Anarchic Order

Spintech Magazine ^ | January 4, 2002 | Paul Hein, M.D.

[Ada Coddington]

If that is not what you mean -- and you want people to listen to what you have to say -- I would suggest you find a different label for your cause

Anarchy has two traditions present in this country. The older one, American anarchy, is based on sufficient self-discipline that civil government is not necessary. The European model which came out of Russia and Eastern Europe is based on overthrowing civil government by force.

[Doctor Doom]

Great article, ST. I always wonder why people can't understand concept of spontaneous ordering when we see it every day in aa free market, or why 90 percent of our ills happen because of, in tribute to, or on the tragic commons.

If, as statists content, all men are fallible and thus incapable of self-governance, then why would a group of them be any more capable?

Rational anarchist bump.

[Doctor Doom]

. In my book, order is government

Good. You have admitted your illness.

That's the first step on the road to recovery.

[Doctor Doom]

To paraphrase George Washington, government is not reason or eloquence or order - it is force, pure and simple.

Force is no order.

[ctdonath2]

why people can't understand concept of spontaneous ordering when we see it every day in aa free market

It works in the free market because there's a force ready to beat the crap out of anyone who steals, murders, destroys or otherwise does something centrally detrimental to the free market. You can't participate in a free market well if someone just waltzes off with whatever you're marketing, or just shoots you and dumps your remains behind a grocery store dumpster.

"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."
- George Orwell
(Shall the "rough men" be hired only by those who can afford their services, or hired for all by general taxation?)

[Doctor Doom]

Semantics are in order now:

Anarchy only refers to an absence of government, not an absence of order. The word specifically refers to government, not order, which is why there is a different word for the absence of order, known as "disorder."

Monarchy - from "mono" and "archy" meaning "government with one ruler."

Aristocracy - meaning "government of and by aristocrats.

Democracy - meaning "government rule of the people."

Anarchy - meaning "absence of government."

[Aurelius]

"The institution of 'government' (which is what I believe you refer to) is what grows of necessity when men fail to govern themselves."

The government whose absence we refer to by the term "anarchy" is the institution of government , not individual self-government in the sense of self-discipline, which term might better be used for the latter concept to avoid confusion. Thus, anarchy need not a and in fact does not mean the absence of order.

[Ridin' Shotgun]

The one thing that grates at me more than any other single issue ...

on the subject of crime, is the fact that a crime committed against an individual is punished by the state for the 'good of society'. The victim of that crime is most often victimized, yet again, by the very people who are charged with protecting them.

How would anarchy better deal with individuals who couldn't/wouldn't govern themselves?

[BlackbirdSST]

So only those with enough money to hire a PI can expect justice? I would think, without having to pay for a bloated gubmint, we would all be wealthy. Used to be, communities took care of the sort of thing you are talking about. Back in those day's, one law officer for a territory kind of thing, the citizen did the leg work, the LEO was the stamp of approval before hanging. No one left out in the cold here. Fact is, there is no perfect solution amongst humans. America had at one time the greatest experiment going, we're blowing it big time. I've known Freedom, it'll take more than powder burns for me to give it up. I want my America back, it's non-negotiable. Republic=Anarchy. Blackbird.

[Architect]

Well, of course, one of the dictionary definitions of anarchy (in fact, the most important one) is precisely that: chaos and lawlessness. As to whether this association is made by "archists" of various, who can say? Certainly it would be in their interest.

Yet, the fact remains that anarchy - in the strict sense of the word "without government" - is the natural human state of affairs. We evolved to live in circumstances in which there is no government. Despite the lack of government, there most definitely was order.

One of the more important insights of this article, something I had never considered, is how much we ignore the rules and strictures of government and legalisms. If we did not we could not survive. After all, government is not order. It is stasis.

Since we do ignore government in running our lives, this means to me that it is an expensive and intrusive irrelevance.

[Doctor Doom]

Absence of self government personal disorder resulting in societal disorder.

Take it up a notch: Absence of societal government is societal disorder.

Not really. This is apples and oranges. And you are again equating level of "governance of self" with good behavior.

This is the error. By way of example, I'm sure many religious terrorists have extremely well ordered, well-disciplined lives. Look what they end up doing.

By contrast, look at the disorder that is often part of the personal lives of many happpy, productive geniuses in history.

In fact, a touch of obsessive, irrational behavior can be a very productive force for an individual, or it can be detrimental to their lives. The same in government leads to, well, you know the history of the Soviet Union. They had no shortage of government, but who could call that a healthy, productive society.

But the most important difference in the comparison you make here can be summed up simply by this: If you choose to self-govern well or poorly, that is YOU making that choice and you are free to change that. When (societal) government governs, it does so whether you like it or not.

[ctdonath2]

It's a good thing we have governments and police now so such things don't happen.

Wise guy. Of course such things will happen with government...but it would happen a lot more without government.

"The only reason some people are alive is because it's illegal to kill them."

[ctdonath2]

Republic=Anarchy

Absolutely untrue.

0.000000000000001 may be small, but it's not zero - and there's a big difference.