If you don’t mind, I’d love to chime in with my own perspective :)

My path to anarchist ideas was pretty organic. I grew up in a rural area, lots of farmers, my school was just a short walk away, and most of our food was locally grown or raised. It struck me that even if the government had suddenly disappeared, our community probably would have been okay. We already relied so much on each other.

I’m not here to tell you what to believe or what label to adopt. Over the past four years, I’ve done a lot of reading and reflecting myself, and what helped me the most was trying to apply different leftist ideas to the place I knew best, my own hometown. That process helped me figure out what might actually work for the people there and for me, that led to anarchism.

So I’d suggest doing something similar: take the ideas you’ve encountered from socialists, communists, anarchists, or whereever and ask yourself “If we did this and this, could this work?” “If we stopped using money in these areas and these areas, could that work?” Even just exploring things like reducing reliance on money in certain areas can be revealing. (It’s worth noting that many anarchist ideas hinge on an optimistic view of human nature, but that’s a whole other conversation.)

At the end of the day, if you’re trying to identify both an ideal society and a realistic path toward it, I think the key is understanding that socialism, whatever shape it takes, requires a culture built on cooperation. That has to come first.

It’s no secret that anarchists are being silenced in China. A lot of it is underground and for good reason. You might have a tough time looking for these circles.

Yup, The Association of German National Jews or Verband nationaldeutscher Juden.

“Leadership is a Role, Not an Identity”

“You may guide, teach, or warn, but you are not the guide, the teacher, or the prophet.”

And with that I can confirm I will continue to use adblock.

There’s a fundamental issue with centralizing that ideology into a political party.

Dude if I were in her position, I’d be shitting bricks. Big ups to her.

This gotta be an american thing, right? Like here in europe it’s quite common to be expressionless to some degree. I don’t know anyone who tries to look happy just for the sake of keeping appearances up.

As far as I’m aware, the terms “Liberal” and “Conservative” aren’t exactly mutually exclusive.

“Conservative” originally referred to defending tradition and social order. “Liberal” emphasized individual rights, reform, and limiting state power. Though once opposing forces, the terms have evolved today, someone can be socially liberal but economically conservative, or vice versa. Their meanings often depend on context.

It’s no wonder they suck at “converting” people, they know nothing about how socialism works. Nevermind the fact that they see it as “converting” rather than just having an open discussion, I can almost guarantee these people will immediately swing around the “no actually soviet union was based” or “nono you dont understand, china was mega based they needed to starve out the population” in a discussion once they lose their patience. If you ever get a chance to talk to these people irl, try to have a convo about a stateless society. I can speak from personal experience, when you bring that up, their mind goes blank, and they will start to sound less like a communist and more like a right-winger.

These are the people that give socialism a bad rep.

I personally like doing my part by just kinda talking to people about anarchism. We all struggle in this system but a lot of us really don’t know the root of it all. We all hate our boss, get stressed about having to pay taxes and rent, and just living paycheck to paycheck. People are sick of it. So if you can just talk to your fellow humans, mono e mono, and portray leftist ideas with positivity and not “fuck capitalism, you should hate it too!!1” that could make a difference. I think what’s pushing a lot of progressive but still liberal people away from full blown socialism (anarchy) is the general negative attitude that Leftist show AND not truly being able to imagine it. So if we all wanna change that and have a honest discussion with our friends and family about anti-capitalism in an informed and good-faith manner, we might actually have a chance at spreading a wider message.

Does this hypothetical society you propose use any industrially produced goods to maintain itself?

ArIf so… do you imagine those industrially produced goods to be the result of a barter economy?

No and no. Since I took food as an example I’ll use that because we all need food and it’s the most important product that needs to be addressed. The way we produce today industrially is 1) centralized, 2) profit-driven, and 3) heavily dependent on exploitative labor and fossil fuels. In contrast, the model I’m proposing would decentralize food production, it would be very emphatic on local autonomy, and be organized around mutual aid and shared responsibility rather than trade or barter.

Instead of massive monoculture farms and supply chains thousands of miles long, food would be grown close to where people live - through networks of community gardens, small-scale permaculture farms, and cooperative distribution. The tools and materials needed, (yes, even some that are industrially produced) could be made in worker-run, federated workshops where production is democratically planned and prioritized based on need, not market demand.

So no, it’s not barter. It’s not trade. The example that I tried to give was not fully “you give me X, I give you Y.” (I know, I did a shit job of explaining it) It’s a gift-based, need-based economy rooted in reciprocity (what we already see in disaster response and indigenous food sovereignty projects). It’s about building systems where everyone has access to what they need without having to earn it or bargain for it.

You need to understand that money became much more than a tool facilitate trade. Nowadays it’s become a way of consolidating power and controlling resources, which amplifies inequality. When you say:

There’s no rule that says an anarchist society needs to be moneyless.

That’s not exactly the full truth. Getting rid of money right this instant would be a logistical nightmare. But there are already so many things we don’t need money for it’s hysterical. Being an anarchist today means you question authority constantly to either deem it legitimate or not. In todays age money is a great tool for you to hoard resources and otherwise wealth. So the question for us is not “How fast can we get rid of money” but rather “What kind of system can we implement in order to make money practically useless.”

Edit: In other words, lets say you have 100 Dollars, you decide “I wanna buy some bread.” You stumble upon a commune that eliminated money entirely and traded based on need. You see two people are actively trading bread and fruits… with no profit incentive whatsoever. Just kind of trading because “ehh, I have enough apples for myself, here you go.” Wont that interaction make you completely question those 100 bucks that you planned to use?

I don’t think Elon is that smart to realize what ‘delete all IP laws’ entails. He probably thinks it in the sense of an anarcho-capitalist.

Anarchy for me not for thee.