Thank you, Comrade Dingo, for the heads up:
“We will need writers who can remember freedom”: Ursula K Le Guin at the National Book Awards
No.
But a lot has happened since then.
And significance is largely a matter of opinion, so of course my answer is only my opinion.
Change is the only constant. I certainly see problems with capitalism as it is... however, if the answer is to be communism of various stripes, I am not so sure people will enjoy that.
I believe Ms. Le Guin is an anarchist of some stripe.
I know a number of collegiate anarchists (former students). The question I always pose to them is how a civilization with seven billion people, or a nation of 330 million, or a city of three million, are supposed to operate without elected officials and a bureaucracy to maintain the infrastructure required to ensure the health and survival of that many people.
They are never able to answer.
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I know a number of collegiate anarchists (former students). The question I always pose to them is how a civilization with seven billion people, or a nation of 330 million, or a city of three million, are supposed to operate without elected officials and a bureaucracy to maintain the infrastructure required to ensure the health and survival of that many people.
They are never able to answer.
You all vote on the things you want and when the few crap on your freedoms you vote no.
Ursula K LeGuin on Anarchism, Writing
I am happy to report that the comments on the anarchist website are just as contentious, bickering and sectarian as on any commie website.
Ursula K LeGuin on Anarchism, Writing
I am happy to report that the comments on the anarchist website are just as contentious, bickering and sectarian as on any commie website.
...and on capitalist websites, and socialist websites, etc. etc.
This world would be a great place if not for the people. :)
But... if that is true... the reasonable person's response is the Sephiroth/Kefka/Kuja option... It's not about ruling the world - it's about destroying it.
You all vote on the things you want and when the few crap on your freedoms you vote no.
One could follow your logic to suggest that civil rights movements are "the few crap(ping) on your freedoms" from the white/male/straight/Christian perspective.
What stops the majority from victimizing, exploiting, or oppressing cultural and racial minorities under the anarchist system?
Who organizes the votes?
Who pays the people running the voting centers?
Where does the money to pay them come from?
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A word of caution:
As far as I have been able to determine over the years, Comrade Dingo isn't an anarchist and any answer he gives you, while I am sure amusing, thought-provoking and laden with awesomeness, will probably not be an accurate explanation of anarchist thought.
And, before you ask, I'm not an anarchist either, so don't ask me.
I believe Ms. Le Guin is an anarchist of some stripe.
Anarchists reject your ranking systems!
You all vote on the things you want and when the few crap on your freedoms you vote no.One could follow your logic to suggest that civil rights movements are "the few crap(ping) on your freedoms" from the white/male/straight/Christian perspective.
What stops the majority from victimizing, exploiting, or oppressing cultural and racial minorities under the anarchist system?
Who organizes the votes?
Who pays the people running the voting centers?
Where does the money to pay them come from?
Not that I'm an anarchist, but it depends on how much land every one has and the attitude they possess.
If everyone is content with enough land to grow their own food and handle their own things...then there should be no need for government.
The closest you may have to an anarchic society would perhaps be the old West where the law really wasn't there, and when it was, it was a deputy elected or chosen by the locals.
Was their lawlessness...yes...a TON of lawlessness. Was there freedom, yes, perhaps more than ever previously in the US.
Did people die and some never knew why or how...absolutely.
So then you have to decide which you'd rather have, and which old west was better, the type that the mountain men and others lived in...or the one that the Mormons tried to establish.
However, anarchy is an extremely HARD type of thing to pull off. People gravitate automatically to groups. Instead of anarchy you tend to end up with a tribal society (similar to the Native Americans, or multiple other tribal cultures from long ago) which results in a somewhat organized society at the local level, but no gigantically huge imperial government over it all.