of school. Let me take you to Ho Chi Minh City.

Now let's go to the Port of Amsterdam:

Alright. Now that I am covered in goosebumps and the waterworks are priming up, let's make a couple more stops. Let's go to England for a second:

And then there's Texas where a town fired all their cops:

Finally--and this was one of my biggest inspirations, and remains so today--is Summerhill School in Suffolk, England. Founded by A.S. Neill in 1921, children at Summerhill are not required to go to classes, not punished by guilt, shame, or humiliation, but simply encouraged to take self-responsibility for the results of their choices and actions, and have an equal vote as individuals with the teachers in regard to developing, shaping, and maintaining school curriculum and policy.

Contrary to what many parents expected, children did not just laze around and "goof off" all day. Instead, they followed their interests and became very skilled at what they were interested in. The "laziness" parents often refer to in children is nothing more than the result of putting free individuals in a coercive, shame-based, and stifling environment. Words cannot do this place justice. It is still here today, showing kids that it is okay to be human, and that it is modern coercive society, and not them, which is sick, backward, and shameful.

Well, that's it. That's my trip. I have gotten goosebumps about 15 million times while writing this because this stuff is really all there is, man. Your mind. Your freedom, to love this life and all it offers. Is everything.

PEACE, LOVE, and ANARCHY

~KafkA

Graham Smith is Voluntaryist activist residing in Niigata City, Japan. Check out more of his work here:
https://facebook.com/VoluntaryJapan
https://twitter.com/VoluntaryJapan
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCN1H4Vhv8fqY8uiKcnqYkKQ
PEACE, LOVE, and ANARCHY