When I hear the term Anarchy I cannot help but think of the Wild West or a post-apocalyptic Fallout Scenario. I know many Anarchists say that Anarchy does not mean nor rules or no government, however I feel like most Anarchos struggle to present a practical solution to implement their believes of Voluntarinism.
To me Anarchy means that you do not let your actions be guided by an institution, but by your own rational and moral, therefore I think there are two different kind of people in our current world who practice Anarchy: Heroes and the Mafia.
Heroes
Acting on their own philosophy and saving others. This is what defines a hero to me. Nowadays you often see heroism used for wrong things: Let's help minorities by language policing social media. Let's help the people in Africa by sending them food and clothers, even though this is destroying their local food and fabric industry, who can't keep up with the dumping prices achieved through "charity". Let's create a save space!
These people feel themselves as heroes, however to me it lacks the "own philosophy" part. Many of them do what they think is good because they have been told what is good and what is bad.
In the current Marrvel Series on Netflix (Daredevil, Punisher) the vigilantism of Heroes is a main topic. I think it shows that the line between Hero and Villain can be very thin and is sometimes only visible in why they do it.
Looking back the anti authoritarian nature of Heroes and my obsession with 80s Cartoons and Anime, I would guess a lot of my personal tendencies have been influenced by that. I often don't like to do things just because people told me I should do them.
Many of the Anarchists I meet on Steem say the NAP (Non-Aggression-Principle) and voluntarism are the basis of Anarchy. However Heroes, who are usually rather violent people, are obviously not acting in complience with it. It might be a war of words, but to me Anarchism only means that you have your own convictions and you are willing to fight for them. If the NAP is the sum of what you come up with after carefully thinking every moral and rational aspect through, then that is a nice thing, but to put a moral codex in front of anarchism and especially one that is extremely bendable, is not Anarchism to me. My favorite (Anti-)Heroes were Lobo and Deadpool, who shit on the moral codex of DC and Marvel.
Mobsters
A thing I learned about Heroism, is that it is highly overrated. I sure have made the fault in my life that I did not think of myself enough, it is often the best contribution to society and the people around you to take care of yourself. On the other hand I think Mobsters and Black Markets have a unreasonably bad reputation. We also have a war on words here. Pretty much any organisation that acts outside of law and state regulation gets thrown in the same basket as human and organ trafficers, assassins and drug kingpins.
When it comes to the question "how will people be protected", many Anarchos answer that there can be free agents who offer protection. To me this sounds a lot like protection money. A practice we see all around the world. Personally I actually do not think that it is all bad, when the police is lazy and corrupted, it is good to have some people you can call if your shop get's threatened. However I do think that the state should make protection money obsolete, but not ban the practice.
My knowledge about organized crime is quite limited, but from what I can see in the ten million Hollywood movies about the Italian Mob and Sopranos, I think it is fair to say that the mafia is defined by having their own law within their organization. But again Mobsters are famous for not being very pacifist people.
Would you agree that Mobsters and Heroes are to some degree embodiments of the Anarchist spirit or do they disqualify, because of the violence they enact?
Vigilantes who bully bullies aren't aggressing, they're acting in defense of the innocent.
Mafia standover men are indistinguishable from state actors, in that they provide or offer no service except their absence, at a price (and the absence of competing gangs)
At least with the mob, you pay the money and actually get left alone.
Voluntaryism isn't an aversion to rules, it's the realisation that rules are best discerned by property owners, not strangers thousands of miles away with no knowledge of the place, who have invested nothing in it.
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The problem is to determine a bully. Not everyone who cries help is in the right and at least in the way I read it Voluntaryism advocates to only protect yourself, your property and people close around you. A hero often saves the whole world though.
I am actually in favor of strong local and less global government, but people like the American Reps love to warp the term "small gov" into "weak gov". Btw how does voluntarism prevent that the owner is thousands of miles away and the place is just a number on a piece of paper for him?
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If it's important to him, he will have made it clear that it's his (signage, fencing etc), and made provision to have any trespass investigated, and the perpetrators identified and held to account.
Like what people think the police are for.
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This made for interesting reading @thatgermandude. :c)
I personally do not consider mafia to be truly representative of anarchism. The reason is that mafia disregards one form of governance and produces a semblance of governmence in its own right. Its 'organized' and there is a taxation being levied (sometimes called a protection fee).
Heroes and vigilantes, I am not really of the opinion represent the 'status' of anarchy either. They may hold a healthy or unhealthy disregard of some or all governing structures (whether its their desire for good over-riding their desire for lawfulness, or their desire for lawfulness in a perceived unlawful circumstance leading to acts of 'correction' on their part), neither do they indirectly influence society's way of going about things. They may be anarchical elements but they are not anarchy.
I have often heard volunteerism being noted as core to anarchy...
Such is as valid, in my opinion, as noting that a dictatorship is great for as long as the one in leadership is great (and benign).
Elements of leadership shall always be necessary in order to move a society forward - including within a state of anarchy. The question as to what degree of leadership - and structure - is desirable is debateable - but I would suggest that the 'community-level' is as good a level as any.
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That is why I count them as anarchists. Anarchy is often described as an alternative way to govern with the main difference that everybody is participating voluntarily. After all most people are not born into the mob. "Sons of Anarchy" is also just about a biker gang, which I would include under the Mafia umbrella or do you consider biker gangs are a special form of mobsters?
I think we have similar regards on Anarchy in general. I also did not want to come across like I think Heroes and the Mob are the essence of Anarchy. Just two ways that anarchistic ideals (mainly the hatred for government) have manifested into very different things with very different perception in the public eye.
Same and it is seems to be a creedo for anarchists as well. It is funny how Communism was heavily influenced by a Jew-hating Anarchist. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre-Joseph_Proudhon
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Interesting post and I've been musing on the same issue lately. It's quite coincidental to me that anarchist thought is so compatible with the mafia ethos! Damn, it's near impossible to tell the difference between Jesus and Satan these days:D One of the foundational assumptions of old monotheism, BTW....
Oh, those Italian mafiosos? Not so much: you'd have to look to another prominent tribe to grok who they really are....
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I think fascism is pretty hard to grasp. While the violence is surely somewhat rooted in the Italian Fascist history and their bond might be rather build on nationalism than voluntary cooperation, I do think the "living by your own rules" flair the Mob generally has is quite reminiscent of Anarchy.
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