Tuesday, January 19, 2010
The Future of Libertarian Socialism
The two branches of socialism, those who propose the establishment of a worker's state and those who advocate the negation by workers of the state, diverged irreconcilably in the late 19th century. By the mid-20th century, the libertarian branch of socialism seemed to have fizzled out with the apparent success of the "dictatorship of the proletariat" in Russia and China. Now that this authoritarian branch of socialism has been discredited, what is the future of the libertarian view of socialism? Is the future of socialism to be only to work within the bourgeoise state for minor concessions? If socialism's revolutionary nature is to return, it can only be libertarian in nature! Humanity has seen the failure of the proletarian state. The future of the struggle against bourgeoise oppression lies not with the acquisition of power by the proletariat, but with their total negation of the state.
Friday, December 18, 2009
Governments Are Unnatural
As a libertarian socialist (or anarchist - take your pick) it is my assertion that governments serve only to stunt the scientific, artistic, and spiritual development of humanity. Over the past 5000 years or so, governments have taken many forms, but they have always been systems of controlled violence composed of laws and institutions designed for the rule over the many by the few.
Most non-anarchists, even the most liberal minded, will argue that governments are necessary to insure peace, safety, and justice in society. They argue that there is no other possible way that society could be structured, and that this state of affairs is perfectly natural to our species.
However, a careful perusal of history will show this argument to be entirely false. An examination of the total history of humanity will show that government is a very recent development in human history, that for well over 99 percent of the time we have spent on this planet we have done just fine without it, and that the beginnings of violence, suffering, and injustice in human society correspond directly with the establishment of the first human governments.
However, as we come to these conclusions, we must be careful to understand that the society we, as anarchists, are working toward is not a return to a past "utopian" way of life. Clearly, we as a species have evolved past the hunter-gatherer stage, and the non-authoritarian society we hope to create would be a modern society. Simply put, we are not looking for a return to primitive tribes, but simply a more humane society based on our earliest instincts toward mutual cooperation and limitless personal freedom.
It is interesting and very liberating to note that we are by nature a peace-loving, cooperating race, whose brief divergence into the savagery and excesses of the "governmental" phase of our history may be rapidly approaching its end, and that government is in no way "natural" to us...
About two million years ago the first human beings, called homo habilis, began showing up in Africa. These early people slowly began replacing other upright walking apes because their larger brains made them more fit for survival. Homo habilis used crude tools, and it was this use of tools that called for a degree of group cooperation hitherto unknown among primates. Archaeological evidence shows that homo habilis were mainly foragers, but it is possible that they also hunted small game, which would have over time required gradually more extensive networks of group cooperation, as well as a more sophisticated method of communication between individuals.
Homo erectus arrived in Africa approximately 1.5 million years ago. These people were much larger than homo habilis, with a much larger brain. Homo erectus lived for 1.2 million years, longer than any other human species that has ever lived. Unlike homo habilis, erectus' remains have been found in Europe and Asia, indicating that at some point they migrated out of Africa.
Homo erectus were the first people to use spoken language. For the first time, knowledge could be passed from one generation to the next. As a result, human cooperation began on an unprecedented scale, with big game hunting and the processing and distribution of food. Prominent in such cooperation was the establishment of mutually beneficial male and female roles in food-gathering and food-processing - as well as the harnessing of fire approximately 400,000 years ago.
About 300,000 years ago, homo erectus began the long process of slowly being replaced by homo sapiens. There have been two subspecies of homo sapiens. The first was Neandertal Man. Like homo erectus, the neandertals were wandering tribes of hunter-gatherers. They had the largest brains of any humans known. Using complex tools, they were crafty hunters, buried their dead, and built shelters. Their extinction was much more abrupt than that of previous humans. Neandertal Man lived in Africa, Europe, West Asia, and East Asia.
The second subspecies was homo sapiens sapiens, or Modern Man - the only surviving humans. These too were originally hunter-gatherers, and for whatever reason, had completely replaced Neandertal Man by about 40,000 years ago. This was the first human species to migrate to America. Modern Man had the most complex brain of all. They created beautiful art in caves and their tools were amazingly complex. There is evidence of cooperation and sharing as never before, including giant hunting feasts.
Interestingly, there is no artistic or archaeological evidence of human on human violence during this period. The reason is because these early humans knew nothing of greed. There was little to no private property, and cooperation would have been essential for the well-being and survival of all. Independant tribes that encountered each other would have had little reason to fight one another, and certainly would never have engaged in anything similar to the wholesale slaughter of our "civilized" times.
With the end of the last Ice Age about 12,000 years ago came, over the next 5,000 years, the gradual switch from hunting and gathering to herding and farming. People became more sedentary, often occupying the same territory all of their lives. Human populations exploded. Agricultural villages began popping up about 6000 BCE in China, India, and Western Asia and from there spread to the rest of the world. It should be noted that the switch to agriculture was a much harder life than hunting and gathering, with a much less diverse diet.
This fundamental change, commonly referred to as the "Neolithic Revolution," marked the beginning of the end for humans living in relative harmony with nature and peace with each other. As villages traded with each other, surplus goods were stored, and trade with other villages brought wealth. Material possessions became important to people. Inevitably, some became richer than others.
Trade was not the only way to increase wealth. The inevitable inequalities in the acquisition of wealth led to the conclusion that wealth could be obtained by brute force. The earliest known artistic representaions of warfare appear with the settlement of villages. There was loot to be had in villages, so people began fortifying them. Soon, villages began fighting villages. The search for the best weapons stimulated economic life, and the onset of warfare led to the establishment of a warrior class.
