Anarchism, Arguments For and Against

[Prima Scriptura]

Anarchism is cringe because it simply doesn’t exist. The closet example is Somalia, and even they don’t have real anarchism. I especially wonder what the AnComs are thinking. That a communist, equal and egalitarian society is going to maintain its’ self organically? At least Ancaps are honest about poor and disabled like me are pretty much SOL under their system. AnComs don’t have the integrity to admit it.



FUCK ANARCHISM!

[Nilokeras]

Anarchism is cringe because it simply doesn’t exist.

This argument is particularly dumb because every political-economic system we've experienced in history was an impossible pipe dream until the day it wasn't. 200 years ago, the idea of a completely liberal democratic Europe constructed on national lines was a complete and utter fantasy - now it's our reality.

[Catalonia 2070 RP]

Anarchism is inherently unworkable. How will you stop crime? It'll lead to warlordism and utter brutality ruling the country.

Worse how did you get anarchism to work without an authority enforcing it.

anarcho-monarchism

It might sound like a joke, but having an authority to enforce no authority isnt that bad an idea

[BEEstreetz]

Anarchism is a left wing political ideology (soft proposing: personal worldview) that wishes for the removal of nations, states, social classes and any form of authority. Anarchism has been around for hundreds of years but it took off around the Enlightenment but it has gained traction in its' concise theory since Proudhon. It was and still is one of the most outspoken left wing ideologies but also one of the most criticized. Criticism of Anarchism ranges from being impossible to achieve to it’s followers being terrorists. Nonetheless Anarchism is still around today as a strong ideology of the left.

So what aspects of anarchism should we talk about? We should talk about its policies, its philosophy about human governing and if it can be achieved. You can bring up more but those are some starting points. (Should not even have to explain why these are contradictory)

We may also talk about the ideologies infiltrations of Anarchism inspired like Anarcho-Capitalism, Anarcho-Communism and more. We should bring them up for reasons like comparison to Anarchism as they were inspired from it and can give us a better understanding of Anarchism as a whole. (Any prefix of suffix to Anarchism is an infiltration attempt. All anarchist organizations be cautious.)

Follow all of Nationstate’s rules, do not glorify violence or terrorists. (The reason why this thread can't really do much).

These are proposed changes, not a threadjack.
Proposal to set the narrative to: Anarchist theory and the practical solutions they provide in implicating Anarchy.

[Page]

Anarchism is inherently unworkable. How will you stop crime? It'll lead to warlordism and utter brutality ruling the country.

So in other words, exactly the fuck what we have now. What state isn't run by brutal warlords? Iceland, I guess, not too many others.

[Pangurstan]

Anarchism is inherently unworkable. How will you stop crime? It'll lead to warlordism and utter brutality ruling the country.

So in other words, exactly the fuck what we have now. What state isn't run by brutal warlords? Iceland, I guess, not too many others.

i wish joe biden was a brutal warlord

[Suriyanakhon]

Anarchism is cringe because it simply doesn’t exist.

Not a fan of anarchism, but egalitarian non-state societies have been around for as long as humans have been, and usually don't leave people out to die.

[Concejos Unidos]

Anarchism is cringe because it simply doesn’t exist. The closet example is Somalia, and even they don’t have real anarchism. I especially wonder what the AnComs are thinking. That a communist, equal and egalitarian society is going to maintain its’ self organically? At least Ancaps are honest about poor and disabled like me are pretty much SOL under their system. AnComs don’t have the integrity to admit it.



FUCK ANARCHISM!

And your religion is based on extra-rational faith. Skepticism doesn't suit you.

[Slaver Pirates of Vaas]

Anarchism is a left wing political ideology

Wow, I didn't know trafficking tons of hard drugs to African American communities, slavery, and piracy were all left-wing things. Who would've thought?

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Anarchism is an ideology encompassing both spectrums of the political binary. This is why ideologies like anarcho-capitalism exist. You wouldn't call any capitalist ideology left-wing, would you? On top of this, when looking at examples of anarchist societies and groups in history and the present, not all of them are left-wing. In fact, some possess beliefs that, if practiced by a government, would be considered extremely right-wing.

[Heloin]

Anarchism is a left wing political ideology

Wow, I didn't know trafficking tons of hard drugs to African American communities, slavery, and piracy were all left-wing things. Who would've thought?

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Anarchism is an ideology encompassing both spectrums of the political binary. This is why ideologies like anarcho-capitalism exist. You wouldn't call any capitalist ideology left-wing, would you? On top of this, when looking at examples of anarchist societies and groups in history and the present, not all of them are left-wing. In fact, some possess beliefs that, if practiced by a government, would be considered extremely right-wing.

