If you had to pick between living in a Fascist society vs an Anarchist society

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Very interesting responses, everyone. Thanks.

[almaty 19]

anarchy in the usa

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

anarchy in the usa

Well put. Context is everything.

[Jenn! 918]

Libertarian socialism is very interesting, IMO

to me too

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Hard question because I wouldn't want to live in either place. I'd find it hard to believe that anarchy would be like some of you are trying to make it out to be. If anyone knows of a peaceful anarchist society, please give me a link with info or something because if it has existed, I'd like to see an example of it before I made my decision. Anarchy IMO would depend too much on the cooperation of all the people in that society. I don't think that is realistic. Just watching the news for a few minutes, you get to see a lot of people who don't seem to care about their fellow man or what they do to them. How would they fit in to an anarchist society? What would be done about that? Curious.

I don't think there are any societies that could be described as "purely anarchist", though the term is thrown about to describe situations like Somalia, for instance which lack centralised government. Of course there the 'anarchy' is really the by-product of a civil war rather than a strict political philosophy about how to live your life. If we're hair splitting - the actual politics of a place like Somalia more closely resemble feudalism than anything else.

[mmarlo 1]

Hard question because I wouldn't want to live in either place. I'd find it hard to believe that anarchy would be like some of you are trying to make it out to be. If anyone knows of a peaceful anarchist society, please give me a link with info or something because if it has existed, I'd like to see an example of it before I made my decision. Anarchy IMO would depend too much on the cooperation of all the people in that society. I don't think that is realistic. Just watching the news for a few minutes, you get to see a lot of people who don't seem to care about their fellow man or what they do to them. How would they fit in to an anarchist society? What would be done about that? Curious.

I don't think there are any societies that could be described as "purely anarchist", though the term is thrown about to describe situations like Somalia, for instance which lack centralised government. Of course there the 'anarchy' is really the by-product of a civil war rather than a strict political philosophy about how to live your life. If we're hair splitting - the actual politics of a place like Somalia more closely resemble feudalism than anything else.

Know anything about the Spanish Civil War? I wish I knew more, but I don't. My impression, though, is that it could be instructive.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Hard question because I wouldn't want to live in either place. I'd find it hard to believe that anarchy would be like some of you are trying to make it out to be. If anyone knows of a peaceful anarchist society, please give me a link with info or something because if it has existed, I'd like to see an example of it before I made my decision. Anarchy IMO would depend too much on the cooperation of all the people in that society. I don't think that is realistic. Just watching the news for a few minutes, you get to see a lot of people who don't seem to care about their fellow man or what they do to them. How would they fit in to an anarchist society? What would be done about that? Curious.

I don't think there are any societies that could be described as "purely anarchist", though the term is thrown about to describe situations like Somalia, for instance which lack centralised government. Of course there the 'anarchy' is really the by-product of a civil war rather than a strict political philosophy about how to live your life. If we're hair splitting - the actual politics of a place like Somalia more closely resemble feudalism than anything else.

Know anything about the Spanish Civil War? I wish I knew more, but I don't. My impression, though, is that it could be instructive.

Not too much unfortunately - though it would be useful to compare the German, Italian and Spanish variations of Fascism. I agree with you that Libertarian Socialism is interesting, though it probably has too much of a communist flavour for many people (without the totalitarian aspects).

[mybackpages 0]

http://www.#######.org/texts/people/goldman/...20/emmabio.html

Emma Goldman- America's Anarchist

[Ban Hammer 13,345]

It's not a given that law and order would break down, or that there would be no law enforcement structures.

an·ar·chy /ˈænərki/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[an-er-kee] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation

–noun 1. a state of society without government or law.

2. political and social disorder due to the absence of governmental control: The death of the king was followed by a year of anarchy.

3. a theory that regards the absence of all direct or coercive government as a political ideal and that proposes the cooperative and voluntary association of individuals and groups as the principal mode of organized society.

4. confusion; chaos; disorder: Intellectual and moral anarchy followed his loss of faith.

link

right

I think the political theory goes a little beyond the dictionary definition, don't you?

Charles, we're discussing #3 at best, at any rate. Not other uses of the term. Note the use of "organized society" in that definition.

organized society and anarchy seem to be oxymorons in either event. i just don't see how one would fit with the other. maybe if i had some herbs i might see it working.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I guess Anarchism is not an absolute position. Fascism on the other hand...

[Ban Hammer 13,345]

I guess Anarchism is not an absolute position. Fascism on the other hand...

we've got a recent example of fascism on the books, that could be why some prefer anarchy over it. but as there isn't a good example to point to that might by why such is attractive to some, yet i still can't see it.

[mmarlo 1]

Argentina has community general assemblies, which are one kind of example of decentralized governments that some anarchists want, where the people can directly participate. And Zapatistas have an Indigenous Police force, where the community provides its own security without hierarchical structures of power. I think the Spanish had a popular militia in their revolution. So there are certainly some possibilities out there, not many, but some.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I guess Anarchism is not an absolute position. Fascism on the other hand...

we've got a recent example of fascism on the books, that could be why some prefer anarchy over it. but as there isn't a good example to point to that might by why such is attractive to some, yet i still can't see it.

Its because there aren't any specific examples - anarchy is an umbrella term for a variety of ideas and positions.

I'm guessing anarchy was posed by the OP as the natural opposite of "extreme law and order" - and that is the common meaning of the term. But if you look at those countries, like Somalia which have no government, and precious few governmental institutions of any kind - those countries system of government is more akin to old-fashioned feudalism rather than a serious attempt to engage in "self rule".

Edited March 20, 2007 by erekose

[Ban Hammer 13,345]

I guess Anarchism is not an absolute position. Fascism on the other hand...

we've got a recent example of fascism on the books, that could be why some prefer anarchy over it. but as there isn't a good example to point to that might by why such is attractive to some, yet i still can't see it.

Its because there aren't any specific examples - anarchy is an umbrella term for a variety of ideas and positions.

I'm guessing anarchy was posed by the OP as the natural opposite of "extreme law and order" - and that is the common meaning of the term. But if you look at those countries, like Somalia which have no government, and precious few governmental institutions of any kind - those countries system of government is more akin to old-fashioned feudalism rather than a serious attempt to engage in "self rule".

good example - and with it goes the strongest, most ruthless establishes himself as the ruler. i wonder how many who voted for anarchy would enjoy living in somalia?

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I guess Anarchism is not an absolute position. Fascism on the other hand...

we've got a recent example of fascism on the books, that could be why some prefer anarchy over it. but as there isn't a good example to point to that might by why such is attractive to some, yet i still can't see it.

Its because there aren't any specific examples - anarchy is an umbrella term for a variety of ideas and positions.

I'm guessing anarchy was posed by the OP as the natural opposite of "extreme law and order" - and that is the common meaning of the term. But if you look at those countries, like Somalia which have no government, and precious few governmental institutions of any kind - those countries system of government is more akin to old-fashioned feudalism rather than a serious attempt to engage in "self rule".

good example - and with it goes the strongest, most ruthless establishes himself as the ruler. i wonder how many who voted for anarchy would enjoy living in somalia?

Because as pointed out previously - the real goal of anarchy is decentralised government, not "no government". Somalia might be in a "state of anarchy", but its not a true anarchy because that state is the result of an another (underlying) system of government - tribal feudalism.

Anarchy is really about abolishing totalitarianism and totalitarian forms of government. The foundation of communism was driven by that philosophy - but obviously it ultimately failed and created just another hierarchical authoritarian society.

Edited March 21, 2007 by erekose