this post was submitted on 20 Jun 2023
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Anarchism
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I'd argue that "natural safety" is pretty dangerous, and safety is the main argument in favor of ceding freedom to the state.
Nice writeup btw.
Well, I come from an abolitionist perspective, and from abolitionist theory, we understand that the state doesn't give safety, it instead perpetuates harm.
The way I read it is as follows:
E.g., not that the safety is a property of nature, or that we need to go back to a "natural" state. My view is that people are social creatures, and that without a state bearing down on us all time, we are likely to organize into groups and conduct our lives relatively peacefully.
I cannot guarantee that there would be absolutely no conflict in a stateless society and that all people will be entirely peaceful always, but any ideology that promises that is lying to you. Furthermore, the idea that people are always peaceful or even mostly rational is not necessarily a fundamental assumption in formulating our views, as it often claimed by those who scoff at our "idealism".
Lastly, it is my view that the state and its enforcers are the biggest impediments to safety in most communities. What genocide ever occurred without the blessing and help of the government of the victims? How much violence do police inflict upon our communities by enforcing the law as it is written, harassing and killing minorities and the poor, breaking up protests and movements? How much ill-will has your country's military generated on your behalf destroying other communities and plundering them for resources? The state gives an illusion of safety because that's what it is designed to do. I suppose that for some people that look is enough, but I am a practical, results-driven person and I'm not willing to pretend that the state materially keeps us safe from anything.
The prospect of individual's having "natural safety" doesn't sound as dangerous in a society that can distinguish where "Your freedom to swing your fists ends where my nose begins" ~Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. As we face the inextricable amalgamation of corporate and state power I think it's important to take note when technology companies frequently demand permission for location and other personal data, then attempt to justify this by telling us it's for our "safety." Obviously it's almost always for the same reason corporations exist in the first place, to perpetuate wage slavery and further the interests of the authoritarian oligarchs that control them.