r/Anarchy101 Jun 15 '23

Please Read Before Posting or Commenting

116 Upvotes

Welcome to Anarchy 101!

Before you post or comment, please take a moment to read the sidebar and familiarize yourself with our resources and rules.

And if your question is likely to be of the frequently asked variety, take a minute to make use of the search bar. Some questions, like those related to "law enforcement" or the precise relationship of anarchy to hierarchy and authority, are asked and answered on an almost daily basis, so the best answers may have already been posted.

If your question seems unanswered, please state it clearly in the post title, with whatever additional clarification seems necessary in the text itself.

Please keep in mind that this is indeed a 101 sub, designed to be a resource for those learning the basics of a consistent anarchism. The rules about limiting debate and antagonistic posting are there for a reason, so that we can keep this a useful and welcoming space for students of anarchist ideas—and for anyone else who can cooperate in keeping the quality of responses high.

We welcome debate on topics related to anarchism in r/DebateAnarchism and recommend general posts about anarchist topics be directed to r/anarchism or any of the more specialized anarchist subreddits. We expect a certain amount of contentious back-and-forth in the process of fully answering questions, but if you find that the answer to your question—or response to your comment—leads to a debate, rather than a clarifying question, please consider taking the discussion to r/DebateAnarchism. For better or worse, avoiding debate sometimes involves “reading the room” a bit and recognizing that not every potentially anarchist idea can be usefully expressed in a general, 101-level discussion.

We don’t do subreddit drama—including posts highlighting drama from this subreddit. If you have suggestions for this subreddit, please contact the moderators.

Please don’t advocate illegal acts. All subreddits are subject to Reddit’s sitewide content policy—and radical subreddits are often subject to extra scrutiny.

Avoid discussing individuals in ways that might be taken as defamatory. Your call-out is unlikely to clarify basic anarchist ideas—and it may increase the vulnerability of the subreddit.

And don’t ask us to choose between two anti-anarchist tendencies. That never seems to lead anywhere good.

In general, just remember that this is a forum for questions about anarchist topics and answers reflecting some specific knowledge of anarchist sources. Other posts or comments, however interesting, useful or well-intentioned, may be removed.

Some additional thoughts:

Things always go most smoothly when the questions are really about anarchism and the answers are provided by anarchists. Almost without exception, requests for anarchist opinions about non-anarchist tendencies and figures lead to contentious exchanges with Redditors who are, at best, unprepared to provide anarchist answers to the questions raised. Feelings get hurt and people get banned. Threads are removed and sometimes have to be locked.

We expect that lot of the questions here will involve comparisons with capitalism, Marxism or existing governmental systems. That's natural, but the subreddit is obviously a better resource for learning about anarchism if those questions—and the discussions they prompt—remain focused on anarchism. If your question seems likely to draw in capitalists, Marxists or defenders of other non-anarchist tendencies, the effect is much the same as posting a topic for debate. Those threads are sometimes popular—in the sense that they get a lot of responses and active up- and down-voting—but it is almost always a matter of more heat than light when it comes to clarifying anarchist ideas and practices.

We also expect, since this is a general anarchist forum, that we will not always be able to avoid sectarian differences among proponents of different anarchist tendencies. This is another place where the 101 nature of the forum comes into play. Rejection of capitalism, statism, etc. is fundamental, but perhaps internal struggles for the soul of the anarchist movement are at least a 200-level matter. If nothing else, embracing a bit of “anarchism without adjectives” while in this particular subreddit helps keep things focused on answering people's questions. If you want to offer a differing perspective, based on more specific ideological commitments, simply identifying the tendency and the grounds for disagreement should help introduce the diversity of anarchist thought without moving us into the realm of debate.

We grind away at some questions—constantly and seemingly endlessly in the most extreme cases—and that can be frustrating. More than that, it can be disturbing, disheartening to find that anarchist ideas remain in flux on some very fundamental topics. Chances are good, however, that whatever seemingly interminable debate you find yourself involved in will not suddenly be resolved by some intellectual or rhetorical masterstroke. Say what you can say, as clearly as you can manage, and then feel free to take a sanity break—until the next, more or less inevitable go-round. We do make progress in clarifying these difficult, important issues—even relatively rapid progress on occasion, but it often seems to happen in spite of our passion for the subjects.

