anarchism

Anarchism isn't what you think it is. But let me also tell
you that if you believe our current system of governance is
working well, and you're satisfied, read no further. You
deserve what you've got.

This is for folks that aren't satisfied, realize there's a
problem and are interested in solutions.

Whenever the word "anarchism" is used in discussions
centering around how we can build a more equitable,
sustainable society, people immediately have visions of
black clad youth, faces hidden by bandanas, armed with
bricks and looking for trouble. Marxism. Communism.
Socialism. Terrorists. No rules and complete chaos.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

If you spent even the smallest amount of time studying
anarchism, you'd quickly see that these images are not just
distorted, they're completely false. But such images are
hard to overcome, because people in the United States
are conditioned to fear change, and in the current
propagandized society, any new form of social
organization is perceived as a threat.

And most people don't understand the core issues,
because our educational system doesn't teach them. In
fact, our educational system is one of the big problems,
because of its institutionalized nature.

If bioregionalism makes sense, and you agree with its basic
tenets, start thinking about how we can or should govern
ourselves and our relations within the bioregion. Is a
centralized, hierarchical system of governance compatible
with a decentralized, non-hierarchical natural system, or
would it make more sense to construct a system of
governance that more closely models the organizational
structure of the natural world in which we live?

How does it possibly make sense to construct systems of
governance that are the complete antithesis of the world
in which they exist?

Michael Lewis recently wrote that the form of human
social organization most suited to living bioregionally is
anarchism, because anarchism is the only form of social
organization that mirrors social relationships among
non-human species. This statement is point on, and let me
explain why.

The natural world is highly decentralized and despite what
you may believe, cooperative. No species survives by
predation alone; all must work and live together for
ecosystems to function properly. Despite the
protestations of the adherents of the status quo, there is
no form of hierarchy in the natural world that mirrors the
type of hierarchy that humans have created in human
society. Not in apes or in wolves. Please, closely examine
the facts about leaders in non-human packs and in human
hierarchy, because once you do you'll find that the form of
stratification that emerges in complex horticultural
societies and agricultural states is qualitatively different
from anything in the non-human world. Different is not
the same.

We also know that human societies existed and still exist
without hierarchy and government. Hierarchy didn't begin
to appear in human society until the advent of agricultural
societies, where we see the beginnings of coercive power
attached to material privilege and to hereditary kings, a
situation never seen among hunter gatherer societies or
among other primates. Humans existed for thousands of
years in this manner, living bioregionally and successfully.

So what is about anarchism that's so appealing and how
might it work in today's society?

I believe the roots of human oppression are found in
centralized authority and institutionalized inequality.
Anarchism, being decentralized and non-hierarchical is
therefore a perfect system for eliminating many of the
problems we face. Now, I understand how difficult it is for
people to envision a society without centralized
authority, since that's the only type of system that most
people have ever known. It may be easier to envision life
on Mars, but hear me out.

The practice of anarchism is based on five basic principles:
1) equality 2) democracy 3) free association 4) mutual aid
5) diversity.

Anarchism is a political philosophy that embraces
democracy and freedom, and seeks to eliminate all forms
of coercion and oppression. It's essentially the same as
democracy, in fact, you could substitute the word
"democracy" for anarchism if it makes you feel better.
Provided you understand that our current form of
governance is not democracy and never has been.

The power structure in an anarchistic society or
organization is completely different, because it centers
power with the people, via cooperation, not from the top
down. Groups would make decisions democratically, and
decision making flows from the grass roots outward, from
the ground level upward, not from the top down. In
democratic institutions, all members have an equal say in
decisions and power is not allowed to accumulate with
individuals or small groups. An employee owned company
using consensus based decision making is an example.
Cooperatives are a perfect example, as are neighborhood
associations.

Free association means that people and institutions are
free to associate or disassociate as they please. This type
of cooperative organization extends to all forms of social
arrangement, from the family, to the community, to the
bioregion and onward to federations of bioregionally
organized people.

Mutual aid is essentially the same as cooperation, but I
should stress that it is a cultural ideal, the exact opposite
of competition. People and groups that work together will
always accomplish more than people and groups that work
against one another.

So, there's no big "revolution" required for anarchism to
exist and flourish. The only thing that's required is for
people to think, and begin interacting and building
democracy or anarchism in their existing systems of social
interaction. Eventually, the change spreads and a new,
democratic, sustainable society can emerge within the
existing society, which most certainly is not sustainable.

How does this relate to sustainability and bioregionalism?

According to Lewis, state-level societies create conditions
of inequality that support exploitation of humans,
non-human species and habitats. Therefore, state-level
society cannot be maintained for any length of time
without creating conditions resulting in its decline and
eventual destruction. This is the key connection,
understanding how hierarchy and centralization foster
inequality and speciesism, and eventually, non-sustainable
forms of production and consumption and the degradation
of the natural world.

So, what we're trying to do is create a system where
human organization is based on the existing, successful
model of the natural world and pre-state level societies. A
society based on democracy, mutual aid and diversity,
where man lives not only in harmony with his fellow man,
but in harmony with all living things.