Chilean activist destroys student debt papers worth $500m

[C0ckney]

Are there cops in anarchy?

well i can't tell you what anarchy will look like, although no state would mean no laws to enforce, so why would you have police?

[C0ckney]

because human beings can't control themselves when left unsupervised

that's pretty unconvincing.

[Lorizael]

No laws = no criminals.

[Sava]

that's pretty unconvincing.

If you haven't figured out people by now, I doubt I can help you.

[Sava]

well i can't tell you what anarchy will look like, although no state would mean no laws to enforce, so why would you have police?

I'm just curious. Is anarchism something you seriously believe in?

[AAAAAAAAH!]

well i can't tell you what anarchy will look like, although no state would mean no laws to enforce, so why would you have police?

Do you think more people will commit theft, murder and rape if there are no cops to arrest them and no prison for them to go to?

[Sava]

Do you think more people will commit theft, murder and rape if there are no cops to arrest them and no prison for them to go to?

No, because people are personally responsible.

[C0ckney]

I'm just curious. Is anarchism something you seriously believe in?

in one sense yes. my ideal world would be one without states, borders and private property; a world where people organise themselves to satisfy their needs, wants and desires and where we have direct democratic control over every aspect of our lives, workplaces and communities.

however, i accept that this is extremely unlikely to happen and so i also have views about the things could be improved within the context of the current system.

[Lorizael]

I'm not sure your ideal world can be created without change human nature. Mind you, I see nothing wrong with changing human nature.

[C0ckney]

Do you think more people will commit theft, murder and rape if there are no cops to arrest them and no prison for them to go to?

it seems to me that it depends on the social and economic context and also on the particular circumstances which people find themselves in. it's a good question as to whether more people would kill if there were no legal repercussions for doing so. they might, but then again i doubt i would kill anyone if i thought i could get away with it, would you? so really i think your question is about deterrence, and its value is certainly debatable. for example the US locks up more people than any other country and has the death penalty for murder and yet people still commit these sort of crimes.

to give a direct answer, in the current social, economic and political context, probably yes. however, if the context were changed, by abolishing the state and private property, and thinking about the new kind of society that would create, then it's much more open to debate.

[C0ckney]

I'm not sure your ideal world can be created without change human nature. Mind you, I see nothing wrong with changing human nature.

sure, but what do you mean by human nature?

to me 'human nature' (the way we think and act in a given situation) is mostly created by our environment, by our family structures, by our communities, by the economic realities, by the wider society in which we live and its prevailing values. if they were changed then 'human nature' would inevitably change as a result.

[Sava]

where we have direct democratic control over every aspect of our lives, workplaces and communities.

Democracy is government. Anarchism and democracy are mutually exclusive.

[Sava]

sure, but what do you mean by human nature?

to me 'human nature' (the way we think and act in a given situation) is mostly created by our environment, by our family structures, by our communities, by the economic realities, by the wider society in which we live and its prevailing values. if they were changed then 'human nature' would inevitably change as a result.

What you describe is "human nurture"... for lack of a better term. But regardless of the nomenclature, what you describe is the opposite of "nature".

[The Mad Monk]

So Kid... the bank bailouts... Good? Or bad?

Coupled with the general lack of prosecution or other penalties? Bad. Oh so very bad.

[Lorizael]

sure, but what do you mean by human nature?

to me 'human nature' (the way we think and act in a given situation) is mostly created by our environment, by our family structures, by our communities, by the economic realities, by the wider society in which we live and its prevailing values. if they were changed then 'human nature' would inevitably change as a result.

The tabula rasa doesn't really exist. If you were to take a sentient, intelligent alien species and put it in the exact same environment as us, the aliens would react differently because, despite plasticity, their genetics are going to give them different brains. Thus, there is a biological component to human nature that cannot be neglected.