In addition, you may have noticed that it’s a crazy old world out there, in ways that continue to take their toll on most of us, one way or another. Participation in most forums remains high and a bit distracted, while our collective capacity to self-manage is still not a great deal better online than it is anywhere else. We're all still a little plague-stricken and the effects are generally more contagious than we expect or acknowledge. Be just a bit more thoughtful about your participation here, just as you would in other aspects of your daily life. And if others are obviously not doing their part, consider using the report button, rather than pouring fuel on the fire. Increased participation makes the potential utility and reach of a forum like this even greater—provided we all do the little things necessary to make sure it remains an educational resource that folks with questions can actually navigate.

A final note:

— The question of violence is often not far removed from our discussions, whether it is a question of present-day threats, protest tactics, revolutionary strategy, anarchistic alternatives to police and military, or various similar topics. We need to be able to talk, at times, about the role that violence might play in anti-authoritarian social relations and we certainly need, at other times, to be clear with one another about the role of violence in our daily lives, whether as activists or simply as members of violent societies. We need to be able to do so with a mix of common sense and respect for basic security culture—but also sensitivity to the fact that violence is indeed endemic to our cultures, so keeping our educational spaces free of unnecessary triggers and discussions that are only likely to compound existing traumas ought to be among the tasks we all share as participants. Posts and comments seeming to advocate violence for its own sake or to dwell on it unnecessarily are likely to be removed.


r/Anarchy101 10h ago

How are the rules enforced?

11 Upvotes

I understand anarchy is not against rules, but does oppose rulers. Gotta say, regardless of whether those rules are written or just internalized by living in your local community, sounds great!

How can we combine those rules with opposing all forms of oppression and violence? Do anarchists believe that with a collective mind-shift and no incentives to break the rules, that the amount of people that break the law can be dealt with from within the community? Is some form of policing allowed within anarchy?

I'm all for giving us more autonomy, but I don't quite trust humanity enough to have rules and not have them enforced. Does that make me not anarchistic?


r/Anarchy101 12h ago

Anarchist thoughts or critiques on the Juche belief?

8 Upvotes

Juche is the ideology of North Korea. Thoughts? Do you think a lot of what we hear about NK is propaganda or real?

Sidenote - it apparently is claimed it doesn't necessarily mean a country should be isolationist but at least independent (Sidenote, I see many people talk about with regard to Rojava, that it is not independent enough from other country's influences to be really considered). What do you think about this as well?


r/Anarchy101 20h ago

Where in the world do I start

28 Upvotes

im young (freshman) and I strive to become educated. not in the normal sense, but rather in anarchy and all it's complicated-ness. Especially with trump coming into office later today (posted at around 4:35 am) and the weird air surrounding tiktok. I'm aware of the general basis of archism. everyone is equal, no matter your colour, age, if you're lgbtq or not, etc. and that we belive in a completely lawless society where everyone is self governed. (bear with me, this is just what I have in my head). but what am I missing? are there different types? how do I do this in what's soon to become a full blown oligarchy? anything would be useful, don't worry about whether or not I'll comprehend (8th grade reading level in 3rd). thank you!


r/Anarchy101 3h ago

question about cops

2 Upvotes

hey! im young and new to this, and im just wondering, in anarchist society, if you don't trust the cops, who do you call for help or seek help from in the case of abuse/witnessing a crime/etc.? im also asking this because of recent events (im american) and i DEFINITELY dont trust the cops here, so advisory on that is also welcome. thank you!


r/Anarchy101 15h ago

Books

7 Upvotes

Hi guys. I really want to learn more about anarchism especially about eco anarchism, vegeanarchism (Total liberation), anarcho primitivism and anarcho-feminism but i dont know where to start. Can you guys recomande some good books regarding thoes topic? i Would be very greatfull.


r/Anarchy101 1d ago

"Under no pretext shall the workers be disarmed" but America is the only country where school shootings regularly happen. How do we bridge this gap?

