A. Everybody in a position of authority loves to talk about the disadvantages of living in an anarchist society, very few bother to enquire why people like you and me want to live in an anarchist community. The single overwhelming advantage of living in an anarchist society is security. That�s right, security. Contrary to the image that�s normally conveyed about anarchism being mayhem and carnage, the reality is diametrically opposed to the rhetoric. The anarchist goal is very simple, to create a society without rulers, where the people involved in a decision make that decision.
The challenge facing anarchists is how do you create a community where the people, not rulers, make and benefit from the decisions that are made? What are the advantages of living in such a community? The problem people face in most communities is that overwhelming sense of insecurity they are forced to endure. While they�re healthy and able to work, they have the disposable income to buy time and security. When the money runs out or a ruler decides that their needs are greater than the needs of the people they rule, things start to go horribly wrong.
Life in an anarchist society is much simpler and much more secure than any other type of community. The individual�s fortunes are tied to the fortunes of the communities they live and work in. Their prosperity and security is intertwined with the prosperity and stability of the society they live in. Having the power to determine your individual fate and having the assets to make those decisions a reality, are advantages that people living in an anarchist society have over people living in hierarchical societies where wealth and power is held in individual, State and corporate hands, not directly in the hands of the people. An anarchist society provides the structure and mechanisms that gives individuals within that community the power to determine their own future without having to worry about what will happen to them if they feel sick, get old, can�t find a job or want to have a rest. Their access to that community�s wealth is determined by their participation in the life of that community, not what they do or own.
The individual�s sense of well being and health is determined by the wealth and well being of a society as a whole. While people participate in the decision making process and accept the idea that access to wealth is determined by need, not ownership or the power they�re able to exercise, most people will enjoy a more fulfilling, satisfying and secure life in an anarchist society than they could hope to achieve in any other community.
Q. WHAT ROLE DOES GOODWILL PLAY IN AN ANARCHIST SOCIETY?
A. Goodwill plays an important role in any society. Its role in an anarchist community is linked to the egalitarian relationship that exists in that society. Anarchism is normally dismissed in two diametrically opposed ways. It can�t work because it relies solely on the goodwill of the people that live in that community or it can�t work because people are incapable of ruling themselves and require rulers to maintain law and order. Due process and consequences play as important a role in an anarchist society, as they do in any other society. People don�t do whatever they like in an anarchist community. The freedom they�re able to exercise is dependent on the freedom the people around them are able to exercise. The goodwill that exists in an anarchist community isn�t some innate quasi religious concept, it�s grounded in the practical realities of living in a community where the individual�s ability to exercise the rights and freedoms they enjoy is dependent on their ability to share in the decision making processes in the community they live in. Individuals, who live in a society where wealth and power is concentrated in the hands of a minority, are more likely to be involved in activities that undermine the society they live in than those who know that irrespective of what happens to them they continue to enjoy the rights and privileges of citizenship of an egalitarian community. Fear of the consequences of losing the ability to earn a living in an anarchist society is a collective problem not an individual problem. People�s ability to meet their needs and prosper physically, spiritually and psychologically in an anarchist community is tied up with the health of the community as a whole. In a climate where members of society know that their welfare is intrinsically linked to the welfare of those around them, goodwill is a by-product of the structures and relationships that exist, not something that the individual needs to consciously foster.
Q. IS AN ANARCHIST SOCIETY POSSIBLE?
A. The single most important question people ask when they first come into contact with anarchist ideas is "is it possible? - can it really happen?". As you start talking about direct democracy, delegates, mandates, you beginto see their eyes glaze over. It�s all too hard. How can people make those decisions? Isn�t it easier to give power to a representative? Let them do it all. When you talk about people�s desire to control their own lives, they tell you they prefer to leave it to leaders. It�s easier that way. Before you know it, your ideas about how an anarchist society could function in a mega metropolis, not just a small community, are dismissed as the ravings of somebody who knows nothing about human nature. That�s when your ears prick up and you come in for the kill. You, call me an anarchist utopian. You, who believe a leader, a God, the State, your employer will do the right thing by you. You call me utopian. I am a realist. I understand the limitations of human beings, that�s why I�m an anarchist, that�s why I�m not willing to give power to somebody else. Anarchists are realists because they understand that all human beings are fallible, they know there�s no gold at the end of the rainbow, that�s why they want to create a community where there are no structures which allow people to impose their will on others. By this time you�ll have them thinking about their belief in leaders, hierarchies and institutions. They may agree with your argument, but then they�ll come up with the statement � it all sounds very nice in theory but it�s not practical. It will never work, people want to be led. How could you ever organise life in a complex mega metropolis�. You patiently explain that you don�t need to re-invent the wheel to create an anarchist society. Anarchism is about changing the way decisions are made and how wealth is held and shared. The conversation grinds to a halt, you know that on this occasion you haven�t changed their minds. What you may have done is create enough self-doubt in them that they may reflect on the conversation sometime in the future.
Q. NO GOD, NO MASTER?
A. Many anarchists make the mistake of thinking the slogan "No God, No Master" encapsulates the essence of anarchist thought. Anarchism is a philosophy that rests on the idea of creating a society where there are no rulers. How this society will look like and how people make decisions within such a society is a matter for debate, what isn�t a matter for debate is whether a belief in God can play a role in the lives of people who call themselves anarchists. While all anarchists accept the idea that a "master" has no role in an anarchist society, not all anarchists accept the idea that a belief in God does not play a role in an anarchist society. The original "No God, No Master" slogan was in essence a reaction to the power that the Christian Church wielded over the State apparatus. The modern European Nation State that anarchists struggled against was to a degree a product of that struggle. The problem anarchists have with God is not a problem with individuals or even groups of people having a relationship with a God of their choice, but the apparatus which is formed when a religious class springs up which acts as intermediaries between people and their belief system. Anarchists are against the idea of a State, irrespective of whether it�s a religious, secular or a combination of both. Anarchists� problems with God rest with their problems with a specific religious class wielding institutionalised power. A "Master" whether an employer, a religious figure, a family member or a friend is a "master". As long as they have the power to tell you how to live your life, they control what you can or cannot do. A religious theocracy, a government directed through a priestly order, is to an anarchist as obnoxious as a government that is controlled by a military dictatorship. Both rule through fear and their control of the disciplinary arm of the State. The problem doesn�t lie within people having ideas about or even worshipping some type of supernatural being. Problems occur when an intermediary class that acts to protect the interests of that supernatural being, imposes its views and will through force on believers and non-believers who live in the sphere of influence of that intermediary class.
