Anarchism

Question 1

What is a key thing anarchists agree on in terms of the state?

Answer 1

It should be abolished as it is corrupting and is unnecessary.

Question 2

What are the three aspects of the state?

Answer 2

Government
Power
Authority

Question 3

What is government?

Answer 3

A system of rule, from monarchism to dictatorship, to liberal democracy, based on deceit and violence.

Question 4

What is authority?

Answer 4

The right of one person or institution to influence the behaviour of others.

Question 5

What is power?

Answer 5

The instruments by which the state and other social institutions secure their authority.

Question 6

What are the three anarchist views of the state?

Answer 6

The state is immoral- it restricts liberty and is oppressive.
Power of the state must be resisted- power cannot be exercised by one person over another.
Political participation- democratic government is based on deceit, supported bt the threat of violence.

Question 7

What are the four ways anarchists believe the state can be overthrown?

Answer 7

Direct action
Establishing a moral society
Peaceful and gradual abolition of the state
Withdrawing from society to become an autonomous individual

Question 8

Do anarchists agree on how the state should be overtrown?

Answer 8

No

Question 9

What is direct action?

Answer 9

Non-payment of taxes, non-compliance with conscription orders and the mass strike, to bring about a revolution.
Endorsed by Mikhail Bakunin.

Question 10

What is the stablishment of a moral society?

Answer 10

Education would create ‘perfect’ humans who could be relied on to exercise their private judgement well.
This would make the state irrelevant and it would wither away.
Endorsed by 18th century anarchist philosopher William Godwin.

Question 11

What is the peaceful and gradual abolition of the state?

Answer 11

Achieved through a democratic political process as anarchist ideas gained in popularity.
People would vote to dismantle the state.
Endorsed by Pierre-Joseph Proudhon.

Question 12

What is the withdrawal from society to become an autonomous individual?

Answer 12

The state would have no relevance for, or hold over, a person.
Endorsed by 19th century anarchist thinker Henry Thoreau.

Question 13

Why must the state be rejected due to its impact on human nature?

Answer 13

It is:
Commanding- removes people’s autonomy.
Controlling- suppressive initiative and creativity.
Corrupting- those with authority lose contact with their ‘true’ human nature and the state abuses those under its authority because of its defence of inequality.

Question 14

What do anarcho-individualists believe in terms of the state’s role in the economy?

Answer 14

Taxation is no more than state ‘robbery’ imposed by the veiled threat of force.

Question 15

What do anarcho-collectivists believe in terms of the state’s role in the economy?

Answer 15

Globally, the state protects the elites of industrially developed countries through institutions such as the G20 and World Bank.
The state protects private property and the privileged position of the wealthy.

Question 16

What do anarchists believe are the two main parts of a stateless society?

Answer 16

Liberty and order

Question 17

Do anarchists have a positive or negative view of human nature?

Answer 17

Positive

Question 18

What is liberty?

Answer 18

The freedom for individuals to persue their own best interests and freedom from state control.

Question 19

What is order?

Answer 19

Order promotes freedom and security.

Question 20

What do individual anarchists believe in terms of liberty and human nature?

Answer 20

Humans are rational, autonomous, competitive and self-interested individuals.
All forms of authority are commanding and controlling.
People therefore have to be freed from the control exerted by hierachical authority.

Question 21

What do collectivist anarchists believe in terms of liberty and human nature?

Answer 21

A person can only be free when everyone is free to reach their potential.
Liberty only exists when equality is present.
People then treat each other equally, enjoy economic equality and contribute equally to workplace or community decision-making.
Freedom is attained by toppling the class based, hierachical society with its socio-economic inequalities.

Question 22

What would an anarchist society involve?

Answer 22

No centralised controlling body, any official hierachical authority or coercive agencies to enforce laws.
Based on some type of decentralised association of independent self-governing districys, where free and equal individuals would cooperate voluntarily and participate directly in decision making.

Question 23

How does social order occur?

Answer 23

Naturally and spontaneously, based on rational, social and cooperative human nature.

