I am a moderate anarchist. I call myself an anarchist because I truly believe that we can do without government. I don’t believe we need such an archaic system having power over ourselves. I also recognize that we won’t probably be able to have an anarchist type of society… not for a really long time in the future anyhow. I call myself a moderate because I tend to live in the present. I do tend to think about the limits of human society, the potential for human society. I think we can get to a point in time where we won’t need government, and, I would agree that government isn’t needed… but right now that’s what we have. We have a government. So, I like to think of means which the government can function without being a statist regime, without it being coercive, and ways that it could help facilitate change without it interfering within the markets… I also am against the use of force. Be it from foreign or domestic troops. What I mean to say when I say to let the state influence things- I don’t mean with the force of a law- but rather as Mises put it with persuasion.
The government as I believe should not be allowed to enforce its will upon people because then everyone becomes subjects, and, we are no longer free… eventually it gets to the point where we live in a nanny state and the government over-reaches where it shouldn’t be. I would however think that governments should operate under classical liberalism at least until we won’t need them any longer. I know we don’t need government… however I don’t think the public is quite prepared for a stateless society… and until they are that’s what we’re left with: a government. I distinguish myself from the radicals because I believe they don’t understand what would happen to the masses if we just got rid of all of the power structure right away: everyone would panick, they would know their life to be a lie. But if we showed them a better way… maybe they could be ready to eventually do without government later on and take leadership themselves with the course of the country.
I am not a minarchist nor do I consider myself a libertarian. I cannot be placed on the anarchist spectrum. I however believe in most of the basic principles from both the left and the right… and I don’t want immediate change… nor do I want these rules enforced on everyone as a collective whole.
I seriously wonder why there aren’t more moderate anarchists. I don’t think we can get rid of government right away. My view is that it would cause too much panick. Rather, we should do a slow withdrawal of government over time… introduce the people to classic liberalism… and that’s I think all we can realistically hope for at this point in time. We would have to radically shape their consciousness if we are to awaken these people to the fact that we can do without government… I mean… and then we also have to convince people through persuasion that it wouldn’t just be the same elite power structure behind the federal reserve that rules over us will rule them too… just the mask would be unleashed… we would have to do something… but I mean I don’t think it would be possible to just get rid of the government in one fell swoop. We could get rid of parts of the government in one fell swoop… but I just think that getting rid of it all at once would produce too much of a culture shock.
Government fails humanity. Humanity doesn’t fail government.
Government causes problems precisely because it is incompatible with human nature(desire to statisfy wants with least amount of work). Not only are humans capable of existing without government today, they have actually done it in the past.
I don’t dispute this fact. I am just pointing out that if such a change were to take place I believe too much psychological harm might incur. Hence… why I don’t believe we can get rid of it right away. I don’t like that method.
So you are the moderate version of a radical ideology?
I think there was a short circuit in my head there for a second…
So you are an anarchist…
Providing that government can patch the titanic in mid sink…
I live in the present, I am not moderate, I know it is not all that long before Rome Falls again, and I am preparing for it, because in the ashes of this, the anarchist society will form, if I have anything to say about it…
The people who “need” government, will die in absence of government, I would feel bad if they were not advocating theft to survive…
I like to think of means to aquire x-ray vision, both are sad impossibilities…
Government IS coercion…
So, I should be a subject until everyone is ready for freedom?
The problem is over time the message can get lost… Much like in 1984, you are proposing what Goldstein’s book does, it will take time, freedom may not come in your lifetime…
Remember that all the things you do not like were “justified” by a limited government to become less limited…
What about seasteading? What about microsecession? Of course a global anarchist society is very unlikely in the short term, but establishing small pockets of anarchy on a mostly statist political map is an entirely achievable goal.
Even for a single household? You need to think on a smaller scale, imo.
It’s impossible to abolish government unless you first ensure that public opinion is largely anarchist. Government is more than a bunch of buildings and people in suits; the ideology of statism is the pillar that government rests upon. It’s not like government will be abolished, and the majority of people will be surprised and shocked. Rather, government will be abolished when the majority of people are actively calling for it.
Government will only be abolished when “Rothbard” is a household name.
While I respect your opinion, I doubt and regret that the world will ever know what it’s like to live absent the institution of state governments.
I think the best to hope for is to live as free as you can wherever you can, enjoying brief periods of total freedom in frontiers or in the shadows of the state mixed in with a world of nation-states - weak or strong.
I do think it might still be worth it to try and change national or state policies, but I have no idea to what effect.
I would personally agree with this. Trying to live your life as free as you can with as much success as you can no matter the brutality of the government is all men can ever really hope to do, I think.