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“As a young teenager in proudly peaceable Canada during the romantic 1960s, I was a true believer in Bakunin’s anarchism. I laughed off my parents’ argument that if the government ever laid down its arms all hell would break loose.
“Our competing predictions were put to the test at 8:00 A.M. on October 17, 1969, when the Montreal police went on strike. By 11:20 A.M. the first bank was robbed. By noon most downtown stores had closed because of looting.
Within a few more hours, taxi drivers burned down the garage of a limousine service that competed with them for airport customers, a rooftop sniper killed a provincial police officer, rioters broke into several hotels and restaurants, and a doctor slew a burglar in his suburban home.
“By the end of the day, six banks had been robbed, a hundred shops had been looted, twelve fires had been set, forty carloads of storefront glass had been broken, and three million dollars in property damage had been inflicted, before city authorities had to call in the army and, of course, the Mounties to restore order.”
The alternative is survival of the fittest, and US cities will descend in to something akin to the Hunger Games.
The wealthy would simply employ private personal protection and armed security, the rest of society including the elderly and vulnerable would be at the mercy of criminals and organised crime.
“As a young teenager in proudly peaceable Canada during the romantic 1960s, I was a true believer in Bakunin’s anarchism. I laughed off my parents’ argument that if the government ever laid down its arms all hell would break loose.
“Our competing predictions were put to the test at 8:00 A.M. on October 17, 1969, when the Montreal police went on strike. By 11:20 A.M. the first bank was robbed. By noon most downtown stores had closed because of looting.
Within a few more hours, taxi drivers burned down the garage of a limousine service that competed with them for airport customers, a rooftop sniper killed a provincial police officer, rioters broke into several hotels and restaurants, and a doctor slew a burglar in his suburban home.
“By the end of the day, six banks had been robbed, a hundred shops had been looted, twelve fires had been set, forty carloads of storefront glass had been broken, and three million dollars in property damage had been inflicted, before city authorities had to call in the army and, of course, the Mounties to restore order.”
-Steven Pinker, The Blank Slate
I see these "arguments" against anarchism all the time, but they always leave out a fundamental detail - the NonAggression Principle is not in effect because the state machinery is still in place that prevents the victim of an initiation of force from responding properly. Under the NAP, when you initiate force, you voluntarily surrender any and all of your natural rights, up to and including your right to life. The NAP doesn't place any limit whatsoever on how a victim of an initiation of force is allowed to respond to their assailant.
In the case of the 1969 Montreal police strike, had the NAP gone into effect, then that first bank robbery could/should have resulted in any one of the bank personnel who had force initiated against them responding properly to their assailant. Bank robber killed on the spot, bank robbery foiled. Had all those store owners been allowed to exercise their individual right of self-defense of life, liberty and property, instead of being conditioned to wait for appointed agents of tyranny to rescue them, same thing. Couple stores have attempted looting, and a few looters are either dead or severely wounded for their efforts, and order would naturally restore itself in short order.
They always leave that part out of these "see what happens when we try anarchy" stories. It isn't anarchy. It's the same restrictions and penalties for the already law abiding, and more freedom for the lawless. That's not anarchy, it's government engineered and sanctioned barbarism.
I see these "arguments" against anarchism all the time, but they always leave out a fundamental detail - the NonAggression Principle is not in effect because the state machinery is still in place that prevents the victim of an initiation of force from responding properly. Under the NAP, when you initiate force, you voluntarily surrender any and all of your natural rights, up to and including your right to life. The NAP doesn't place any limit whatsoever on how a victim of an initiation of force is allowed to respond to their assailant.
In the case of the 1969 Montreal police strike, had the NAP gone into effect, then that first bank robbery could/should have resulted in any one of the bank personnel who had force initiated against them responding properly to their assailant. Bank robber killed on the spot, bank robbery foiled. Had all those store owners been allowed to exercise their individual right of self-defense of life, liberty and property, instead of being conditioned to wait for appointed agents of tyranny to rescue them, same thing. Couple stores have attempted looting, and a few looters are either dead or severely wounded for their efforts, and order would naturally restore itself in short order.
They always leave that part out of these "see what happens when we try anarchy" stories. It isn't anarchy. It's the same restrictions and penalties for the already law abiding, and more freedom for the lawless. That's not anarchy, it's government engineered and sanctioned barbarism.
Edit: I was going to try to add on here but it's not worth it.
Last edited by No_Recess; 01-02-2020 at 08:13 AM..
Reason: I forgot where I was.
I see these "arguments" against anarchism all the time, but they always leave out a fundamental detail - the NonAggression Principle is not in effect because the state machinery is still in place that prevents the victim of an initiation of force from responding properly. Under the NAP, when you initiate force, you voluntarily surrender any and all of your natural rights, up to and including your right to life. The NAP doesn't place any limit whatsoever on how a victim of an initiation of force is allowed to respond to their assailant.
In the case of the 1969 Montreal police strike, had the NAP gone into effect, then that first bank robbery could/should have resulted in any one of the bank personnel who had force initiated against them responding properly to their assailant. Bank robber killed on the spot, bank robbery foiled. Had all those store owners been allowed to exercise their individual right of self-defense of life, liberty and property, instead of being conditioned to wait for appointed agents of tyranny to rescue them, same thing. Couple stores have attempted looting, and a few looters are either dead or severely wounded for their efforts, and order would naturally restore itself in short order.
They always leave that part out of these "see what happens when we try anarchy" stories. It isn't anarchy. It's the same restrictions and penalties for the already law abiding, and more freedom for the lawless. That's not anarchy, it's government engineered and sanctioned barbarism.
The bank more likely would have their own hired police, as would other businesses. Instead of one police force for the city you would have multiple, probably some turf wars. Anarchy indeed.
I don't get how some people's minds work. Crime has been around for ever since man. There have always been some sort of law enforcement is some form or other.
We will always need police protection because there will always been people who commit crimes.
Lack of a police force means a good case for vigilantism .Without a police force who will protect the outlaw ? 1860s state of Missouri had plenty of hangings .
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