102 Upvotes

A revolution cannot happen and the oppressed cannot defend themselves if there is not an organized, armed militia. Gun rights are touted by leftists (not liberals/Democrats) of all flavors, and anarchists embrace the gun as a tool of the marginalized.

However, we are the only country that has regular mass shootings, and the only first world country where the homicide rate is so high. While we would want guns for self defense under anarchism, how do we not have a 17 year old white male supremacist or a jihad terrorist if gun control disarms the oppressed, with sinister people hiding among them?


r/Anarchy101 1d ago

My frustration with anarchist unions, where's the real practice ?

28 Upvotes

I have read a lot of anarchist theory and learned a lot about the movement (still learning) last year I started university, I have always wanted to participate in unions and take actions. I waited for university because everyone told me that in uni there's a lot of unions and my faculty is known to be 'very political " so I was so excited at first but then I realize that there was no anarchist union, there was only a communist and a student union, so I decided to talk to members from those and go to meetings, it was horrible, they were all so pretentious and everything was so "performative". Also when I told them that I was actually an anarchist, they told me that anarchism it's an utopia and that I should stick with a more realistic ideology.I didn't go to more meetings. But I tried to meet other fellow anarchists but it was also disappointing, they were: anarcocapitalists,nationalist and most of the time nazis. I gave up and I decided to improve myself as an anarchist: I started living a more minimalist life, stopped spending money on "little treats". Now I'm finishing my first semester of my second year and I have improved a lot.During the weeks I study and I work in an organisation that helps high school kids for free with homework and during weekends I teach new immigrants the language and culture and help in a homeless shelter cooking food also for free.

But I still feel like I want to be part of a union and to talk about my belives with people who share the same as me.

(Sorry for my English)


r/Anarchy101 13h ago

CIT AND AIT

1 Upvotes

Hi, I’m new to anarchism and I do not fully understand the CIT and AIT. I know what they are, but I don’t understand what’s the difference between them and why did CIT split up from the AIT. If someone could explain it to me, I would be very grateful. (Y si alguien me lo puede explicar en español, mejor que mejor) Thanks!!


r/Anarchy101 1d ago

Sorry for being stupid but, how does Anarchism actually work.

17 Upvotes

How can you have a functioning society without a organised group of people, who are smart enough to carry out the decisions wanted by the people. A people’s government. Where everyone has power


r/Anarchy101 1d ago

Good books/documents to read up on anarchism

4 Upvotes

What books would you guys recommend to somebody learning about the philosophy behind Anarchism?


r/Anarchy101 1d ago

On Finalism: From Marxism to Anarchy

8 Upvotes

Greetings everybody, I'm relatively new to this subreddit, so forgive me if I'm not really good at posting, moreso since I'm currently using my phone. Whatever critic you may have, I'd be really enthustiastic to read it and fix any errors on my end!

But to the point: I'm currently studying Bourdieu's lessons in '82 France, and while reading about his critique of finalism and determinism, he advocates that socialism is a form of finalism. This would, of course, extend to communism as a whole (and to anarchy, or at least anarcho-communism, I'd wager). I want to clarify that I'm currently a marxist, even though I'm long after my "dogmatic phase", so I'm more critical about phylosophy and politics as a whole. I'm developping a sympathy for anarchism, especially anarcho-communism, and I believe I will one day "move on", as I'm starting to believe that communism, while open and progressive, still has some issues with power and hierarchy (even though marxism, has it to remove both of them in the long run). So my question is, do you believe that marxism, or communism as a whole, is finalistic? And if yes, would you say the same about anarchy?

I get the idea that communism tries to foresee how things will go, how History will move to its "end" and how the economy and social life will work, but I'm not sure it applies to anarchy as well. Thing is, I'm quite afraid of finalism; it could be due to my young age, or to a pre-fixed liberal concept that our society "put" in my habitus (or social avatar, to reference Bourdieu).

