True liberty lies not with any government

True liberty lies not with ANY government
by Mark Twain
7/28/09

There are a lot of historical misconceptions about anarchism, which is frequently demonized and - after inducing in generally well-informed people the same visceral negative reaction as the term "conspiracy theory" does in the uninformed general population - dismissed without proper evaluation, a meme historically reinforced by establishment statists of all ideologies trying to hold on to "power" by elevating themselves as the "saviors of order" and "keepers of civilization", cleverly utilizing their negative neuro-linguistic tactics to equate "anarchism" with lawlessness, disorder, and terrorism. In the same way the Catholic Church was responsible for the Inquisition, yet rightfully, most Catholics deplore and morally reject such association, most philosophical anarchists would similarly reject violence as an ultimate basis for a reasonable and viable social structure. As we continue to see in Palestine and Iraq (or even in the case of our Founding Fathers during the American Revolution), "anarchist violence " should be critically evaluated in the proper historical and situational context and perhaps considered an inevitable, desperate response to oppression and tyranny imposed externally.

Anarchism is a complex concept, and has had an interesting evolution through history. It has been successful as a viable politico-socio-economic system in many past societies , including the 1000 year Gaelic/Celtic anarchist society in Ireland (until it was repeatedly attacked and destroyed by outsiders...) (1). Unfortunately, the positive aspects and social influence of this poorly understood system are never discussed and any investigation into its possible value as a viable societal alternative is quickly and derogatorily dismissed (could it be that "controlled opposition" is still operant here?).

As an example, parallel to the terrorist acts committed at this time, the Christian pacifist Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910) was developing an antiauthoritarian current of thinking that, in its broadest sense, can be regarded as belonging to the anarchist tradition. Tolstoy promoted a form of religious anarchism that was based on the "law of supreme love" as defined by his personal (anti-doctrinal) reading of the Scriptures. Though he did not see himself as an anarchist, he nevertheless believed that in order for men and women to live in a morally coherent world it was necessary to destroy the state and its institutions. Because of his rejection of the use of force and violence, Tolstoy and his followers advocated civil disobedience, or nonviolent resistance, as a means of achieving the stateless and communally based society they envisioned (2).

In recent history there have been numerous instances of the collapse of state authority, sometimes prompted by war but also often due to implosion of the state. In some cases, state collapse is followed by lawlessness, rioting, looting and, if disarray lasts long enough, warlordism. Although such societies are often described as anarchy, they are not organized according to anarchist principles.

However, there are instances in which a society peacefully organizes itself without a government or other form of centralized power, along philosophically anarchist lines. A functioning society would then maintain peace without a state. It is often difficult to find and research past anarchist or semi-anarchist societies, since, as Murray Rothbard points out, "The lack of recordkeeping in stateless societies – since only government officials seem to waste time, energy, and resources on such activities – produce a tendency toward a governmental bias in the working methods of historians (1).

In the 1930s, Spain was the only country in Europe where anarchists had more influence than socialists. Scholars have proposed a number of reasons for this anomaly. Spain was, unlike most of Europe, a largely rural, peasant-based society. Marx and his followers tended to treat the peasants with disdain while holding the urban worker to be the prime agent of revolutionary change. It is unsurprising, then, that Marxist ideas were unpopular or unknown amongst rural peasants, many of whom heartily embraced anarchism, a theory which held similarities to long-held traditions of mutual aid and village-level organization. Indeed, federalist Francisco Pi y Margall would claim that "Spanish anarchism is nothing more than an expression of the federal and individualist traditions of the country, that "the anarchist movement is not an outcome of abstract discussions, or theories cultivated by a few intellectuals, but an outcome of a social dynamic...."

Furthermore, Spain had never been strongly united at the federal level, and Marxist statism seemed irrelevant in regionalistic Spain where the idea of a powerful central government never took hold, except on the far-right. Thus, for various reasons, anarchism triumphed as Spain's primary revolutionary program.

Although many anarchists were opposed to the use of force, some militants did use violence and terrorism to further their agendas. This "propaganda of the deed" first became popular in the late 19th century. This was before the rise of syndicalism as an anarchist tactic, and after a long history of police repression that led many to despair.

The Desheredados (English translation: "the Disinherited"), were a secret group advocating violence and said to be behind a number of murders. Another group, Mano Negra (Black Hand), was also rumoured to be behind various assassinations and bombings, although there is some evidence that the group was a sensational myth created by police in the Civil Guard (La Guardia Civil), notorious for their brutality; in fact, it is well known that police invented actions by their enemies, or carried them out themselves, as a tool of repression. (3) (MT note: Does this not sound like "false flag terrorism", "Al-Qaeda", and the subsequent repressive situation in America...?)

In Celtic Irish society of the Middle Ages and Early Modern period, courts and the law were largely anarchist, operating in a purely stateless manner. This society persisted in this manner for roughly a thousand years until its conquest by England in the 17th century. In contrast to many similarly functioning tribal societies, preconquest Ireland was not in any sense "primitive": it was a highly complex society that was, for centuries, the most advanced, most scholarly, and most civilized in all of Western Europe. A leading authority on ancient Irish law wrote, "There was no legislature, no bailiffs, no police, no public enforcement of justice... There was no trace of State-administered justice."

All "freemen" who owned land, all professionals, and all craftsmen, were entitled to become members of a tuath. Each tuath's members formed an annual assembly which decided all common policies, declared war or peace on other tuatha, and elected or deposed their "kings". In contrast to primitive tribes, no one was stuck or bound to a given tuath, either because of kinship or of geographical location. Individual members were free to, and often did, secede from a tuath and join a competing tuath.

Professor Peden states, "the tuath is thus a body of persons voluntarily united for socially beneficial purposes and the sum total of the landed properties of its members constituted its territorial dimension. The "king" had no political power; he could not decree or administer justice or declare war. Basically he was a priest and militia leader, and presided over the tuath assemblies.
Celtic Ireland survived many invasions, but was finally vanquished by Oliver Cromwell's reconquest in 1649-50 (4).

Something for all of us and for the next generations to ponder as our political systems descend into tyranny and disintegrate. The move towards globalism should be strongly oppossed by a move towards localism, regionalism, and small self-directed group governance. This is the only way to true freedom

References:

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Past_and_present_anarchist_comm...

2. http://science.jrank.org/pages/8276/Anarchism-Anarchist-Prin...

3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarchism_in_Spain

4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaelic_Ireland