As the United States teeters on the brink of theocratic, plutocratic neo-fascism, a pertinent question is whether, after everything we have seen gained over time, and after everything we have lost (or risk losing), it is possible to build a real society on a more rational basis: can we, as we live in a non-democratic state, abolish this oppressive state by the means of freedom? . . .
This is not necessarily just a concern for any self-professed anarchists. Increasingly, anyone even marginally on the left, including mainstream liberals and neo-liberal/capitalist-types, has reason to ask such questions.
I have often quoted Rebecca Henderson, of Harvard Business School, who stated:
“I think the decline of democracy is a mortal threat to the legitimacy and health of capitalism.”
Yes, the stability of capitalism itself is under threat, from itself, and even some self-professed capitalists are recognizing and attempting to reform the system.
The problem is, we hear that we work for freedom in the democratic state, for a free government, in a free state, and all that rhetoric, yet we will never be free when society is brutally subordinated to a monopolistic and hierarchical form of government. At best, we can be relatively less oppressed, for the moment. This is exactly what we discovered in 2022 after a theocratic Supreme Court keeps trying to reverse its previous, relatively progressive decisions. We have also seen a malignant narcissist attempt to overthrow a national election and install himself as a dictator, all based on lies and conspiracy theories.
Crucially, none of these things would happen in a genuinely more anarchic society where there are no dictatorial leaders, and any leaders are merely delegates with no special powers, privileges, and rights. Decisions would be made democratically, directly, so we would not be utterly dependent on the supposed wisdom of a Supreme Court, or on people like Donald Trump, Joe Biden, or any other servants of oligarchs.
In fact, to counteract many of the disastrous events unfolding, society must move more in a direct-democratic direction, even if it never reaches the appearance of a full anarchic utopia (or whatever term ones wishes to use). Quite simply, the “moderate Democrats” are failing us, and will most certainly continue to fail, as stronger authoritarian tendencies take hold
. In fact, if you are a liberal/progressive and doubt that the Democratic Party itself is a problem, consider that Joe Biden has nominated Andrew Biggs, an anti-Social Security conservative, to be in charge of Social Security. That’s right; Your retirement savings might someday disappear entirely under this typically insidious 2-party system.
Similarly, in a 2022 Texas race for Congress, Nancy Pelosi chose to back Henry Cuellar, the only anti-abortion Democrat in the House of Representatives, against the pro-choice Jessica Cisneros. This was at a time when the Supreme Court was already known to have plans to scrap Roe v. Wade. If that’s not enough, Cuellar enjoys significant support from the NRA, at a time when many progressives were calling for more gun reform due to mass shootings like the Uvalde school shooting. Not enough? Well, Cuellar had also had his office raided by the FBI, suggesting he was under investigation for some sort of criminal activity.
Still, Pelosi chose to back him, and it may have very well given Cuellar the lead.
This meant, of course, that there would be one more conservative Democrat calling the shots in the United States.
Quite simply, people cannot rely on voting alone anymore. The country needs more anarchic, bottom-up approaches to our society and its institutions. The top-down approach is ruining lives, and it’s only going to get worse if we try to rely solely on the goodwill of politicians and corporations.
Even though I hesitate to call myself an anarchist, or any other political label, it is simply undeniable that electoral politics alone are not cutting it, and never have and never will be enough. More people must be encouraged to question the authoritarian nature of the American government, which is harder to deny as reality.
To anyone who thinks that anarchism is merely a simple condemnation of modern society, it is hard for most anarchists to accept that there can be some instant turning back of the clock to some pre-modern reality. It’s no more realistic than saying we can wave a magic wand and have everything be perfect. Solutions must be sought in the present day.
This system is actually still relatively “peaceful,” but it is merely the calm before the storm, before far-right fanatics attempt a literal purge from society various marginalized groups (in addition to creating new ones, which is a habit no oppressive system can go without).
The system of so-called “law and order” has variously revealed itself to be no better than forms of organized crime such as racketeering and extortion, as well as murder; In contrast, for examples of the good within humanity, we can have the ordinary trades unions, clubs, volunteer work brigades, fund-raising groups, consumer co-operatives and mutual aid societies, which are necessary for some sort of successes against the authoritarian excesses.
Though “one man, one vote” still has its place, it is no longer clearly in the foreground, as this system of domination of man by man increasingly no longer labors under the illusion that it cares for the citizens. The question now is, Will the citizens organize effectively to take care of each other?
Anarch-ish 