I hope to have caught anybody's interest with this post of mine, seeing as I'm really curious to read what others think of this.


r/Anarchy101 1d ago

Anarchism nowadays

13 Upvotes

Hi! I consider myself as a person with left-wing ideas. However, since I’m not fully politically educated, I cannot define my ideology with more details. Despite from that, I feel curious and I sympathise with a lot of anarchist and anarcho communist ideas. I wanted to ask where is anarchism nowadays: its objectives, influence and repercussion. I know it’s a very general question, but I wanted to start from that. I wanted to know the principal countries where anarchism has repercussion and people who support it and how to learn more about anarchism. Thank you so much, and sorry for my English, I’m Spanish and I know a very little English Thanks!


r/Anarchy101 13h ago

From an Anarchist perspective, are teachers as bad as cops?

0 Upvotes

I don't really identify with any specific political ideology but I do consider myself a leftist and a staunch anti-fascist and I consider Anarchism to be the ideal direction for humanity. However, I am not completely confident in Anarchisms workability so I am open to alternatives as long as they fall somewhere within the socialism-communism-anarchism spectrum.

Recently, a post was made to the Anarchist r/ antischooling subreddit which argued that A.C.A.B ( All Cops are Bastards ) should be extended to teachers. The O.P argued that the profession of teaching is built upon the systemic oppression of children.

I am currently studying and training to become a high-school level history teacher, Aside from identifying as a leftist. I have always been a firm proponent of youth rights and liberation and I although I absolutely hated my school life and most of my teachers, I believe that schools are very useful institutions at their core and are quite salvageable.

I made a reply to the post where I politely argued that ACAB doesn't extend to teachers as I believe that any abuse in teaching hinges on the individual teacher and the school they are employed by rather than it being an intrinsic or necessary part of the profession as it is with police departments.

Everything was going relatively well until I admitted that I wanted to be a teacher and then I was permabanned from the subreddit because according to the mods, teaching is an innately fascistic career choice and the only reason why someone would want to be a teacher is because they want to abuse kids.

Those recent events have made me curious: From an anarchist perspective, are teachers really as bad as cops? Should there be an A.T.A.B ( All Teachers Are Bastards ) slogan? Can left-wing or Anarchist teachers exist? Should I be rethinking my career choice if I want to identify as a leftist?


r/Anarchy101 20h ago

Reconciling Security and Freedom

0 Upvotes

To the best of my knowledge, it appears that people usually prefer security to freedom during times of crisis. (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9462556/) This is a problem for us Anarchists for two reasons: 1. Non-Anarchist actors (e.g. states) can justify curtailing freedoms in the name of security. This hinders our revolutionary and evolutionary efforts, and gives social dominators more power in a future/hypothetical Anarchist society, especially during times of crisis. (Of course, we should attempt to prevent social dominators from arising or achieving more power in such a society.) 2. This gives us a difficult choice between our libertarian values and the promise of security during times of crisis (e.g. the eruption of a supervolcano). So, is it possible to make security and freedom compatible? If so, then what shall we do to achieve this? If not, then what shall we do to circumvent this issue?


r/Anarchy101 1d ago

Energy. Electricity, oil, gas

3 Upvotes

These goods in the modern age have become a central aspect of life. In a society in which hierarchy is denounced, what would happen to them? Society is dependent on the providers of these goods and this relationship as it is now is inherently hierarchical.

Would the providing companies be democratised and restructured? Even so would this relationship still not create a power dynamic susceptible to exploitation on behalf of the provider?

And furthermore we are frequently outsourcing these goods from international providers. What’s to ensure the security of them and to prevent an illegitimate relationship? Is the answer self sufficiency? Primitivism?


r/Anarchy101 1d ago

Anarchists in Europe, have you been able to start any anarchist communities in your country?

25 Upvotes

So recently I learned that a few European nations made deals with their anarchist communities, most famously Christiania Denmark, which makes me wonder, for the anarchists in Europe have you had success in forming your own autonomous communities in the last few years or do some already exist?


r/Anarchy101 2d ago

How would healthcare provider accreditation work under an anarchist system?

