***Before going any further I'd like to warn of potential spoilers to both the comics and the show. Do not read below if you hate spoilers***
A few years back, I got into the Walking Dead comics in between seasons of the Walking Dead TV show. I've never been a fan of comics, but since I liked the show, I figured I'd give them a chance. After a few pages, I was addicted.
***Secondary spoiler warning***
In Volume 21 of The Walking Dead book collection, All Out War part 2. I came across a part that resonated deeply with me.
Leading up to this point in the books, Negan had entered the pages with a bang. He got Rick's attention, in a quite gruesome fashion, and basically told him how it was going to be. Rick's communities were to submit to Negan and give him and his crew half of what they were able to produce or forage every single week for the rest of their lives.
Negan is not one to play around, as readers of the books are well aware. Failure to comply with his commands would result in extreme violence. You either paid Negan, or he would make sure you and your people would find another way to pay...with blood.
Rick became a broken man during this stage of the series. After several failed attempts to rid themselves of Negan, Rick began to lose hope. He couldn't convince all of the different communities to unite, and without them all, they wouldn't be strong enough. Finally, the daylight broke through on an opportunity. One of Negan's men had turned on him and sided with Rick. He provided valuable intel, and afforded Rick and the communities with a chance to take a stand, like they had never seen before.
One day, Negan decides to visit Rick's community. There had been recent bloodshed, and Negan was getting fed up. He had heard from his men that Rick was dead, so he came prepared to "formalize" the next leader. Negan was not ready for Rick.
Rick appears through the gate, and refuses to stoop to Negan's level. Instead, he decides to communicate the truth, unfazed by Negan's threats.
Negan talks of "restoring order", while blaming Rick and his people for "fucking everything up". Clearly it was Negan "saving lives" all along.
Hmmm. Ring any bells? People can't live reasonably on their own. They NEED a Negan to keep the order and keep them safe. Whatever would people do without Negan? Yeah, this sounds familiar.
Rick points out how inefficient Negan is. How he takes all of his would-be useful men to steal from productive people, when those men could be doing productive things as well. Thus, they would be adding to the productivity instead of stealing from it.
Keep in mind that there is group of people who take half of your income by force in the world today. We call these people a government. The government IS Negan.
Rick continues...
Rick counters, asking if Negan actually understands our potential. Does he not see what we can already accomplish? Together our potential is limitless. We do not need Negan for any of this. Negan is what holds all of us back. If Negan changed his ways, and stopped coercively initiating violence to "keep order" and actually helped build instead of destroy, they could make the world a much better place.
Negan surprisingly hears Rick out, and seems to be coming around to Rick's points, but Rick knows Negan better. Negan is an actor. He feigns his emotions to get what he wants. He's manipulative, maniacal, and even murderous at times. There is no negotiating with Negan.
Instead, Rick sneak attacks Negan mid-conversation, while Negan's men get swarmed by the united communities. Within minutes Rick defeats Negan, with little bloodshed.
Perhaps our "sneak attack" is cryptocurrencies. Or perhaps it is through improving our relationships and communication skills, as well as our capacity for empathy, compassion, and love (See: @sterlinluxan). Or perhaps our State's are unknowingly lying on their death beds, due to their arrogant abuse of power (See: @dollarvigilante). The point is that Negan, as well as our governments, always have weak spots that we can exploit, with the right tactics.
After the war, Rick meets with Negan...
Damn! Rick Grimes does not mess around! Negan has been a destructive terror in the world for a long time. With his power gone, and people willing to voluntarily work together to solve the problems in the world, Rick and his people are finally ready to enter a new age of peaceful anarchism.
Can we rid ourselves of our Negan? Must one group of people have the socially acceptable ability to initiate violent force however they see fit?
Rick's world was ready for a change. Is ours?
I have felt this way about TWD since I found it. Thank you for putting it into words! :)
Sure, the government is Negan.
"Negan surprisingly hears Rick out"
This is fiction. In reality a Negan would not "hear Rick out." He would shoot Rick, and go back to his life of absolute power.
We have a government in which we have a voice. That is the difference between our government and a Negan government. Our government is also the only thing that can stop a Negan government from existing.
So do you want a government in which you have a voice, or a government that will kill you for trying to speak? Those are the only real choices.
I do believe Negan "hearing Rick out" was a ploy. He wasn't actually coming around. He probably was going to make a display out of him, given his history in the books.
That being said, I question the validity of the "voice" you are claiming we have. We can only vote on politicians and hope that they keep their word during their years in office. They have no obligation to, and in fact, history often has proven politicians to be perpetual liars. It seems to me, our voices have little effect on the outcomes of our governments.
