Atheism & Hope

[joreth]

"Atheism and anarchist theory were the first things that gave me any hope in this world. They were the things that said we had the power within us to make things better. Everything else said we were either evil or helpless to fate."
~Unknown

From http://gretachristina.typepad.com/greta_christinas_weblog/2008/09/atheism-and-hope.html

This reminds me of tacit 's post http://tacit.livejournal.com/205515.html Why I'm An Optimist

(I'm not an anarchist, but that's part of the quote)

Comments

[joreth]

Maybe it's the cynic in me, but I think "true democracy" is a bit utopian too. I lean towards a mix of social democracy/republic because, like science, I think it's the best we've come up with so far. I like capitalism and I like individual choice and I like universal health care. What can I say, I want it all!

Seriously, though, when discussing governmental systems, I think, in practice, some systems work better than others and accomodate those "personal flaws" better than others, and my very brief look at anarchy and communism has shown me that, in practice, neither seems to work very well, which mean that they're too "utopian" and not practical. Even on smaller scales, those communistic communities that have sprung up over the years seem to fail pretty dismally. I think there's a lot to be said about systems that reward personal achievement, but there needs to be a safety net to ensure a basic quality of life.

And, in my uninformed opinion, anarchy and communism just don't cut it. None of them do, really, but social democracy has come closest and been sustained the longest.

[aclaro.livejournal.com]

"anarchy and communism has shown me that, in practice, neither seems to work very well"

Well, countries who call (or have called) themselves communist, typically aren't. It's like saying the "democratic people's republic of north korea," is a democracy, or the nazi party is socialist (which they claimed to be). China, Russia etc. are/were closer to "state capitalism". In any case, I don't think communism looks good on paper or in practice, so I'm not arguing with you there. I also don't think it has much to do with anarchism.

Catalonia was working just fine until it was crushed militarily, so I guess for now we really don't know if it would have worked in the long run or not as it's the only real example of anarcho-syndicalism.

However, I will say I'm incredibly grateful to those who embrace anarchist philosophy. Nearly all the movers and shakers of the labor movement around the turn of the century were anarchists. Anarchism.. that is.. the idea that *labor* has the value (and therefore the workers), beyond wages that provide only for a desperate survival, that gave people the strength to rise up and demand fair treatment.