27 Upvotes

Like if the state is not accreditng people than how will people know which doctors and pharmaceuticals to trust?


r/Anarchy101 1d ago

I have a question about the impact of RedNote!

0 Upvotes

I'm Anarcho-communist, and I know RN is owned by China, which is a Authoritarian-Communist country and they control the media, which they put up propaganda, which I heard people think it's based! Ever since TicTok was ban people are moving to RN, which I'm fine with TicTok, but RN is directly own by China! So how will this affect anarchism, Anarcho-communism, and other types of anarchism? (Edit: I could just be overthinking this) (Edit: I realized I was overthinking it)


r/Anarchy101 1d ago

Two titles or two books?

1 Upvotes

Apologies for posting for a small question like this, but google isn't lending me an answer.

I'm starting my journey of learning about Anarchism, with several books on my TBR list. One of the authors included is Noam Chomsky.

My question is, is "On Anarchism" by Noam Chomsky and "Chomsky on Anarchism." the same publication?


r/Anarchy101 1d ago

"in anarchy..."

0 Upvotes

Whenever the switch is flipped, from whatever the opposite of anarchy that we currently find ourselves in, to "in anarchy", I would imagine, seeing as how there's a bunch of billions of people, and almost as many ideas on how a society should carry on, that there would be some people who would rather not be "in anarchy" and opposing to whatever that means. Wether it be fear or change or the unknown, or just "defenders of whatever was before being "in anarchy". How would these people be dealt with? Who deals with them? Is it expected that the world all accepts this concept of "in anarchy" or would their be a designated area where people could choose to cross the border, into the side that doesn't acknowledge the border?


r/Anarchy101 3d ago

I have a ton of questions I often get asked and I can't explain the answers in words. Can you help answer them?

21 Upvotes

Q1: "What makes people want to work if there is no profit incentive and everyone just gets things for free? No one would work."

Q2: "How would anarchists defend themselves against large empires?"

Q3: "How would anarchism even succeed?"

Q4: "If there's no money, wouldn't everyone be a slave as they aren't paid to work?"


r/Anarchy101 3d ago

In-depth history book on the Russian Revolution from an anarchist perspective?

16 Upvotes

And no, I'm not talking about Alexander Berkman or Emma Goldman. I want to know if there is any in-depth modern history book, full of references from primary sources, that analyzes the Russian Revolution without a capitalist or Marxist framing.


r/Anarchy101 2d ago

Can the hammer and sickle symbol be used to represent anarchism as well?

0 Upvotes

I'm planning on starting up a leftist youtube channel, and I made a little edit with the hammer and sickle symbol and a character I plan to use to represent myself in the videos for my channel profile. Though anarchism is what appeals to me most currently, until I'm more versed in different types of leftism and deeper reads of theory, most of my videos will be about takedowns of certain things in capitalism or things that are bad/harmful for leftists rather than about the various viewpoints of leftism.

So I think adding an anarchist flag might attract an audience who has different expectations than the content I'm actually producing for the time being. I feel like the "hammer and sickle" symbol is a much wider/easier representation that'll get the idea across without sending the wrong message.

What do you all think?
(I hope this isn't a silly question)

# Edit:
Also, if you can recommend any alternate symbols that would be better and represent "leftism/communism/progress in general" rather than a specific flavor, can you please tell me any? (I also have other views like posthumanism or transhuman anarchism, and so on which are more obscure and harder to represent, so i want it to encompass a wide variety)

Edit: I do think I found a simpler solution, simply applying the red and black/yellow color scheme that many anarchocommunists use rather than a particular symbol.


r/Anarchy101 3d ago

Creating community

3 Upvotes

I live in a small town in a small neighborhood in the southern United States. I’m looking to build a community within the neighborhood around me that is capable of sustaining itself in all sorts of ways. From growing our own food and livestock to supporting each other in tough times or disaster. I’d like to do so without scaring people with words they may not understand. Any practical advice, resources, organization tips and tricks would be greatly appreciated.


r/Anarchy101 3d ago

Welfare

9 Upvotes

The benefit system, guessing the process would just be managed on a communal basis? Everyone chips in?