Apple of Doubt

I’ve been cruising that lovely chunk of the blogoshpere that sits somewhere south of the Libertarian suburbs and west of the anarchist meat packing district. Home to a bewildering array of eccentrics and mad geniuses it’s a fun place that I’ve come to enjoy so much that I’m occasionally tempted by the For Sale signs on the lawn. There’s an especially charming little three bedroom two bath with no windows, a sixty foot deep panic room, and the roof painted in red and black on the diagonal. It’s just so damned cozy.

One thing I’ve noticed recently is a number of comments by a man known as Professor Coldheart who always seems to have something interesting to say. IOZ recently laid down a little introduction to anarchism and in the ensuing comments the good professor gives his own definition that wouldn’t be entirely out of place as a response to the Ouroboros state.

Similarly, anarchism is the belief that there is no State. By “State,” I mean “some independent body of law that limits the unjust use of power.” There is no such animal. I can’t sum up my entire argument in a blawg’s comment box, but, in brief: (A) what we call the State is not a singular entity but a network of agencies with different agendas; (B) the State is no more immune to human folly than the humans it governs; (C) the State is a concentration of power, not a bulwark against it.

My ultimate point: we are already living in anarchy. We are already living in the world that you predict anarchy would turn into – a world where the biggest gang has grabbed all the guns and cowed everyone they can’t shoot. That’s the state of affairs right now. Anarchism, as a philosophy, simply exposes that. Anarchism states that the idea of Power Subservient to Justice – a/k/a, a benevolent State – is a myth.