A Critique of Stefan Molyneux’s Discussion with Stephan Kinsella on Schooling

One of my strategies in sniffing out unequal or one sided relationships is to always shift the players around. Lets say a politician asked the question “How do you manage the behavior of the people?” Your response would likely be something like “Who are you? I am not your subject to be managed!” Of course you are probably thinking, well this is the difference between a young child who lacks experience and mental capabilities and an adult. I would somewhat agree, but also have strong disagreement. There is a little bit more subtlety at work.

Anarchy, By Definition, Is Voluntary

Anarchy means “no rulers.” This is key. It is key because if your brand of anarchy requires you to dismantle, or take, or otherwise forcefully remove from me that which I voluntarily acquired as mine (i.e. – property) (and regardless of whether or not you see it that way – your p.o.v. is irrelevant) without my approval, you have placed yourself and your philosophy above me as a person. I am now a serf, and you are my ruler.

Letting Go of Social Change

So much of anarchism, and radical politics in general, seems to be about envisioning an ideal society, strategizing about how to get there, and charging forth on that mission. For me, I don’t really believe in that. I mean, yes, envisioning an ideal society (or two, or three, or three hundred) can be fun, and strategizing about how to get there can be an enjoyable way to pass the time, but in the end I simply do not believe it.

Cultural Osmosis

The enemy of reason is authority. People either believe something because reason tells them it is a true belief, or they believe it because some authority figure, whether it be a teacher, a parent, a priest or a politician, tells them it is so and they choose not to actively engage their reason in questioning the truth of what they are taught.

Anarchism as Constitutionalism

Trying to refute anarchism by pointing to undesirable instances of anarchy is about as bad an argument as trying to refute Bidinotto’s advocacy of government by pointing to the Soviet Union or Nazi Germany. Whether a state is horrendous or decent depends in large part on its constitutional structure; whether an anarchic society is horrendous or decent likewise depends on its constitutional structure.