314
checkmate (lemmy.ml)
submitted 10 months ago by Napain@lemmy.ml to c/dank_left@lemmy.ml
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] Amaltheamannen@lemmy.ml 16 points 10 months ago

Anarchism is not the absense of rules, it's about free association, cooperation and avoiding unjust hierarchies.

[-] cristo@lemmy.world -4 points 10 months ago

That is not the definition of anarchy. Anarchy is defined by the absence of laws and structure in a society. What you are describing is uptopian, or the wikipedia definition of anarchy, which is completely incorrect.

[-] AccountMaker@slrpnk.net 4 points 10 months ago

Errico Malatesta, Anarchy - "The word Anarchy comes from the Greek and its literal meaning is without government: the condition of a people who live without a constituted authority, without government"

Peter Kropotkin, Anarchism - "Anarchism is the name given to a principle or theory of life and conduct under which society is conceived without government - harmony in such a society being obtained, not by submission to law, or by obedience to any authority, but by free agreements concluded between the various groups [...]"

The main point is a lack of vertical hierarchy, that nobody is being subjugated or forced. For a society to function, it needs cooperation, and anarchical coorperation means that it's done willingly by all the parties involved, without any compulsion. You can still have structures (as in roles people play in a society). Orwelll wrote in "Homage to Catalonia" how the army he was in had regular soldiers and officers, but the officers couldn't "order" the soldiers to do anything, and they often argued and explained why they needed the soldiers to do whatever. A wild free-for-all where some strong and brutish people can form a gang and do whatever they want with others is how some anarchists see governments.

So it's technically true that there are no "laws" because there is no government to punish you if you don't follow them, and there's no vertical structure where someone is your boss who you must obey, but people might get a wrong picture with just that, so I provided a bit more context. I'm not an expert on anarchist theory by any means, but it's not Hobbes' natural condition of mankind.

[-] Amaltheamannen@lemmy.ml 2 points 10 months ago

Anarchism and anarchy are not the same thing.

this post was submitted on 31 Aug 2023
314 points (88.7% liked)

The place for leftist memes

1 readers
1 users here now

Welcome to the dank left

Basic rules: *No reposting. Just don't do it.

*Be respectful. Remember the human.

*Don't post content glorifying the right This should be pretty obvious.

*Keep it dank This includes, keeping the content humorous and fresh in multiple, bizarrerie ways Only post content that is humorous and fresh.

*The notion of Leftist unity is not enforced or encouraged. It always ends with one group siliencing others.

founded 4 years ago