At this point, cities began to appear. The difference between a city and a village was the presence of full-time warriors, administrators, and priests. Cities existed to exploit villages, for the ruling classes did not actually produce anything, and needed the labor of the villagers to survive. The people were organized by force into the haves and the have-nots, or the rulers and the ruled.
Inequalities in possessions became more pronounced over time. To give the lower classes a sense of social cohesiveness, religion was inroduced.
The subsequent history of humanity (approximately 3000 BCE to the present) is the history of class struggle as the ruling classes attempted to acquire more property at the expense of the working class.
Is it possible for humans to return to a life without poverty, greed, inequality, and warfare - that is, a life without government? We anarchists believe so, and what better time than NOW...
Most non-anarchists, even the most liberal minded, will argue that governments are necessary to insure peace, safety, and justice in society. They argue that there is no other possible way that society could be structured, and that this state of affairs is perfectly natural to our species.
However, a careful perusal of history will show this argument to be entirely false. An examination of the total history of humanity will show that government is a very recent development in human history, that for well over 99 percent of the time we have spent on this planet we have done just fine without it, and that the beginnings of violence, suffering, and injustice in human society correspond directly with the establishment of the first human governments.
However, as we come to these conclusions, we must be careful to understand that the society we, as anarchists, are working toward is not a return to a past "utopian" way of life. Clearly, we as a species have evolved past the hunter-gatherer stage, and the non-authoritarian society we hope to create would be a modern society. Simply put, we are not looking for a return to primitive tribes, but simply a more humane society based on our earliest instincts toward mutual cooperation and limitless personal freedom.
It is interesting and very liberating to note that we are by nature a peace-loving, cooperating race, whose brief divergence into the savagery and excesses of the "governmental" phase of our history may be rapidly approaching its end, and that government is in no way "natural" to us...
About two million years ago the first human beings, called homo habilis, began showing up in Africa. These early people slowly began replacing other upright walking apes because their larger brains made them more fit for survival. Homo habilis used crude tools, and it was this use of tools that called for a degree of group cooperation hitherto unknown among primates. Archaeological evidence shows that homo habilis were mainly foragers, but it is possible that they also hunted small game, which would have over time required gradually more extensive networks of group cooperation, as well as a more sophisticated method of communication between individuals.
Homo erectus arrived in Africa approximately 1.5 million years ago. These people were much larger than homo habilis, with a much larger brain. Homo erectus lived for 1.2 million years, longer than any other human species that has ever lived. Unlike homo habilis, erectus' remains have been found in Europe and Asia, indicating that at some point they migrated out of Africa.
Homo erectus were the first people to use spoken language. For the first time, knowledge could be passed from one generation to the next. As a result, human cooperation began on an unprecedented scale, with big game hunting and the processing and distribution of food. Prominent in such cooperation was the establishment of mutually beneficial male and female roles in food-gathering and food-processing - as well as the harnessing of fire approximately 400,000 years ago.
About 300,000 years ago, homo erectus began the long process of slowly being replaced by homo sapiens. There have been two subspecies of homo sapiens. The first was Neandertal Man. Like homo erectus, the neandertals were wandering tribes of hunter-gatherers. They had the largest brains of any humans known. Using complex tools, they were crafty hunters, buried their dead, and built shelters. Their extinction was much more abrupt than that of previous humans. Neandertal Man lived in Africa, Europe, West Asia, and East Asia.
The second subspecies was homo sapiens sapiens, or Modern Man - the only surviving humans. These too were originally hunter-gatherers, and for whatever reason, had completely replaced Neandertal Man by about 40,000 years ago. This was the first human species to migrate to America. Modern Man had the most complex brain of all. They created beautiful art in caves and their tools were amazingly complex. There is evidence of cooperation and sharing as never before, including giant hunting feasts.
Interestingly, there is no artistic or archaeological evidence of human on human violence during this period. The reason is because these early humans knew nothing of greed. There was little to no private property, and cooperation would have been essential for the well-being and survival of all. Independant tribes that encountered each other would have had little reason to fight one another, and certainly would never have engaged in anything similar to the wholesale slaughter of our "civilized" times.
With the end of the last Ice Age about 12,000 years ago came, over the next 5,000 years, the gradual switch from hunting and gathering to herding and farming. People became more sedentary, often occupying the same territory all of their lives. Human populations exploded. Agricultural villages began popping up about 6000 BCE in China, India, and Western Asia and from there spread to the rest of the world. It should be noted that the switch to agriculture was a much harder life than hunting and gathering, with a much less diverse diet.
This fundamental change, commonly referred to as the "Neolithic Revolution," marked the beginning of the end for humans living in relative harmony with nature and peace with each other. As villages traded with each other, surplus goods were stored, and trade with other villages brought wealth. Material possessions became important to people. Inevitably, some became richer than others.
Trade was not the only way to increase wealth. The inevitable inequalities in the acquisition of wealth led to the conclusion that wealth could be obtained by brute force. The earliest known artistic representaions of warfare appear with the settlement of villages. There was loot to be had in villages, so people began fortifying them. Soon, villages began fighting villages. The search for the best weapons stimulated economic life, and the onset of warfare led to the establishment of a warrior class.
At this point, cities began to appear. The difference between a city and a village was the presence of full-time warriors, administrators, and priests. Cities existed to exploit villages, for the ruling classes did not actually produce anything, and needed the labor of the villagers to survive. The people were organized by force into the haves and the have-nots, or the rulers and the ruled.
Inequalities in possessions became more pronounced over time. To give the lower classes a sense of social cohesiveness, religion was inroduced.
The subsequent history of humanity (approximately 3000 BCE to the present) is the history of class struggle as the ruling classes attempted to acquire more property at the expense of the working class.
Is it possible for humans to return to a life without poverty, greed, inequality, and warfare - that is, a life without government? We anarchists believe so, and what better time than NOW...
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