So, I'm reading a book about the history of anarchy. It turns out that anarchy is not what you see on the news. It is not confined to black-clothed, sociopathic morons, smashing windows and throwing rocks at the police at various international meetings around the world.
The philosophy of anarchy is pretty simple. It is, fundamentally, the belief that humans are perfectly capable of governing themselves. People can coexist in society without any form of organized government. Government only serves to cause friction between people of various life situations by setting up and enforcing laws that benefit one group or another. As the government becomes stronger, and rules and regulations pile up on top of each other, our freedoms necessarily diminish.
The only way to be completely free, for people to experience true liberty, is to live without the yoke of coercion, which is the sole purpose of government. Government exists only to curb our so-called baser instincts and force us to live in harmony with one another.
Anarchism is a philosophy that sees humanity as innately reasonable, considerate, and moral. It assumes that, given the choice, we will all do what's best for ourselves and our fellow man. It is a philosophy that stresses individual liberty and freedom, while also emphasising the good of society as a whole. It is not, at it's core, an excuse to, in the words of Allistair Crowley, "Do what thou wilt, so mete be". It is a call to all humans to excercise restraint in all their dealings with others. But it is a self-imposed restraint, not one directed to us by the state or organized religion or society as a whole.
If there were any sort of tenet or dogma attatched to anarchism, it would be to do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Seems pretty simple, and a good way to live.
Unfortunately, in my experience, people don't always behave that way. People are generally greedy, selfish, and sometimes just plain mean.
I guess I sort of agree with whoever said that, "If men were angels, they would have no need for government." He also went on to say that if we were governed by angels, we would have no need to watch our leaders like parollees in charge of the petty cash fund.
The balance between individual freedom and security is a very delicate one. How much do we value security? How much of our freedoms are we willing to sacrifice in order to feel safe and secure? Ben Franklin said "Any man that will sacrifice liberty for security deserves neither." That is a pretty extreme statement. In my opinion, it's a matter of degrees. I'm willing to take off my shoes before I board a plane if it will ensure that my flight will not be interrupted by some whacko with a bomb in his shoe. The line is the important thing.
Where should the responsibility of the governement to protect us end, and our responsibility to protect ourselves begin?
This brings me to the other book I'm reading at the moment. It is a history of the Jewish people. No other race has been so hated, persecuted, or scorned as the Jewish race. They live in a land that is practically encircled by people that not only despise them, but actually believe that they have no right to exist. Every day they deal with threats and accusations ranging from plots to take over the world, to total nuclear anihilation.
The middle east is a rough neighborhood for the Jews, but they manage to not only survive, but thrive. Israel boasts the most liberal democracy in the region, as well as the strongest economy. They, as a people, enjoy more freedom than any of their neighbors. And yet, they live under the constant threat of attack. How do they do this? How do they balance the freedoms that their people enjoy with the security that they demand? Common sense.
They have a very well organized system of national defense. They gather information from anyone and everyone, and then they use this information to target specific threats. Yes, that's right, they profile people. If someone fits the profile of a threat to their nation, they concentrate on that person.
This results in far fewer 95 year old women in diapers and a wheelchair getting stripsearched at Israeli airports than in the US. This means that normal traffic flows through their security checkpoints far more smoothly than in any other nation on earth. This is because they are not stupid. They are proactive as opposed to rreactive. Yes, the citizens of Israel have sacrificed some of their freedoms for security, but their government works to ensure the least amount of sacrifice and the greatest amount of security. Somehow, they manage to keep their citizens safe without devolving into a virtual police state. It is a system we should look to emulate.
Anarchy is a wonderful philosophy for those that see only the good in mankind. For those that believe that humanity can actually be ruled by "the better angels of our nature."
For those of us that live in the real world, there is an acknowledgement that not all people are capable of resisting the primal urges that are programmed into our DNA. Some people are simply evil. It is protection from these people that the government is charged with providing, while keeping the intrusions on our liberties as minimal as possible.
It is a delicate balance, but one that is possible to achieve. As long as we are ruled, not by emotion, but by reason, there is hope that we can enjoy a government that works the way it is supposed to work. One that protects us from those that wish to do us harm, and doesn't inflict harm on us in the process.