Question 24

What do anarcho-individualists think about liberty?

Answer 24

Individual liberty free from all constraints, with some voluntary associations but only for their own personal interest.
Advocated by Stirner.

Question 25

What do anarcho-communists think about liberty?

Answer 25

Liberty is absolute, but that freedom is achieved through mutually supportive communities.
Members attain individual liberty by sharing concepts of natural law, making imposed laws redundant.
Argued by kropotkin.

Question 26

What do mutualists think about liberty?

Answer 26

Proudhon sought to balance individualism and collectivism to create a condition of complete liberty.

Question 27

What do anarcho-individualists think about order?

Answer 27

Individuals should act freely without legal, politicial, social, moral or religious constraints.
A stateless society will promote rationalism, autonomy and self-interest to guarantee social order.

Question 28

What do anarcho-communists think about order?

Answer 28

The diversive nature of capitalism undermines human altruism.
Common ownership and mutualism encourage cooperative altruistic behaviour, which maintains natural order.

Question 29

What do anarcho-capitalists think about order?

Answer 29

The free market will enable competitive, rational, self-interested individuals to make decisions in their own best interests, establishing natural order.

Question 30

What is economic freedom?

Answer 30

A rejection of all forms of capitalism and state socialism so people can conduct their economic affairs autonomously without state ownership.

Question 31

What is utopianism?

Answer 31

A set of political beliefs that creates a model of an ideal or perfect future society.

Question 32

What is the anarchists view on utopianism?

Answer 32

Positive view of human nature and its potential for development.
The key features of this perfect society will be peace, harmony, order and complete freedom.

Question 33

What is the collectivist objection and solution to capitalist economy?

Answer 33

Objection- capitalism is based on inequality, exploitation and private property. It uses the state to protect the privileged and oppress the masses so real freedom cannot exist.
Solution- replace capitalism, especially private ownership with collective ownership or mutualism to encourage human altruism, and develop liberty and natural order.

Question 34

What is the anarcho-capitalist objection and solution to capitalist economy?

Answer 34

Objection- state intervention in the economy restricts competition, choice and liberty by skewing the market and creating public and private monopolies.
Solution- remove the state to allow an entirely free competitive market (inc private property). Rational and self-interested individuals can then make judgements in their own best interests, creating natural order.

Question 35

What is the collectivist objection and solution to state socialist economy?

Answer 35

Objection- under state socialism, the state has become the exploiting power over the masses, simply replacing the capitalist ruling elite, so no real freedom exists.
Solution- replace state socialism with genuine collective ownership or mutualism to encourage human altruism and develop liberty and natural order.

Question 36

What is the anarcho-capitalist objection and solution to state socialist economy?

Answer 36

Objection- the reliance on state planning and state ownership of production rejects property rights and liberty.
Solution- replace state socialism with a wholly free competitive market (inc private property) since individuals can experience economic freedom only through free competitiion with no outside interference.

Question 37

What does anarchist utopianism look like for collectivist anarchists?

Answer 37

Propose removing capitalism.

Common ownership, economic equality and mutual aid will foster altruism.

Question 38

What does anarchist utopianism look like for individualist anarchists?

Answer 38

Call for the removal of the state, with no social or economic organisations, to allow autonomy to flourish.

Question 39

What does anarchist utopianism look like for anarcho-capitalists?

Answer 39

Propose a stateless society based on ‘natural’ and unregulated economic competition, including the pursuit of property.

Question 40

Criticisms of a stateless society.

Answer 40

The perfect anarchist stateless society is unachieveable- no anarchists social order has been created to date.
For example the Zapatist uprising (Mexico 1994) and during the Spanish Civil War.

Question 41

What is the key critisism of anarchist utopianism?

Answer 41

It is unrealistic and relies on the optimistic view of human nature.
People are selfish and competitive, so an anarchist society and economy would be dominated by the wealthy.
Anarchists assert that, without state involvement, humans have the potential to act collectively and altruistucally.
For example, the Occupy movement.