This is not a story, it is way too short, it's just an attempt to capture some of my thoughts. Have you ever felt like people put you in a corner, "If anarchy is so great, why has it never been tried? Why aren't there any anarchist societies?" they say. Recently I've read something like "People are not ready for stateless society". It makes me wonder. Really. But not for the reasons they expect me to think about, it's more than just that. Will we ever get to the point where the state is finally seen as an old, ineffective entity it is? This is a post for you my fellow anarchists, and for anyone who feels like there is more to life than Hillary and Trump.
Being an anarchist has affected my life for several years so far. I was born in a eastern Europe country, hence my English cannot really have that "premium", native look and feel to it. But I'll try anyway. It makes it kind of weird because there is no way possible that anyone I knew told me anything positive about anarchy. I've discovered it on my own in a place where everyone is extremely dependent on goverment. It was an interesting journey. Maybe I'll share my story in some of my next posts. Anyway let's go back to the point.
There is an interesting question you might have asked yourself, how does one even become an anarchist, right? Is it something you are born with, being a dissident, or is it something you discover when you realize how corrupt the system is? My argument is somewhat different. But before we get to it, I want to ask you something. When you go shopping and choose from thousands of products, just like that, do you wait for anyone to force you into buying anything? There are some manipulative marketing attempts, but in the end you are the one who makes a decision. Yes, one could argue that there are hundreds of regulations for each and every product you buy, and then you have to pay taxes. But the process of decision is yours to make. That is anarchy. When you love someone, no one can just forcefully make it go away. Love is anarchy. When you decide what you want to do, and I mean fully decide, when nothing can stop you, that is anarchy. I don't want you to believe me, far from it. I want you to think about it yourself.
Anarchy is more than just a thought. As a programmer and entrepreneur, I see it as a framework. Ability of living. I don't need thousands of words to explain what it is, it's manifested itself around you. I just want you to get to the point where you see how much freedom matters, and how much it affects our lives. My goal is to motivate you. Good thoughts might spread slower than the bad ones, but in the end, they last much, much longer. Many anarchists I know feel frustrated because it's hard to explain an unknown concept. Especially when a whole religion is on the other side. I call it religion of statism, because there's nothing less to it. And how do I "prove such a preposterous claim"? It's funny how today's generations see governments as a natural order of things, and anarchy is some wild extreme. I would argue quite the opposite, but that's a theme for another post.
But there is a hope, there always is. Nothing in life comes easy, and the things you are the proudest of are not something you get from others, it's what you give to them and what you do for yourself. In the end you will remember everything you achieved, not necessarily on your own. In 20 years you won't be thinking "Gee, I'm so grateful for getting this hairdressing license!", you will be proud of making other people happy when they see how great haircut you got them. By definition you cannot do it by force. The problem of voting is that someone always loses, while in the markets there are smaller and larger wins. That's why I love steemit and why I'll spend a lot of time on it. I feel like it's a great example of what can be achieved in almost any field. There is nothing to lose, even if I spend a lot of time writing, and see no results, it just means I need to be better, and the cost of the learning experience is time. That's the beauty of freedom, you can't really blame others, just change what you do or how you do it.
So to answer the questions from the beginning, yes, anarchy has been tried, and it's been tried every single day since the beginning of mankind.People don't see it as anarchy, but it is there, their inability to see it comes from the fear. How can anarchy be something positive, that's not something they taught me. People just don't see that every single thing they want to achieve can be achieved without the monopoly on force. Maybe shutting down the state is for dreamers right now, but anarchy exists in our lives, it is up to us to show people how much more they can live if there are no rulers. For life is a marketplace of experience, and anarchy is our ability to do it. Much more than just a system.
I want to go much deeper on the subject, there is a much more to be written. Here I just wanted to find the right way to shape my message. Thank you dear reader and have a wonderful day!
I upvoted You
I'd argue that this is not the case for most people.
Yes, if you are mindful about the systems trying to manipulate you, and consider it important to look out for your interests, then you will make the optimal decision. But most people I know will just choose the product that is marketed the right way for them, even if it's rationally a suboptimal decision.
And the world is full of such systems manipulating you, some of them so deeply entrenched in our culture/society/conventions that it's really hard even to become aware of them.
Anarchy is not a political system that will suddenly be enacted one day in place of whatever was there before, it's just the eventual outcome of people becoming conscious of themselves and their surroundings and making rational choices.
Yeah, that was exactly my point, I definitely want to write about the reasons why anarchy is the way to grow as a civilization and why it's nothing to be afraid of. Thank you for your response, I really appreciate it!
I know we already live in an anarchistic world. It just happens that certain groups of people formed geo-political nation-states to look out for their tribalistic interests.
All I see are a bunches of thugs running the show at all levels.
There was a meme that said the same thing but I wasn't able to find it to put it in the post. But yeah, that's essentially what this post was all about. Thank you!
for real anarchy is everywhere