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Zeno
New Member
United Kingdom
3 Posts |
 Posted - 08/07/2002 : 05:13:11 [Permalink]
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I'm an Anarchist. To be honest, I don't know if I will remain this way, but being Canadian, not even the Green Party holds any water to what I would like to see done in my country.
My question is then this.....
What are you?
I think it was Plato who said that anyone who supports the complete freedom of men to do as they please, is really the enemy of freedom, because where men are completely free there is nothing to stop the strong from enslaving the weak, and all freedom may come to an end.
So anarchy can open the way for totalitarianism, which is a bad system not just because our freedoms are restricted, but because without critical appraisal of policy in the public arena, problems are identified too slowly, and policies may be continued with even where they (or their unforseen consequences) are having injurious or socially destructive repercussions.
So, the kind of society we need must allow for the untrammelled assertion of conflicting views, and the permanent possibility of real social change in light of public criticism. And, because major changes in policy nearly always require changes in personnel, we also need societies in which anyone is free to organise and constitute themselves as an alternative form of government, and there must be institutionally garaunteed means (such as regularly held free elections) of replacing our rulers without bloodshed.
In short, we need democracy! But the view of democracy as the "rule of the general will" or "rule by the majority" is also incoherent, as it falls foul of essentially the same paradox that destroys anarchism. What if the majority vote for someone who wants to destroy democracy, tyrannise over the weak, and surpress all criticism?
The solution is simple. We redefine democracy, as that system which stands for the preservation of free institutions - and in particular those which allow us to effectively criticize and change those in power. A man who views democracy in this way can without self-contradiction defend it against attack, even from its enemies on the inside - and by armed force if necessary.
Hope this gave you food for thought,
Paul Hayward. |
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