New to the forums

[nathan2587]

 Hi my name is Nathan and I've been watching Stefan's videos for the past couple of months and when logic is staring you in the face you just can't deny it. I was a Ron Paul supporter and believed in limited government. The thing is  I never even tried to imagine a world without the state before watching Stefan's videos, never even crossed my mind, which saddens me now. Lets just say after about 10 minutes of watching Stefan's videos I'm a believer of anarchy. Yea it really didn't take much for me to jump across, I just can't argue with logic.

I guess the one thing I don't believe is not using the political system. Not because I think we can get rid of government that way, I'm not so naive to believe that but maybe if we could get some type of libertarian/non-aggression princple person in there maybe we can get rid of some of the war and military action that causes so much death and destruction.

Also a question, I hear many people try to apply a label to anarchy such as anarcho-capitalism or anarcho-communism. As long as these type of communities are voluntary couldn't we have them all in some form or another? I don't see why a group for example couldn't we have common ownership of some things as long as it's voluntary, not stealing someone's land etc? It just seems that when I read some debates it goes down the road of anti-this or anti-that, I just don't see the problem as long as its voluntary. Please educate me

 

 

[sg12]

I come from a similar background as you. I was a supporter of Ron Paul and some other minarchists (and kind of still feel really happy listening to them). I am now an Athiest, an Austrian economist, and an anarcho-capitalist. I sympathize. It’s a hard slog through to the truth about violence and evil. The hardest thing to me is trying to figure out the best course of action. I've also had doubts about totally giving up on the idea of using the political system to affect change in the world because it seems so easy to just show people how evil war is and tell them to vote those politicians who support it out of office. But it’s actually harder than you think. It’s very helpful if you try it out by arguing with others around you. Also, you place a lot of power in other people's beliefs if they control whether you are free or happy. But most of the enslavement comes from the people around you not the government. There is one podcast I would recommend which is 753 & the first part of 772 about Ron Paul who I still have sympathies for but consistency has never been tried before in our movement so I say let’s give it a go.

Evidence wise, libertarians have never been able to maintain a small government, and we have never been able to get rid of war and military through political action. Remember, the United States went from the smallest government to the largest. Our constitution, the minarchist's utopia, did not constrain our government. Even if we were able to reduce the size of government, it would just grow again maybe larger. Though political solutions are not possible, I do, however, believe the civilian disarmament debate has been very useful in educating people about self-defense and individualism. I think we can prepare ourselves for the eventual collapse of the government by becoming self-sufficient while continuing to point out the evils of state actions against its citizens. The next step is to pair the evil abstractions of the state with the evil that is closer to our control. Because people can't control the state, they can only control themselves and who they associate with in their daily lives. Noticing and acknowledging abuse whether physical or verbal by your friends becomes essential. Also promoting non-violent and loving parenting to those who you are close to helps reduce pain and suffering in the world visibly and directly. Lastly, self-knowledge is the most critical element of bringing goodness and happiness to the world and to yourself because your own past can really illuminate a lot of ideas and will help you communicate the emotions alongside the rational arguments so you can have a larger effect on reducing the hate and sadness caused by violence.

Very amateur opinion: The labels help define how we arrive at anarchy. Anarcho-communism - the ends of anarchy justify the means (revolutions). Anarcho-capitalism - the means are the ends (non-violence).

[Brandon Buck _BB_]

Welcome to the forum!

 

On political action... what do you suppose would happen if a politician were actually able to end all US occupations and wars accross the world? Can you foresee any negative affects?

 

On anarcho-xxx... anarcho communists reject the notion of property rights, which is antithetical to individual liberty. Anarcho capitalists respect property rights, which are essential to individual liberty. In fairness, ancoms do make property exceptions for your body and other such personal belongings but no one's really sure how far the personal property extends, if at all, past your toothbrush. []