Since there is no one ruling body or party
A system of groups that have their own rules is not anarchy, no. If it was, the world itself (system of countries) would be anarchy by your own definition.
I would say so. If anarchism at its core is the removal of hierarchy, it makes sense to say decentralization is the road towards anarchism.
It’s easy to become infatuated with the freedom of the fediverse. I slowly reject centralized platforms for the federated communities because despite their smaller size, it just feels good to use.
I’m relatively new to the fediverse but I see fediverse instances as being in a horizontal relationship rather than a vertical one.
One could argue that, and it’s something that makes sense on the surface. But anarchism at its core is about the destruction of what’s seen as unjust hierarchies, with decentralization a part of that. Anarchism is in the end about the individual: it places individual freedom over collective freedom, as can be seen , for example, at their dismissal of every socialist project due to apparent “authoritarianism” over structures in place (i.e. “hierarchy”) to maintain collective freedom of the masses.
Each lemmy instance has a hierarchy and rules put in place by that hierarchy that limit individual freedoms. All users aren’t congregated together to jointly come up with instance or community rules, etc. Even in the most “open” forum we have, the internet, hierarchies are still in place to maintain a smoothly functioning community.
The argument to make is that libre software is more communist as every person has the means of production in hand (a computer) and strong copy-left licenses limit individual freedom (you can’t take the source code and use it for profit without making it open) for collective freedom (the code is always open source for people to use/audit).
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In fact, anarchists put so many safe guards in place that they ensure that they will spend the rest of their lives living in an authoritarian capitalist society.
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Having actually lived in USSR, and experienced both systems I can tell you that living under capitalism is far worse than living under Soviet style socialism. However, you don’t have to take my word for it. Here’s what other people who got to enjoy both systems have to say.
All anarchists do is perpetuate the horrors of capitalism because of their fear of “authoritarianism” necessary to mount an actual effective resistance. All the suffering that’s perpetuated, and our potential extinction at the hands of capitalists is squarely on you lot.
You lived in the USSR? Fuck, that’s awesome.
I did, and that’s why I take a lot of offense when people slander it. People lived there just fine, and things were a hell of a lot better than they are today under capitalism.
All the suffering that’s perpetuated, and our potential extinction at the hands of capitalists is squarely on you lot.
Playing blame games is not gonna help anyone. It would be much more effective if anarchists and communists could find ways to work together. Sure there are a lot of disagreements between both groups, but also a lot in common, and its better to focus on the latter.
I’m all for anarchists and communists working together, but the idea that capitalism is preferable to any form of socialism must be challenged forcefully. Soviet style communism may have had problems, but it was a far better system than capitalism in practically every way. Millions of lives were ruined when USSR fell, and my own family suffered greatly. It is incredibly frustrating to see people from the imperial core glibly claim that they prefer the devil they know. People saying that are invariably those who are personally benefiting from capitalist system, and have comfortable lives built on the back of the exploitation inherent in it.
What I disagree with is specifically the quoted sentence.
On a side note, I dont really understand this obsession with the Soviet Union. Sure it was a good place to live, and you probably have many positive memories from there. But the USSR hasnt existed for 30 years, and it wont come back. So it would be much more useful if we thought about how to improve things in our workplaces and neighborhoods, instead of arguing about our interpretations of history. If you are trying to unionize your workplace, what difference does it make what your coworker thinks about the Soviet Union?
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Nice find, but this is definitely not an anarchist license. Considering “trespassing” as morally wrong goes against the very definition of anarchism (according to legal definitions of trespassing). Likewise, the author considers property can be victim of violence?!
This is definitely a right-wing libertarian license.
