Anarchism isn't the absence of rules but the absence of authority. Some anarchist ideas even replace the centralized authority figure with rules that apply to everyone and of cause free association so you are not forced to follow them and can move on instead
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Without some kind of authority, how can those rules be enforced?
Decentralized authority
Rules are enforced by the collective not by a small minority essentially. Things like direct democracy doesn't contradict with their philosophy. Essentially middle management and above in all aspects of financial and political life would be abolished.
Direct democracy doesn't only not contradict with anarchism, it is a core tenet of anarchism. After all, how do we get rid of unjustified hierarchy without creating a hierarchy free from rulership?
There is a whole debate within anarchism whether to use the term democracy or not. People on both sides of this semantical debate will have identical utopias but call them differently. Zoe Baker has a video essay about that on YouTube.
I like the term Direct Democracy since it shows my disagreement with parliamentary democracy while still using a term that's regarded as positive. "Our democracy isn't direct enough" will resonate with more people than "Democracy bad, anarchy good".
What Monopoly on violence
Publicly shun people. You're a rule breaker? You've been shunned by society and people who associate with you will be known associates of the shunned.
Short answer: The community.
In small contexts, a mutual understanding is sufficient. There are "Radical Therapy" groups with no central therapist who decides who talks how much but instead have rules like fixed times for each person. I don't think people will break these rules but exclusion is always an option with very intransigent people.
In bigger contexts like the Commons, people deliberate on their own rules. Minor transgressions will have minor consequences and the worst is – again – exclusion. People are more willing to stick to the rules and watch others if they were part of the process that created the rules. If you want to dive deeper, I remember a podcast episode by SRSLY WRONG and a YouTube video by Andrewism about The Commons or The Tragedy of the Common.
free (dis) association
So is Lemmy (the platform) a case of anarchism at work?
That's a very good question. It's as anarchist as modern social media gets.
The thing is the moderators. In an anarchist utopia, they would take turns, be recallable and have to justify their decisions.
The last point is true for some instances but not all (think of the vegan cat food debate on .world verses how .ml blocks voices critical of China and Russia).
The other two points – to my knowledge – barely happen. This isn't a huge problem, as I said, it's as anarchist as social media comes. But it contains the risk of a centralized power. Sure, you can always leave the instance (even easier than on mastodon where you lose your followers) but this resembles the Libertarian "freedom" to choose your oppressor. Internal equality is very important.
This isn't to criticize Lemmy. It's overall very good and as anarchist as realistically and practically possible. But to showcase the anarchist ideal of councils and to spotlight the minor flaws we should be aware of, even if there is no perfect solution.
Most grass roots societies are like that. It's "self" ruling so to speak. At least from what I have gathered and read. It's been awhile since I did deep dive on it.
It's always good to learn something from comments under memes. You make me think about libertarianism that sounds like a different (right wing) take on anarchism.
Well you learned the wrong here, anarchy isnt the absence of authority it's the absence of hierarchy.
Some systems are clearly hierarchical, capitalism, dictatorship, feudalism.
Now I have a hard time imagining how you would enforce certain laws, or rules without authority.
Authority is usually understood by anarchists as a component of hierarchy. I'd be interested to hear your definition that doesn't make it hierarchical.
And there are ways of enforcing rules that don't require authority, like diffuse sanctions, essentially community-based enforcement.
There's a whole school of anti-carceral justice thought that deals with this.
I'm not sure what makes you think of (right wing) libertarians. I specified the absence of authority. Libertarians are fond of the idea of voluntary contracts – or let's rather call it voluntary authority – which in effect is never voluntary. You can choose for whom to work but there is a ruling class you have to work for. All you can do is choose your oppressor.
Free association among equals on the other hand is a very common idea among (left/socialist) anarchists and I think very early on. You can choose and leave the community you belong to.
Coercive relationships are adjudicated by the oppressors.
That's why it's important to keep the rules non coercive
Anarchists do believe in board game rules. Just that they think that using house rules everyone agrees on is a great idea.
Just that they think that using house rules everyone agrees on is a great idea.
Kinda. The most important part is that if someone disagrees with the house rules, they can choose to disassociate from the house and go somewhere else. There's no state to say "this open field that's not utilized is mine, bitch!" and then taze you.
Just that they think that using house rules everyone agrees on is a great idea.
I can think of one or two times where house rules were appropriate, and a couple of dozen times where they broke the game. I think that you should only apply a house rule where 1) the game is already broken and 2) you're reasonably sure that the house rule won't break it further. It's good for when an otherwise fun game is ruined by something that the game designers overlooked.
Well, if you were someone playing a game with them, then you can incorporate this. The point is that it's not obligatory and is based on the people participating
Look y'all we can have decentralised worker cooperative communes with everyone contributing and things distributed as needed for the betterment of everyone's living conditions rather than the enriching of the few, but only if I get to actually be Hitler in Secret Hitler next time we play!
we had to stop playing Secret Hitler because nobody would play the fascists
You got me. I'm taking rhis seriously :D Anarchy isn't against rules. Just against hierarchy's or unequal distribution of power. Which makes boardgames pretty anarchic since everyone can enforce the rules.
playing board games is a form of self-governance and builds revolution
Is it ironic if they play monopoly?
The whole point of Monopoly is to piss you off about unearned income.
Developed by Quakers as a protest against capitalism. But like everything capitalism fucked that up too
Anarchy is not against rules, it's against rulers.
I want to be a board game rule lawyer one day
I actually believe one day we'll need lawyers and courts for complex virtual reality worlds.
Does anybody know what game that is? It looks cool.
Cones of Dunshire.
Looks like a 3D puzzle with some minis in front of it.
Most board games are based on consensus.
Tankies linking Engels' "On Authority" in 3...
ITT: Frantic redefinition of what anarchism is. Here it is: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarchism
Since this comment means its my turn now, I'll redefine it into "no rules except the ones I agree with, otherwise GFY" sprinkled with a heavy dose of personal charisma that often clouds objectivity and the complexity of the reality.
That's not what anarchism is.
I like to call anarchism as neighborliness extended as a political ideology. Consider it libertarianism with a pinch of collectivism
You do it all the time when you organize a group of friends to go to the movies. There is no elected leader.
When Russia invaded Ukraine, they destroyed a lot of public and military comms infrastructure, so the military ended up teaming up with anarchists because they had a decentralized comms going.
Anarchism is compatible with existing political ideologies, however in my opinion works best at small scales.