Anarchism is a purely left wing political ideology, if it's not left wing then it's expressly not anarchist.

[PhilTech]

There was never a true Anarchy.

[The Angeles Republic]

What's funny is that all anarchists are explicitly terrorists. By nature, they're a threat to the state's existence, which shouldn't surprise anyone that the purpose of a state is to sustain its existence. Telling people not to glorify terrorists in the OP is already shooting anarchists on the foot. However, having dabbled in some Anarchist tendencies in the past, its tendencies inability to reconcile over how human society (Anarchist arguments against democracy and democratic political apparatus particularly) should be organized has dissuaded me from believing it can be a serious, non-divisive way to organize a society. They could be tolerant of a particular ideological group yesterday, and turn against them the next. As many troubles as states and institutions cause, the benefits they bring outweigh their cons as there are simply formal processes in which due diligence can be exercised for the benefit of the public.

[Pangurstan]

What's funny is that all anarchists are explicitly terrorists. By nature, they're a threat to the state's existence, which shouldn't surprise anyone that the purpose of a state is to sustain its existence. Telling people not to glorify terrorists in the OP is already shooting anarchists on the foot. However, having dabbled in some Anarchist tendencies in the past, its tendencies inability to reconcile over how human society (Anarchist arguments against democracy and democratic political apparatus particularly) should be organized has dissuaded me from believing it can be a serious, non-divisive way to organize a society. They could be tolerant of a particular ideological group yesterday, and turn against them the next. As many troubles as states and institutions cause, the benefits they bring outweigh their cons as there are simply formal processes in which due diligence can be exercised for the benefit of the public.

Anyone posting on the nationstates forums is too terminally online to be a threat to any state or organization's existence.

[Dreria]

anarchism is a nascent form of fascism

[The Communal Union of Libertalia]

anarchism is a nascent form of fascism

How? I'm genuinely curious how anyone with a shred of political literacy comes to this conclusion

[The Communal Union of Libertalia]

Anarchism is a left wing political ideology

Wow, I didn't know trafficking tons of hard drugs to African American communities, slavery, and piracy were all left-wing things. Who would've thought?

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Anarchism is an ideology encompassing both spectrums of the political binary. This is why ideologies like anarcho-capitalism exist. You wouldn't call any capitalist ideology left-wing, would you? On top of this, when looking at examples of anarchist societies and groups in history and the present, not all of them are left-wing. In fact, some possess beliefs that, if practiced by a government, would be considered extremely right-wing.

Only if you have a backwards idea of left versus right. Anarchism is as far left as one can go, with anarchists seeking a total abolition of all forms of authority, laws, and hierarchy, including capitalism (which is inherently authoritarian, involuntary, and hierarchical).

[Pangurstan]

anarchism is a nascent form of fascism

How? I'm genuinely curious how anyone with a shred of political literacy comes to this conclusion

read theory
https://polcompball.miraheze.org/wiki/Anarcho-Fascism

[The Communal Union of Libertalia]

Anarchism is cringe because it simply doesn’t exist.

This argument is particularly dumb because every political-economic system we've experienced in history was an impossible pipe dream until the day it wasn't. 200 years ago, the idea of a completely liberal democratic Europe constructed on national lines was a complete and utter fantasy - now it's our reality.

Exactly! I'm certain there were those who considered modern capitalism impossible and utopian, and there were certainly countless people who never even knew something like capitalism could exist. Now the world is controlled by capitalists, with capitalism being the one thing all nations have in common. Now, of course, anarchism is impossible, damn near every anarchist knows that, but that isn't an argument against anarchism, because every tiny bit of progress towards anarchy is a massive improvement compared to the status quo. We will never reach anarchy, but I genuinely believe we will get damn close someday

[PhilTech]

Anarchism is as far left as one can go, with anarchists seeking a total abolition of all forms of authority, laws, and hierarchy, including capitalism (which is inherently authoritarian, involuntary, and hierarchical).

I reckon: the problem is that anarchism, in a larger scale, usually devolves into some form capitalism.

[Salus Maior]

Anarchism is cringe because it simply doesn’t exist.

This argument is particularly dumb because every political-economic system we've experienced in history was an impossible pipe dream until the day it wasn't. 200 years ago, the idea of a completely liberal democratic Europe constructed on national lines was a complete and utter fantasy - now it's our reality.

Anarchism has been attempted more than once, and each time it wasn't sustainable.

