tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956838.post6717442396033519736..comments2023-11-22T01:14:54.298-08:00Comments on amor mundi: Why I Am Still Not An Anarchist (Or Am I?)Dale Carricohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02811055279887722298noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956838.post-52228338153274672412012-06-02T15:02:41.273-07:002012-06-02T15:02:41.273-07:00It's an interesting point. For me the key thin...It's an interesting point. For me the key thing at issue here is that the strong will always prey or be tempted to prey upon the weak, but there is a choice whether the state will be more the vehicle through which that predation is facilitated or through which it is frustrated. The name of the struggle through which that choice is expressed and implemented is, I believe, Democracy.Dale Carricohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02811055279887722298noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956838.post-47313586787250209902012-06-02T14:45:04.020-07:002012-06-02T14:45:04.020-07:00a god may exist in its believers, somewhat in the ...a god may exist in its believers, somewhat in the way a 'state' might exist in its believers...perhaps when the believers die, their beliefs will go with them.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05292572443361143066noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956838.post-77934307138256758672011-07-29T14:42:36.983-07:002011-07-29T14:42:36.983-07:00Definitely anarchism has a richer pedigree on the ...Definitely anarchism has a richer pedigree on the left than the right, though perhaps not a longer one. Actually, the right-wing libertopians are (depending on your perspective on them) either exposing a deep problem always already inhering in any left-anarchic positioning or are simply misreading and distorting the left-anarchic ethos in their rather facile fashion. I'd say there was some truth in both of those perspectives, actually, but I incline to the second.<br /><br />You know, one of the pre-eminent figures of left-anarchy in the world today is the great Noam Chomsky, and he has said "[I]t only makes sense to seek out and identify structures of authority, hierarchy, and domination in every aspect of life and to challenge them. Unless a justification for them can be given, they are illegitimate and should be dismantled to increase the scope of human freedom. That includes political power, ownership, management, relations among men and women, parents and children, our control over the fate of future generations... I have always understood to be the essence of anarchism[,] the conviction that the burden of proof has to be on authority and that it should be dismantled if that burden cannot be met."<br /><br />I find it very easy to affirm all of this, but since I think many who would not think of themselves as anarchists at all (and with good reasons) but as liberals, democrats, peace workers, and so on, I can't say that I see why this makes me someone who wants to "Smash The State" rather than to liberalize it, or to democratize it or to deploy it in the service of non-violence.<br /><br />It is all very well to say assertions of authority bear a burden of proof -- but what standards define that burden? who agrees to them? what about those who do not? just what is the scene in which this justification is offered up and adjudicated? <br /><br />Surely too many of the questions that would presumably distinguish the anarchist-left from much of the rest of the left (plenty of it quite as radical as the anarchists are) are circumvented rather than addressed in Chomsky's enormously attractive declaration.<br /><br />Given this, how useful is it as an anarchist proposal after all -- and is it typical in this way of other efforts at general anarchist formulations in this vein? I'm afraid I must say I think it is. Still, I'm far from denying my sympathy with what Chomsky says -- hence the title of the post and the reflections that accompany it.Dale Carricohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02811055279887722298noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956838.post-52830225272637412722011-07-29T14:13:39.595-07:002011-07-29T14:13:39.595-07:00How can there be such a thing as a "left anar...How can there be such a thing as a "left anarchist"? Isn't anarchy just extreme libertarianism? I've never been able to figure them out. Just what exactly is it that they want?? <br /><br />And why do they always appear at ANY progressive protest & behave like meth-crazed agent provocateurs? Their over-the-top violence ALWAYS ends up undermining & discrediting these protests. <br /><br />It's a mystery why they get so much sympathy from the left. I find them to be a pointless nuisance, and I just wish they would just fuck off for good.myst101https://www.blogger.com/profile/03727999380764907413noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956838.post-64032803034401521022011-07-28T15:20:01.161-07:002011-07-28T15:20:01.161-07:00While I consider myself at least an anarchist symp...While I consider myself at least an anarchist sympathizer, I find your notion of "scene of consent" far more meaningful than the reductionist (and gameable) "non-coercion."Lorrainehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13567383019731167967noreply@blogger.com