I’m an anarchist! If you haven’t heard much about anarchism before, you probably have some misconceptions about it, so I encourage you to watch the Q&Anarchy video series by Thought Slime or have a look through an Anarchist FAQ, because it’s almost definitely nothing like what you think. I personally believe that it’s the most coherent philosophy which adequately explains and addresses all of the problems which plague our society, and which holds the most promise for a path out of the inevitable cycle of the continuous rise and fall fascism that capitalism makes inevitable.
Counter point: If there is no reason for some people who are capable of contributing to society to actually contribute, at least a good portion of those people will not, but they’ll still take from the system.
The inequity is inherent. There needs to be SOME reward for effort aside from pure altruism.
Counter point: If there is no reason for some people who are capable of contributing to society to actually contribute, at least a good portion of those people will not, but they’ll still take from the system.
This is well known as the “free rider problem”, and the extent to which it is a problem and how it can be addressed is widely discussed by anarchists. I’m sure everyone must be getting sick of me referencing it by now, but our old friend an anarchist FAQ addresses the issue in great detail, but I’ll quote a few relevant paragraphs:
Anarchism is based on voluntary labour. If people do not desire to work then they cannot (must not) be forced to by means of physical coercion. This makes some wonder what happens if someone refuses to work in a libertarian society.
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This ignores the many people who do volunteer work (often in addition to their “real jobs”). It also ignores those who spend their time contributing to projects they are interested in (such as fan journals) which would be considered work in other contexts. A classic example of this is the internet, particularly webpages like Wikipedia and software projects like php. Then there is the activity of the pro-capitalists themselves, often fanatical anti-communists (which they almost always equate to Stalinism), who spend their free time working on wikipedia, newsgroups, webpages and journals explaining how communism could not work because people would never voluntarily contribute to society! It is one of the great ironies of life that those who hate communism the most often, by their actions, prove its viability.
[…]
There would be few people who refuse to do any kind of productive activity. The question arises of what to do with those (a small minority, to be sure) who refuse to work.
On this question there is some disagreement. Some anarchists argue that the lazy should not be deprived of the means of life. Social pressure, they argue, would ensure those who take from, but do not contribute, to the community to listen to their conscience and start producing for the community that supports them. If this did not happen, then the person who refused to contribute would be asked to leave (freedom of association means the freedom not to associate)
Most anarchists agree with Camillo Berneri when he argued that anarchism should be based upon “no compulsion to work, but no duty towards those who do not want to work.”
This means that an anarchist society will not continue to feed, clothe, house someone who can produce but refuses to. Anarchists have had enough of the wealthy under capitalism consuming but not producing and do not see why they should support a new group of parasites after the revolution.
Obviously, there is a difference between not wanting to work and being unable to work. The sick, children, the old, pregnant women and so on will be looked after in libertarian communism. As child rearing would be considered “work” along with other more obviously economic tasks, mothers and fathers will not have to leave their children unattended and work to make ends meet. Instead, consideration will be given to the needs of both parents and children as well as the creation of community nurseries and child care centres.
We have to stress here that an anarchist society will not deny anyone the means of life. This would violate the voluntary labour which is at the heart of all schools of anarchism. Unlike capitalism, the means of life will not be monopolised by any group – including the commune. This means that someone who does not wish to join a commune or who does not pull their weight within a commune and are expelled or choose to leave will have access to the means of making a living.
bearboiblake@pawb.social 4 weeks ago
I’m an anarchist! If you haven’t heard much about anarchism before, you probably have some misconceptions about it, so I encourage you to watch the Q&Anarchy video series by Thought Slime or have a look through an Anarchist FAQ, because it’s almost definitely nothing like what you think. I personally believe that it’s the most coherent philosophy which adequately explains and addresses all of the problems which plague our society, and which holds the most promise for a path out of the inevitable cycle of the continuous rise and fall fascism that capitalism makes inevitable.
PattyMcB@lemmy.world 4 weeks ago
I’ll check it out.
Counter point: If there is no reason for some people who are capable of contributing to society to actually contribute, at least a good portion of those people will not, but they’ll still take from the system.
The inequity is inherent. There needs to be SOME reward for effort aside from pure altruism.
bearboiblake@pawb.social 4 weeks ago
I appreciate that, thanks for hearing me out.
This is well known as the “free rider problem”, and the extent to which it is a problem and how it can be addressed is widely discussed by anarchists. I’m sure everyone must be getting sick of me referencing it by now, but our old friend an anarchist FAQ addresses the issue in great detail, but I’ll quote a few relevant paragraphs:
PattyMcB@lemmy.world 4 weeks ago
It all sounds great, but the same people who end up rich would still seek power and control and ruin the system for others.