That our current society works doesn't mean your pipe dream will.

[Slaver Pirates of Vaas]

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Anarchism is an ideology encompassing both spectrums of the political binary. This is why ideologies like anarcho-capitalism exist. You wouldn't call any capitalist ideology left-wing, would you? On top of this, when looking at examples of anarchist societies and groups in history and the present, not all of them are left-wing. In fact, some possess beliefs that, if practiced by a government, would be considered extremely right-wing.

Only if you have a backwards idea of left versus right. Anarchism is as far left as one can go, with anarchists seeking a total abolition of all forms of authority, laws, and hierarchy, including capitalism (which is inherently authoritarian, involuntary, and hierarchical).

If you're looking at it from that very narrow lens, then yes. But no such ideology has ever been practiced. All anarchist societies today and in history have achieved what most people would consider anarchism, which is the complete nonexistence of the State^TM (a term separate from government, but similar). The only issue is that, as you mention in your post, they never completely abolished hierarchies, as the cultural/social ones seem to persist. The note about capitalism is subjective and/or debatable.

[Slaver Pirates of Vaas]

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Anarchism is an ideology encompassing both spectrums of the political binary. This is why ideologies like anarcho-capitalism exist. You wouldn't call any capitalist ideology left-wing, would you? On top of this, when looking at examples of anarchist societies and groups in history and the present, not all of them are left-wing. In fact, some possess beliefs that, if practiced by a government, would be considered extremely right-wing.

Anarchism is a purely left wing political ideology, if it's not left wing then it's expressly not anarchist.

Surely you realize the similarities these ideologies, some of them not appearing to be left-wing, have? Regardless of what comes after anarcho-: anarcho-capitalism, anarcho-communism, anarcho-fascism, anarcho-primitivism, etc, they all call for the abolition of the state. Is that not what anarchism strives to achieve?

Plus, making anarchism out to be a purely left-wing ideology makes it seem like statism is the default position for all right-wingers, which is not the case.

This isn't even mentioning the inherent apoliticalness of anarchism in of itself. Because there is no government to enforce any ideology, moral principle, or value, those ideas are left up to each individual in the society to decide upon. This is why the different forms of anarchism exist, they all are created by the same people who all share a hatred of the state, yet their personal beliefs are extremely different.

[Nilokeras]

This argument is particularly dumb because every political-economic system we've experienced in history was an impossible pipe dream until the day it wasn't. 200 years ago, the idea of a completely liberal democratic Europe constructed on national lines was a complete and utter fantasy - now it's our reality.

Anarchism has been attempted more than once, and each time it wasn't sustainable.

That our current society works doesn't mean your pipe dream will.

Some Austrian guy in 1826: 'Democracy has been attempted more than once, and each time it wasn't sustainable. Just look at what happened in France. That our current society works doesn't mean your pipe dream of liberal nation-states will. Now let's all raise a toast to the health and long reign of Charles X, and the return of the natural order of things'

[Pangurstan]

Only if you have a backwards idea of left versus right. Anarchism is as far left as one can go, with anarchists seeking a total abolition of all forms of authority, laws, and hierarchy, including capitalism (which is inherently authoritarian, involuntary, and hierarchical).

If you're looking at it from that very narrow lens, then yes. But no such ideology has ever been practiced. All anarchist societies today and in history have achieved what most people would consider anarchism, which is the complete nonexistence of the State^TM (a term separate from government, but similar).

The funniest part about modern anarchism is that anarchists either espouse extremely stupid ideas about how modern institutions that obviously benefit society can be made anarchist (anarchists saying "anarchy means no rulers, not no rules" to try to argue that anarchist laws are not oxymorons) or ideas that are somehow even dumber, like the classic "if disabled people get assaulted and there's nobody to avenge them, then that's their problem" theory of morality.

The only issue is that, as you mention in your post, they never completely abolished hierarchies, as the cultural/social ones seem to persist. The note about capitalism is subjective and/or debatable.

Abolition of all hierarchy as an idea is theoretically and practically impossible, and is also a bad idea in general.

[Dreria]

Anarchism has been attempted more than once, and each time it wasn't sustainable.

That our current society works doesn't mean your pipe dream will.

Some Austrian guy in 1826: 'Democracy has been attempted more than once, and each time it wasn't sustainable. Just look at what happened in France. That our current society works doesn't mean your pipe dream of liberal nation-states will. Now let's all raise a toast to the health and long reign of Charles X, and the return of the natural order of things'

nobody told the Austrian guy that Yugoslav socialism is the natural social hierarchy