Souka Folks! Keep away from Me!! & Anarchism as a Sociery Organized with Free Minds

向かいのブロックの「そうか」のみなさん、静かにしてもらえませんか？

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I was attracted to anarchism as a young teenager, as soon as I began to think about the world beyond a pretty narrow range, and haven’t seen much reason to revise those early attitudes since. I think it 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 and management, relations among men and women, parents and children, our control over the fate of future generations (the basic imperative behind the environmental movement in my view), and much else. Naturally this means a challenge to the huge institutions of coercion and control: the state, the unaccountable private tyrannies that control most of the domestic and international economy, and so on. But not only these.

This is what I have always understood to be the essence of anarchism: the conviction that the burden of proof has to be placed on authority, and it should be dismantled if that burden cannot be met. (p. 178)

Is anarchism a philosophy for people’s power?

I’m reluctant to use fancy polysyllables like “philosophy” to refer to what seems ordinary common sense. I’m also uncomfortable with slogans. (p. 181)

One of the main achievements of the Spanish Revolution was the degree of grassroots democracy established… Is it a coincidence to your mind that anarchism, known for advocacy of individual freedom, succeeded in this area of collective administration?

No coincidence at all. The anarchism that I’ve always found most persuasive seek a highly organized society, integrating many different kinds of structures (workplace, community and manifold other forms of voluntary associations), but controlled by participants, not by those in a position to give orders (except, again, when authority can be justified, as is sometimes the case, in specific contingencies). (pp. 181-182, “Anarchism, Marxism and the Hope for the Future”)

(Photo: Singapore's "NEWater," recycled household effluent, "pure enough" for drinking)