The short anarchist answer is thatanarchism isn’t about “no protection” or “no power.” It’s about no unaccountable, dominating authority. Protection shifts from a monopoly on force to a shared infrastructure made of three things: material security (so people can’t be coerced through scarcity), thick care networks (so vulnerability isn’t isolated), and community accountability (clear agreements and consequences that can include removal of access, without handing everything to police and prisons). The goal is to make harm harder to get away with and power harder to hoard through rotation, transparency, and recallable roles.
If you want solid entry points, I’d start with Berkman and Malatesta for clarity, Kropotkin for provision, Rocker for coordination at scale, and Spade and Kaba for mutual aid and safety beyond policing. But there are hundreds of theorists and no single conception of Anarchism that can be considered the definitive. Anarchism has thousands of flavours, not all of which I agree with, or often that I think are culturally or regionally contextual.
A lot of my writing is very specifically about addressing these 3 layers and describing how they work, without using Anarchist jargon that so often leads people to misunderstanding.
I keep thinking about these things and I needed some direction.
I don't know what the solution is but I am convinced that a successful system has to disperse power as much as possible while retaining enough coherence to be able to protect. I think protection may be the primary purpose of a society. These are just thoughts. I have not done much reading or research. I really appreciate your suggestions.
I don't expect to be part of the new world or whatever it should be called. I just think about it a lot. I am old and not in good health. I read a lot, and I think.
Poor Steve, thwarted again. I also feel some fondness for him. Tortured by gratitude! He needs to fall in love or have some sort of spiritual awakening haha This was another fun read, lots of smiles and some chuckles. And totally resonate with those teens. Always include a non-participation corner at my gatherings 🤗
I need to understand more about anarchist systems. What should I read.
One of the biggest questions I have is how can a system protect the vulnerable without authority and power to protect?
Thank you for your time.
The short anarchist answer is thatanarchism isn’t about “no protection” or “no power.” It’s about no unaccountable, dominating authority. Protection shifts from a monopoly on force to a shared infrastructure made of three things: material security (so people can’t be coerced through scarcity), thick care networks (so vulnerability isn’t isolated), and community accountability (clear agreements and consequences that can include removal of access, without handing everything to police and prisons). The goal is to make harm harder to get away with and power harder to hoard through rotation, transparency, and recallable roles.
If you want solid entry points, I’d start with Berkman and Malatesta for clarity, Kropotkin for provision, Rocker for coordination at scale, and Spade and Kaba for mutual aid and safety beyond policing. But there are hundreds of theorists and no single conception of Anarchism that can be considered the definitive. Anarchism has thousands of flavours, not all of which I agree with, or often that I think are culturally or regionally contextual.
A lot of my writing is very specifically about addressing these 3 layers and describing how they work, without using Anarchist jargon that so often leads people to misunderstanding.
Thank you very much.
I keep thinking about these things and I needed some direction.
I don't know what the solution is but I am convinced that a successful system has to disperse power as much as possible while retaining enough coherence to be able to protect. I think protection may be the primary purpose of a society. These are just thoughts. I have not done much reading or research. I really appreciate your suggestions.
I don't expect to be part of the new world or whatever it should be called. I just think about it a lot. I am old and not in good health. I read a lot, and I think.
I enjoy your writing.
Thank you again.
Poor Steve, thwarted again. I also feel some fondness for him. Tortured by gratitude! He needs to fall in love or have some sort of spiritual awakening haha This was another fun read, lots of smiles and some chuckles. And totally resonate with those teens. Always include a non-participation corner at my gatherings 🤗