How does the internet work in Anarchy?

[Drowzy_Shooter]

How would we maintain the complicated infrastructure? Also, how do we plan to keep control of natural gas and electricity plants?


In theory, I imagine the "communities" would stake out land plots and control whatever is inside of them. Hopefully, people would find plots that have power so they could supply themselves.

What do y'all think?

[thefinalmarch]

Most of the answers that will follow are likely to be largely speculation and guesswork.

[hatzel]

I imagine the "communities" would stake out land plots and control whatever is inside of them.

In fact I sincerely hope that people wouldn't do that. I think we've all had just about enough of people drawing lines on a map and saying "THIS IS MY BIT!!!" I would much prefer it if political (that is to say territorial) systems of governance could be overcome. By this I mean I would advocate the independent administration of certain people who happen to inhabit a given territory, rather than the independent administration of a given territory which happens to be inhabited by certain people. If you understand what I mean. And as we won't keep digging our fuel out of the ground for much longer (particularly not in an anarchic society), ensuring your community is on top of a load of oil or whatever won't be so serious a concern.

But I'm not going to play along with all this "speculation and guesswork," actually. It would depend entirely on what form exactly this anarchic society ends up taking. Of course there may be some similarities between different systems, but (to take an example) parecon and a gift economy are sufficiently different to suggest that the exact manner in which the issues you speak of would be approached would be substantially different. As such, any attempt to answer the question would require prophecy; it can be nothing more than suggestion. One could say "I would personally advocate this particular socio-politico-economic system, in which the internet would be managed in the following fashion," but this relies on society matching the blueprints you've laid out for it. Something which isn't really all that likely. Whilst there's no harm in having an idea in mind, something to strive towards, one should always be open to modification, as expecting the end result to match this original concept perfectly is naïve. Strangely enough, I feel like quoting Arnold Schoenberg now. Because, as everybody knows, composers are the best people to ask for political advice:


I see the work as a whole first. Then I compose the details. In working out, I always lose something. This cannot be avoided. There is always some loss when we materialise. But there is compensating gain in vitality.
I do, however, trust human innovation to find a solution. Even if this solution is just to ditch the internet and develop alternatives.

[Ocean Seal]

I do, however, trust human innovation to find a solution. Even if this solution is just to ditch the internet and develop alternatives.
A revolution without the internet, well you know the rest...

[TheGodlessUtopian]

I would imagine that the internet would work as it does now only without all the corporate involvement constantly hawking ads at you to buy meaningless crap.

[hatzel]

A revolution without the internet, well you know the rest...

Oh, I dunno. A revolution in the 40's without the radio, a revolution in the 80's without the television, a revolution today without the internet. Know what I mean?

[Искра]

You click on Modzilla and then you type Mujeres Libre porn in Anarcho-Google.

[IndependentCitizen]

We'd all be getting super fast broadband for free! :D

[RedRose]

I thought this at first, but under communism, people would simply host the internet I guess... I'm no expert, but people will simply host DNS servers, create ISPs under their own steam. You don't need to be paid to do something. Power plants will be created because people need power, but quite probably without the need to create a profit more plants will be renewable energy etc.

I don't really think this is that much of a difficult question, life under communism will be VERY different to how it is now, but not that much. People will still host servers and ISPs. The internet isn't a centralised system, it's basically a load of systems connected together. People will simply put together the resources required to host internet servers and DNS's and do it essentially.

[Belleraphone]

Wouldn't it be managed just like everything else? I think in anarcho-syndicalism, the Power union would just give power to those who host the servers and provide the internet, and then the electrician union just puts up the wires and installs them in our homes while an engineer union manufactures better modems and routers.

Also, what do you mean by complicated infrastructure? The internet is pretty decentralized and is a lot like the wild west.

[Drowzy_Shooter]

Also, what do you mean by complicated infrastructure? The internet is pretty decentralized and is a lot like the wild west.


I mean keeping the servers updated and whatnot, it seems as though it might break down a little bit.

But hey, I'm probably just being a pesimist. I'm sure we'd find a way.

[Drowzy_Shooter]

We'd all be getting super fast broadband for free! :D
Now that, I wouldn't complain about :laugh:

[Drowzy_Shooter]

In fact I sincerely hope that people wouldn't do that. I think we've all had just about enough of people drawing lines on a map and saying "THIS IS MY BIT!!!" I would much prefer it if political (that is to say territorial) systems of governance could be overcome. By this I mean I would advocate the independent administration of certain people who happen to inhabit a given territory, rather than the independent administration of a given territory which happens to be inhabited by certain people. If you understand what I mean. And as we won't keep digging our fuel out of the ground for much longer (particularly not in an anarchic society), ensuring your community is on top of a load of oil or whatever won't be so serious a concern.


I agree completely. I'm really hoping people can find a way not to be like you said, THIS IS MY BIT!!!!. I'm just counting on people (at first) to want to feel like their community has a particular peace of land. After 6 months or so I figure everything will just be, as you say again, the independent administration of certain people who happen to inhabit a given territory, rather than the independent administration of a given territory which happens to be inhabited by certain people (forgive me if I misquote).

But tl,dr I agree with you. And I was hoping for speculation. Not necessarily a "this is gonna be how it is" more of a, "this is what I think it will be".

[Decommissioner]

As with any "how will this work?" question the answer seems to be obvious. Those who own and maintain the servers online and those who control the pipes will have to hand over (or have taken) the control to their workers, who in turn will continue to maintain this specific MoP but under an anarchists/communist system and will improve on the model based on that.

With that said, the internet is special in that it can become decentralized right now under capitalism with the advent of mesh networking.

Look up information on Darknets, Mesh networks, FAB FI etc.. the jist is we can collectively own and maintain the internet for free by using out wireless networks and pc's as servers. This is proven possible and the only thing preventing this from happening right now is lack of awareness and the need for a little more improvements in the system.

Also look up ahumanright blog, which is a charity attempting to buy a satellite to provide free wifi to the globe. Under a communist system I can easily this as the default means to provide all with internet access.

[The Dark Side of the Moon]

same way it does now, except without all the annoying ads

[ckaihatsu]

We'd all be getting super fast broadband for free! :D


Right-wingers would accuse us of wanting a Stalinistic hell, where economic stagnation and bureaucratic corruption would force the rationing of binary digits, with forced labor camps for manually transcribing data from wire to wire....


>8 /


x D

[El Louton]

It wouldn't. We wouldn't need it.

[ckaihatsu]

It wouldn't. We wouldn't need it.


Oh, so a post-now communal anarchy would go off the written word altogether -- ? An industrial-technological society ditching it all to go skinny dipping -- ?

= )

[The Garbage Disposal Unit]

Augh, I see this thread, and all I can think is: Young people everywhere have been allowed to choose between love and a garbage disposal unit. Everywhere they have chosen the garbage disposal unit.

Or, to put it bluntly, who gives a flying fuck? If the cost of a free society is giving up fucking facebook, and you'd rather have facebook, you don't deserve freedom.

[ckaihatsu]

There's a point to be made here somewhere that to be into Facebook at all means that you must actually *love* Big Brother.... (Congrats, I guess, if that's you, the reader.)

But certainly the Internet *works*, like plumbing of a sort, and so now it's finally ubiquitous and user-empowering (as with handheld devices) -- what's always more at stake is the socio-political "layer" that emerges from larger class-conflict and geopolitical forces, ever adhering to the pulse of the markets and working class confidence in its own mass struggle.