Practical Politics
From Organic Design wiki
- Practical Politics (YouTube) by Stefan Molyneux
- Anarchists should abandon their mad hopes and buckle down to some REAL political action - the argument from practicality...
Contents
Politics, Philosophy & Practicality
Political activism
Anarchist philosophy: a definition
- Ignoring politics
- Applying the principles of ethics and voluntarism to your own life
- Rejecting optional relationships with people who support the use of violence
- Pursuing relationships with truly moral people
Politics vs. Anarchy: the core criticism
- "Anarchy is completely impractical"
- "A stateless society will never be achieved in our lifetime"
- "Political activity is the only way to practically secure personal liberty"
- "Those who avoid political action are only contributing to the growth of the state"
- Thus: 'abandoning your post' is bad
In general:
- Anarchy is considered to be an extension of libertarian practical goals
- The core political goal is to reduce the power of the state - anarchy aims to eliminate the state
For this criticism to be valid:
- Political action must be proven to be effective
- The benefits of political action must be greater than the costs
- Acting on anarchist principles must be proven to be ineffective
- The costs of acting on anarchist principles must be greater than the benefits
Where do Politics / Anarchism fit?
Political Action: a case study
- 20 hours / week = 1,040 hours / year
- or: 26 weeks: half of a full-time job
- not only unpaid, but actually costs money
- (donations, subscriptions, books, etc.)
- equivalent to 33% tax on income
- (2 jobs; 0.5 unpaid ÷ 1.5 paid = 1/3 of your time!)
- This investment is only of value if politics will in fact set you significantly free!