A completely stateless society is something of a long lost tradition, but with the creation of the “civilized” people’s and their governing bodies, it is nothing more than downgrade to those who grew up in such sheltered conditions.
What solutions do we have for a completly MODERN stateless society?
Will we organize as a group of people in hopes to establish a territory for ourselves? Or do we simply live and let live regardless of what government we currently live under, making do with what we we have? If by organizing in the current world, wouldn’t we involuntarily create a border by itself (If we are allowed to exist)? How will we interact with other states and their societies?
These are some questions i ask myself when looking at the current state of the world, and if the idea of a stateless society should exist in practice, how can we replicate the idea in the most pure form?
Do we become pirates? Underground black market criminals? Wreckless revolutionaries?
In a place without the state, how can we ensure the state remains without governance? After all, we can see that even without government, hiearchy can still exist and take a foothold within certain communities which leads to disruption, how do we ensure ourselves that we won’t let this happen?
Even with power, can one be truly responsible to hold it? Even if collectively? Is government innevitable? By definition, yes, but i mean truly… is there no way around it? Is Anarchy nothing more than a lifestyle as they say?
What is the ideal Anarchist stance on life and how it could be lived (not should)? Is it true to the definition of Anarchy? Every person for themselves, or each person for one another?
(please let this be an opportunity to roughdraft in ways we could create a vast and large mutual aid system with a cross continental community in mind, this is something that is often ignored -at least in my perspective- in the anarchist community, what would the mid game of revolution look like? and how can we ensure our people have what they need in times of persecution? Is all i’m asking.)
maybe i’m missing something too, if anyone is willing to provide any material that may answer my questions, all i need is a title, but a link would suffice too.
and for the potential Anprim advocates out there, what are you doing on a computer? 😑
If you’re looking for an actual exploration of these kinds of questions, and if you’re ok with reading fiction, then The Dispossessed is a good one.
Some broad strokes:
There is this pair of moons that orbit each other, Anarres and Urras
- Anarres is anarchist, Urras is archist (complete with capitalist state, socialist state, and proxy wars)
- Anarres was set up at the request of revolutionaries on Urras, as a deal. The deal being “quit protesting and fuck off to the moon”
Anarres:
- All labor is coordinated by syndicates, and by request/consent. You will be sent requests from the syndicates asking for your labor in various ways. You have the option to disregard it, choose something else, or make your own work. Though if you just do nothing to contribute and always consume, you will be socially pressured to stop that and looked down upon.
- Their culture makes a big stink about owning any kind of property. Have you kept an orange blanket you’ve been fond of for years and years? That’s propertarian of you! (derogatory term)
- Everyone is treated as being a cell within an organism, a social organism. Everyone is shared by everyone. It’s basically a big hippie commune.
- The language on Anarres is a constructed language, focused on not having any kind of possessive language
- People still specialize their labor, but people in specialized fields will still be requested to join for general labor like farming, cooking, cleaning, etc
- Cafeterias are public, everyone sleeps in dormitories, few people live in a room to themselves
So I’m gonna answer the more-specifi/remaining questions as in universe:
In a place without the state, how can we ensure the state remains without governance?
For Anarres, it remains without a state because it’s a pretty barren moon. Getting to it is hard, and once you get there, there isn’t a whole lot. Anarres does trade some metals and supplies with Urras though. So between it just not being of much use, Urras already getting what they want (they see Anarres as a mining colony), and the prohibitive logistics of waging war across space, it just doesn’t make sense.
Wreckless revolutionaries?
Yes and no. The people of Anarres loosely see themselves as revolutionaries, because it’s a persistent thing, the cornerstone of their society. It’s also something that continually needs addressed, because they do have some bureaucracy despite their lack of state. The job postings they get recommended for instance, are recommended through computers in a centralized place (they’re trying to decentralize it as best they can).
But on the other hand, they’re not actively fighting against a bourgeoisie class, because there are no classes on their moon.
In a place without the state, how can we ensure the state remains without governance?
Thats one of the problems Anarres has, they’re in some ways slipping into governance. For instance the protagonist of the book has his scientific work hindered by the fact that he has other scientists that do not see the value of his work, so they do not aid to publish his work. It becomes a bureaucracy of social force.
Even with power, can one be truly responsible to hold it? Even if collectively?
On Anarres, the social force of your peers tends to keep that in check. They mention that they used to have public roastings of people who failed or otherwise kept too much power. But not the fun kind of joking roast, but actually ruthless and meant to demean.
What is the ideal Anarchist stance on life and how it could be lived (not should)? Is it true to the definition of Anarchy? Every person for themselves, or each person for one another?
Every person for one another. Everyone belongs to everyone else in the social organism, no one person can ever own another. Not through family, religion, job posting, or language.
Anyways, it’s a damn good book, and I highly recommend reading it if you find political theory books boring like I do.
Love this, thank you for the reccomendation, i will definitely check it out.
Thank you for commenting! <3