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The Case for Anarchism or why Hierarchy should be Abolished
Submitted by Drewy on Sun, 07/08/2016 - 8:45pm
This short work outlines the current state of society, the structure of that state, and the dialectic of hierarchy and anti-hierarchy and the conclusion of said dialectic.
When you look at society today, what do you see? You see workers and business owners, citizens and policepeople, policepeople and commanders, citizens and government, soldiers and officers, agents and agencies, renters and property owners, users and intellectual property owners, and so on. How did these relationships materialise? Quite simply, "primitive communism" led to warring tribes, with territories expanding, and stronger members of tribes oppressing others. Following the invention of farming and stronger weaponry, these tribes had a revolution, with the creation of the hierarchy of feudalism. The king ruled supreme, with the knights and lords and peasants all in hierarchical subordination. After a while, the bourgeoisie toppled the feudal hierarchies of the world creating their own hierarchy - haute bourgeoisie, state, petty bourgeoisie, proletarian. This bourgeois hierarchy has been in effect for roughly 200 years and continues in this class subordination.
Looking at the hierarchical relationship of today's society, what do you see? You see two things. Obviously you see a relationship between an inferior and a superior. You see a relationship between an oppressor and suppressed, a leader and a follower, an educator and a student. And so on. Then you see the psychology of the two in this relation. The person below sees the person above as having authority, whether intellectual, strength, power in numbers, etc. They see themselves as necessary being in the lower rung in the relationship. They do not believe they are intelligent, they do not believe they can make decisions for themselves, they look to their superior as knowing best, they do not believe in themselves. The oppressor in the relationship lets their negative human qualities consume them. Power, greed, malice, domination, sadism. They draw energy and feed on their subordinates in a sick fashion. This relationship only gets worse the higher they propel themselves into the hierarchy of society, whether it be the corporation, the state, or whatever institution it may be.
Hierarchy clashes with basic human character. When we have a friend we do not try and control them, dictate what they can and cannot do. We do not talk down to them. We do not delegate, or decide their lives. Similarly, when we work in a team, unless we are in a hierarchical institution, we do not have a leader materialise who does nothing and tells everyone what to do, we work collaboratively and cordially, with mutual respect and co-ordination. Why is it then, that the contradiction of hierarchy plagues every society on earth?
The simple answer, as mentioned before, is that the modes of production have fundamentally stayed the same for thousands of years. Hierarchy and domination.
What people don't realise, is that their mode of thinking is not immovable. People can start to think, why do I need to government to decide what's best for me, why can't I consult with my local community to decide what is good? Why do I need a policeperson to "protect" me? Why can't the local community join in solidarity to protect each other. Why do I need a political party? Why can't we all decide things with equal weighting? Why do I need a landlord? Why can't people share the land equally? Why do I need money? Why can't people share their goods and services equitably? Why do I need a boss? Why can't we all own entities collectively? Why can't I decide things at work without asking my boss? Why do we need an army? Why can't we just unite with other workers around the world and destroy all killing machines. Why do we need spies? With no private property the spies cannot rat on who might want to share. Why do people own software and books etc? Why can't we share our works?
Why do we need a state? The very thing that enslaves us.