I believe that Lysander Spooner said it best:
Of course, Negan is a pretty extreme villain, and would make for a rather extreme dicator. But I personally do believe that he has many similarities to a government, at its core. He extorts half of people's income, uses violence when they don't comply, and as a result, people submit to his absolute power. Rick changed that power structure, and open his world up to one of voluntary trade and freedom.
Thanks for commenting!
Let's do a comparison. Take that speech to North Korea, have that conversation with Kim Jong Un, and see what happens.
I'm guessing firing squad.
You love to cite the "force" the government will bring against you. Which amounts to a penalty, then wage garnishment, then property seizure. Literally the worst case scenario is jail time. A firing squad is not on the list.
Negan, would have your legs broken for the first offense and simply beat you to death as an example for the second offense. Correct? (Not actually a walking dead fan.)
" and always is to be, absolute and irresponsible.”"
The powers of our elected representatives are not "always to be" nor are they absolute. The attitude that your voices have little effect is exactly what gives them more power than they should have. We'd have had legal marijuana decades ago if people like you voted against every politician who made it illegal!
George Carlin also had a great take on voting that I wanted to share:
I know anarchism seems crazy to a lot of people. And this site is like half full of them now, it seems. But if you're curious as to how I got thinking this way, this is how I became an anarchist:
https://steemit.com/anarchism/@derekareith/how-i-became-an-anarchist
Only half full? ;)
Seriously though, I appreciate this exchange we had. You're the first person who has actually voiced their disagreement with me in the month plus I have been on here. I was getting a little afraid it was becoming an anarchist circle jerk.
Since we will both be on this site for years to come, we will see if we can find more common ground in the future. Just realize, I am not your enemy. I too want a more efficient and peaceful world, without war, corruption, and the perpetual misallocation of resources. Take care! :D
" I was getting a little afraid it was becoming an anarchist circle jerk."
I think it is unfortunately. I've seen one other guy post some really well written "statist" stuff but I haven't seen him post in a week or so. Then again I haven't posted anything meaningful in over a week either but I still intend to.
Ah, here he is saying why he stopped: https://steemit.com/steemit/@satire/i-ll-stop-with-the-anarchist-debunking-posts
Note the first commenter directly stated that a case against anarchy is a case for slavery. :P
I agree that there are different levels of force. I'm not disputing that. Some governments are more harsh than others, in the same way that some slave owners were more harsh to their slaves than others. Some slaves got more food. Some got more beatings. They were all still slaves regardless of how "nice" their owner was.
I'm going to have to disagree on this one. If some men in uniform showed up because I had protested paying taxes for the drug war on moral grounds, and I chose to defend myself from their caging of me, would they not use lethal force? Of course I could submit, and obey their authority over me instead. But wouldn't that authority be "absolute and irresponsible" if it involved the threat of killing me because I was not willing to fund the drug war and willing to protect myself from the gang trying to fund it? Yea, pretty much. But it's more about connecting the fundamentals of extortion, mismanagement, and waste, like we see in governments. Well statistically your individual vote means nothing. It's basically the equivalent to a grain of sand on the beach. And you say that we could have voted against every politician who would make it illegal? OK. But how can you guarantee that the politician that said they would make it legal will keep their word? It's an unbinding agreement with the voters, and in almost 100 years on a national level, this has never come close to passing since drug prohibition began.I'll also add that I am not opposed to people working within the State's playbook to shrink it and/or make it less harmful. I just see it as an unproductive waste of time to beg someone who says they will make X part of my life more free and "promises" they won't change their minds, especially taking into consideration the statistical odds of my vote actually having an impact.
It's a matter of opinion until either one of us starts actually changing things. It's my opinion that we should encourage each other to do whatever we can to get to a more free, peaceful world, even if we disagree on techniques. That being said, if others feel differently, then I won't slow them down. @ftlian is running for governor of NH. He's an anarchist who wants to create change through the political process. That's great! The more roads to freedom the better.
I'd just be careful assuming all anarchists are the same. Most of us are quite different and/or in different stages of understanding the concepts. I admit, when I first started getting into anarchism I was one of the people shouting that war=murder, taxes=theft, laws=slavery. I've come to find over time that those tactics don't work. The conclusions are too abrasive to people most of the time, and it doesn't convey the thought that led to those conclusions.
I found that acting that way turned far more people off to my ideas than on to them. That's why I love @sterlinluxan. He, among others, help show why communication is so important. Anarchists really do have amazing ideas. I mean we wouldn't be here if it weren't for @dan, who is an anarchist looking to enact those ideas into society.
The key thing to remember is that none of us were anarchists by default by the time we heard and understood these concepts. We were all statists, resistant to the ideas, because they went directly against everything we were taught. We need to emphasize empathy and foster the curiosity in others, so that they take the leap themselves, if they so choose. By being pushy, or calling people names, or using hyperbolic expressions, we do ourselves no good, and just end up talking past one another.