Anarchy House Project

These are my personal views.  There is no litmus test of anarchy 'purity' as a condition of joining our project.  Please, if you do not agree with me, do not allow that to be a barrier to joining the project.  I am less concerned with the 'proper' form of anarchy than I am the initiation of violence against those who have not encroached onto others.

Anarchy isn't just a status of not government.  It is a mindset that a person has that s/he will meet all needs and wants without resorting to force, threats, or fraud.  It is easier said than done, yet it is a crucial part of anarchy.  Even though you are forced with threats of punishment to pay for things you may not want, it is inconsistent to use government services such as schools, libraries, police and fire.  Reliance on any of these or similar services is a reliance on the use of encroachment.  Just as important as not encroaching on others, is to find voluntary methods of achieving your ends.  To use the earlier examples, education and safety, with safety being the more important one for most people.  If you know in the back of your mind, that if anything goes wrong, or someone steals your property etc, you can just call the police, your efforts to find alternatives will be stunted.  Desperation and need are great motivators.  If you have neither one, even if you believe you should find non violent alternatives, the effort placed on it is usually low.  This is a huge stumbling block for libertarians and anarchists.  

The supremacy of the individual must be observed and respected by anarchists.  The individual is the smallest possible minority and if on individuals rights are not protected, then no ones rights are truly protected.  Then we are right back to the conditions that are ripe for a re-emergence of oppressive government.  People that do not respect others rights should be shunned, as they are a thereat to some individuals, but also to Volunteer Anarchy.  To participate in volunteer Anarchy you must be ready to stand up for others.

Anarchy is not just no government.  If the individuals that make up the culture are violent and oppressive, then they will form a new government to suppress others.  Those that say anarchy would not work are giving an indictment of themselves and those they are around.

Humans desire peace, and enjoyment.   More for themselves than others, but that is what they want.  Resistance creates boundaries.  When you encroach on others in an attempt to gain enjoyment, or even peace, there is generally enough resistance to convince you that it is easier to gain peace and enjoyment through voluntary methods.  The encroachment stops.  Unfortunately most people are reluctant to resist government, which results in more encroachment.  

Another stumbling block is the 'savior' politician.  I always find it ironic when an anarchist dabbles in politics.  But even on the lesser involved issue of voting.  As this is being written, (2007) there is a push to get Ron Paul nominated for president.  There is a sense of desperation among those who rely on the political situation to determine there sense of liberty and freedom.  Other than the fact that I am completely disgusted with politics, I have no desire to rely on something that has been so detrimental to human life, and liberty.  I have a difficult plan to ensure my liberty, and if I remain consistent, and persistent, I will have it someday.  Election, even of fairly good people, will only defer the neccessity of good people defying bad law.  It is a form of riliance on government.  To be truly effective, the acts of defying bad law must be decentralized and common.  This process will not happen while there is hope for a 'savior' politician.  

Retaliation, revenge, even violence used to compel restitution needs to cease.  Promises to restore 'justice' and force restitution are the gateway for demagogues.  They provide excuses to people to act on their own aggression, by being able to say they 'did it for my family', or they did it for the 'victim'.  The only penalty for violent acts and encroachmet should be that the perpetrator is asked to pay restitution for harm done, or to be shunned.  They should be shunned for failure to provide by those who value the rights of victims.  People have the right to protect themselves.  This is how consumer protection is traditionally accomplished.  It is usually only possible to reduce the scope of the harm through defensive measures than to recover damages afterwards.   

The ends never justify the means.  Take care of the means, and the ends will take care of themselves.

Sunshine is the greatest disinfectant.   

An anarchists aim is to abolish exploitation of man by man.

Good people can and should challenge or ignore bad law.  If this had happened on a routine basis the German holocaust would never have happened, nor the Soviet prison camps, nor the genocide of the Native Americans.   Every minor and major tyranny in every country at any time in the past would have been largely averted.