Anarchism Flashcards
Why is Tolstoy an anarchist?
It is an upshot of Tolstoy’s pacifism.
The state has a ‘monopoly’ on the ‘legitimate use of force’ (M Weber).
Therefore the state can never be justified for Tolstoy.
The idea of a Christian state to Tolstoy is?
An oxymoron.
A state cannot be a ruling body with an army while being ‘Christian’ as Christians should be committed to non-violence and moral teachings.
Why are laws immoral/ unjustified?
Legislation enforced by the threat of violence is equivalent to enslavement.
Laws are also considered by Tolstoy, to only benefit the powerful who make them.
The will of the people is not expressed in Law.
Why is Tolstoy against government punishments?
Capital punishment and prisons are systems of brutalisation and dehumanisation and therefore not moral to Tolstoy. Further splits up society as it causes greater social divides.
What are the state’s two ‘methods’ according to Tolstoy?
Violence - war & militarism, legislation, the economy and the judicial system.
Deception - elite hypocrisy, evasion of responsibility, patriotism, and education.
Methods of economic enslavement.
Money and taxation.
Despite the wealth of the earth both ‘god given’ and technologically enhanced have led to great disparities - technology enhances domination.
What is a key source of oppression?
Unequal access to land, protected by unfair elitist law.
Modern workers are enchained by wage slavery.
What does the state do to its subjects?
It is a protection racket that coerces, exploits and secures the subjects’ allegiance.
Furthermore, the complexity of state bureaucracy makes it impossible for individuals to see their own complicity in the state’s violence.
How should the people go against the state?
The people need to withdraw their consent and stop being complicit - a conscientious objection by not working for the state in any capacity.
Also, a strong argument for Christianity nurturing the struggles against justice, rather than patriotism.
How did Tolstoy believe we should live our lives?
Rural living in a subsistence economy.
Small communities organised around agricultural labour - no industrial labour.
Tolstoy’s thoughts on manual labour?
Should be done by all those who are able as it creates a human community of healthier bodies and souls.
No longer “living upon the shoulders of others”
Why are Tolstoy’s suggestions for the future so vague?
For Tolstoy, there is no ‘blueprint’ for life humans need to develop an alternative in their own not using violent means.
Each person should have an ‘individual awakening’.
Not a ‘great men’ view of history.
