Why I Became An Anarchist: My Case for the Unruled Collective
If you’ve been following my articles or blog recently, you may have noticed quite a big content change. Although I’m still invested in a spiritual journey, I’ve made a decision this year to stop sitting on the fence and find something viable to stand on, socially and politically; Before really diving deep, I’d read and heard about anarchism, but it was merely an intuitive inkling that led to a greater political awakening in the months following my decision.
Escaping the Political Binary Trap
You see, politically I was at a complete loss. I wanted to get involved but everywhere I looked I couldn’t find a side to get behind. The right — although perhaps correct in their superstition of government — lacks empathy for the human race or any being, whilst the left — although I admired a slight bit more — seemed naive, overly idealistic, strangely privileged and wokely pedantic to the point of insanity.
The menu I was being offered was either shit or shit with garlic on top and anarchism gave me the ability to look beyond the language of that menu, to take that step into a new political space that suspects the government, has loads of empathy, and is actually incredibly realistic if you learn about it more. And although Anarchism addresses social issues, it does so in a way that steps outside of the current paradigm, leaving pedantic woke behaviour behind in favour of a more assumptive culture of good faith — whilst still calling people out. Or at least it does a better job of it.
The State and Capitalism
By addressing both the state and capitalism and there inherent flaws — as well as the blind faith associated with them — I was able to step into a political space that addressed all the issues I had with the right and the left.
Although I wasn’t a fan of the right, the left's urge to employ big, centralized, government solutions to problems — when centralized government seems to be at the root of many problems in society — left me at a loss.
Additionally, it doesn’t advocate for big businesses or some type of utopian trickle down economics spewed from Atlas Shrugged. Capitalism also gets the medicine.
Anarchist’s chipping away at both the state and capitalism, led me to see that this non-ideology had its eyes wide open.
Viable Solutions
Not only does anarchism have it’s eyes wide open to the current issues with society, but it proposes what I see as better societal and systemic solutions.
Its analyses of power is core to the reason why it has such a great solution: because it understands that the more power that accrues to a centralized area, the more risk there is of corruption, scandal, power-grabs, and so forth.
Because of this, many view Anarchism as unrealistic. But, in fact, I think it is more realistic to believe that dispersed power would lead to a better society than any type of system that runs on centralized principles, whether it be through religion, ideology, the state, capitalism or anything you can come up with.
It’s Worth the Risk
I will admit, before my transition to anarchism I’d basically become a defeatist capitalist. I could see that the world wasn’t perfect but I’d fed into the neoliberal lie that this is the best system we have.
On top of that I was afraid of advocating for revolution because, inevitably, things could go really wrong and there’s the possibility that many lives could be lost.
Although I’ve still got this fear, I think it’s better to do something about it, because the harsh truth is — people are dying anyway; from starvation, wars, climate change, depression, you name it. And if they aren’t dying, they’re certainly are not living.
Rather than sitting back and begrudgingly advocating for a system that steals the souls and lives of its people, why not give yourself and others something to fight for? At the very least, their lives will be worth more than being an unwitting cog in a machine.
Relevant articles: To learn more about anarchism and how it actually works you should read the following interviews:
