Political Theory

Re: What is anarchy?

Stephanie Bond — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 17:27:33 GMT

On the definition of Anarchy, a dictionary is a good place to start. The first entry in the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary reads as follows:

"1 a: absence of government b: a state of lawlessness or political disorder due to the absence of governmental authority c: a utopian society of individuals who enjoy complete freedom without government."

If it were true that a society could enjoy "complete" freedom, then why has no such "utopia" come to pass? The answer is that complete freedom is not the same as true freedom. True freedom has boundaries. One individual's rights extend to his life and go up to the "line drawn" where another individual's rights begin. An individual may take all actions necessary to promote his life as long as he does not infringe the rights of others to do the same in respect of their own lives.

Human beings are volitional. They have to choose to be rational. Because human beings can choose to behave irrationally, we need laws to protect us from such irrational behavior. In effect, we need Law in order to have Order. Government's job is to enforce that Law.

Without law, and without government to enforce that law, there can be no real peace. Government is failing to achieve Order because it has been deemed acceptable for government to use coercion - to initiate force. Thus is the whole system made unworkable. Thus is the means for corruption to take place set in motion. When the citizens are forced to pay for the services of government this has the effect of placing government "above the law". When the law permits theft by government for proper purposes, this enables the corruption of government power, the enslavement of the citizenry, the eradication of justice and the destruction of society.

What we need first is what I call the Law of Human Interaction. Such a Law must be treated like a law of physics, in the sense that it is the basic premise upon which all laws are built. It is the recognition of the principle that governs all human interaction. The Law of Human Interaction states that in order to have peace, no one can have the right to initiate the use of force, to employ coercion. "No one" means no individual, no group of individuals and no government can coerce others by threats, intimidation or violence to do their bidding.

The government's job would be to enforce that Law. All laws would be a fuller description of that basic Law, and would set out the various forms of Coercion, the various kinds of Initiations of Force, which would all be banned and punishable. Such behavior as murder, rape and theft, as well as fraud, intimidation and threats of violence would all be defined crimes.

The purpose of government in such a delineated and demarcated environment would be clear: to provide protection against those who initiate force and to decide disputes by determining which party initiated force and what form the necessary reprisal/punishment ought to take.

The payment for the protection of one's life, property and pursuits must be voluntary. The means to raise enough money to keep a staff of police, judges, and so forth must not be legislated by law because then it becomes an act of coercion. Contract insurance, lotteries, bequests in wills, fund-raising events are just the ways I can think of immediately as proper methods of funding a proper government.

Anarchy calls for there to be no government, which means there is no means to enforce the Law. That is why anarchy does not work, i.e., it does not achieve peace. We return again the basic given of human beings: their rationality is volitional, and so to protect the rights of those who choose rationality against those who choose irrationality, we need a system of government.

What we do not need is a government that places itself (or is placed by the citizens for whatever reasons) above the law. Voluntary agreement to mutual benefit is the only way in which to achieve rational goals. Coercion is the opposite of rationality. There is no justification for the use of coercion. You must convince others by means of logic to work with you for the achievement of every goal. If your arguments don't work on anyone, then you have two options: to try to do the work by yourself, or find something else to work on that you can convince others to work on with you.

Re: What is anarchy?

Stranger — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 06:25:37 GMT

SilentXtarian:

I've never completely understood what anarchy is. I just know the term as it comes from the MSM and the way I think of anarchy is as whatever good things are without government. I don't know much about anarchy. Please educate me? Ii'm not an anarchist myself but I would like to know.

Anarchy is an area where no protection is available because the last remaining protector has been destroyed, has withdrawn, or simply refuses to protect anyone. (Look up the government's strategy in the Algerian civil war for a laugh.)

Re: What is anarchy?

Bostwick — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 06:22:51 GMT

SilentXtarian:

I've never completely understood what anarchy is. I just know the term as it comes from the MSM and the way I think of anarchy is as whatever good things are without government. I don't know much about anarchy. Please educate me? Ii'm not an anarchist myself but I would like to know.

Political libertarianism is the idea that everyone, even governments, must follow the laws, and respect the natural rights of others. Since governments are defined as the groups of individuals who are above the law, governments as they exist today are incompatible with this.

Re: What is anarchy?

BioTube — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 02:28:04 GMT

Its funny to me that, in the history books, anarchy is always referred to as periods of intense civil war, "and the state descended into anarchy." Why do you suppose that is?

Because there ceases to be a recognized government. Of course, generally the people who pull down the state fight each other to make a new one, hence the "lack of order" sense of the word. It's sort of like sentience in that there's no real use for the original definition.

Re: What is anarchy?

Thedesolateone — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 00:55:59 GMT

There is more than one meaning of the word "anarchy".

But generally libertarians on this forum tend to refer to themselves as something other than an "anarchist"
e.g. nonarchist (from Rothbard's article "Are Libertarians Anarchists?")

Re: What is anarchy?

Laotzu del Zinn — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 00:52:31 GMT

Its funny to me that, in the history books, anarchy is always referred to as periods of intense civil war, "and the state descended into anarchy." Why do you suppose that is?

Re: What is anarchy?

ladyattis — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 04:03:23 GMT

At its root, anarchy is simply any social structure where the power to act is vested in each and every individual within that social structure. Equally, that each person within the social structure are individually responsible for their actions in kind.

What is anarchy?

SilentXtarian — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 04:01:35 GMT

I've never completely understood what anarchy is. I just know the term as it comes from the MSM and the way I think of anarchy is as whatever good things are without government. I don't know much about anarchy. Please educate me? Ii'm not an anarchist myself but I would like to know.