Am I an Anarchist?

I suppose many people would probably call me an anarchist for my views on Government. But it’s not from a deep-seated political conviction that you could designate me by that much-misunderstood word.

I admit I haven’t read much anarchist theory – a little bit of Bakunin and Godwin is about all. I’m certainly not some kind of dyed in the wool revolutionary Marxist. It’s just that I realise our political system is completely fucked.

To be honest it would probably be more accurate to call me a cooperative anarchist ( I’m not even sure if there’s such a thing). I don’t trust any existing form of government, but I’m happy to cooperate with anyone who is reasonable. I don’t want to smash things, but I do want to change things.

We’ve been trodding on the winepress

I believe that it’s not wise to destroy the old system before we find something better to replace it with. Most revolutions throw up dictators in their aftermath – out of the frying pan and into the fire. That is not what I’m suggesting.

The only political belief I have is that politics doesn’t work anymore. It’s time we grew up and took responsibility for our own actions. We should not be deceived by our ‘elected representatives’ because they are all owned by the same people.

Talkin’ ’bout my freedom

The problem is that too many people let others define what is right or wrong. That is abdicating your responsibility. We all know right and wrong and we should decide for ourselves.

My belief comes from history, Bob Marley, and my own observations of government. Not from political doctrines.
I don’t know how many systems of government there are. There never was a ‘civilisation’ in which those at the bottom could have led a genuinely fulfilled life.

Even the wiki definition of civilisation is illuminating:

‘A  civilization is any complex society characterized by urban development, social stratification imposed by a cultural elite.(wikipedia)

Babylon System

As far back as ancient Babylon, and the earliest cities, there were hierarchies. Having kings and priests at the top, and slaves or bonded labour at the bottom. With a number of classes/occupations in between.
It was only luck that determined to which strata of society you would belong. If your parents were lowly, then you too would be lowly.

The poor have always vastly outnumbered the rich, so the odds are you or I would probably have been a pauper or a slave. Same shit different day.

Is the vampire

You may say that in our ‘enlightened’ times, people can work hard and create a good life for themselves. But what compromises and sacrifices have to be made, and which ‘fraternities’ might you have to join?
It takes more than hard work to become one of the elite of any civilisation. Even if you do climb the social ladder, what makes you are more deserving than your neighbour? Is it because you work so hard?

Falling empire

What is so admirable or desirable about hard work, and why is it seen as the highest good? Whose highest good is it anyway?
For the ‘cultural elite’, it is essential to instil that particular ethos in the minds of their subjects or workers. If the peasants believe they are being good then they will be more productive and compliant.
So for a corporation or a state, it is vital that the population work hard and don’t question much. That’s why school teaches children to do as they are told, and to learn what they are told.

Suckin’ the children day by day

Questions are not encouraged – the poor teachers haven’t got time to answer them – because of the government dictated curriculum. These politically approved snippets of education must be imparted by teachers in limited time and with limited resources. There is not a lot of joy left in teaching anymore, it’s just a really stressful job.
Schools are run like businesses. Profit before learning, order before creativity.
Furthermore, you don’t teach people what they don’t ‘need’ to know, and the government decides what you need to know. You are educated to the level that is required for your future employment, and no more.

Building church and university

Here is a list of some types of government; at livescience. It’s a poor list because it includes anarchy as a form of government, but government and anarchy are mutually exclusive.
And here is another list .freedictionary.com/. It’s different but demonstrates that there are dozens of possible ways to govern a nation, state, or city.

I’ve looked through both lists and there aren’t many that appeal to my sense of fairness. I know theoretically some more enlightened forms of government seem reasonable, but that’s seldom the way it works out. Just look around the world or read some history.

Sadly corruption and human frailty always accompany high office, and high office accompanies every form of representative government.

National sovereignty is particularly under attack at the moment with the onslaught of globalisation. Corporations are so powerful that they control many aspects of government in almost every country in the world.

I wonder who would allow fracking, for example, in their own back-yard? When you realise what they are pumping into the earth, it just seems bonkers to permit it.

Sucking the blood of the sufferers

‘Once the underground rock is shattered and propellants are pumped into place, trapped reservoirs of gas and oil are released and pumped back to the surface, along with millions of gallons of “flowback” liquid,’ according to the EPA.
The flowback liquid contains water and a number of contaminants, including radioactive material, heavy metals, hydrocarbons and other toxins. This wastewater is stored on the fracking site in pits, injected into deep underground wells.’
livescience.com

So what happens to this radioactive toxic brew once it has been injected into the ground. It doesn’t become inert. Surely it must ooze out, polluting the earth and water, making the whole environment hazardous to life. That’s without even considering the possibilty of earthquakes which could be triggered by the process of drilling.

We’ve been taken for granted much too long

We can work together and have a few common sense rules like ‘harm no-one’. We could go further, and conjoin the teachings of Jesus Christ and Aleister Crowley (a.k.a. The Wickedest Man in The World): ‘Love thy neighbour, and do what thou wilt.’

I’m all in favour of people cooperating with each other to create stuff we need, and rules to live by for the protection of everyone. Anarchy (Derived from the Greek root (anarchos) meaning “without authority.) simply means not giving anyone authority over yourself – I call that equality.

We all know right from wrong, and man-made laws mean nothing compared to one’s own inner knowledge. We do the right thing because we choose to do the right thing, not because someone tells us to.

Rebel, rebel

To be honest, there has never been a government, of any type, which has benefitted the majority of the population? I’m with Bob Marley, on almost every issue.

We refuse to be 
What you wanted us to be 
We are what we are 
That’s the way it’s going to be

Lyrics taken from the track ‘Babylon System’ from the album Survival by Bob Marley and the Wailers.

Jah Bless.