Log in

View Full Version : Environmental regulations under an anarchist society?



Skyhilist
1st March 2013, 03:43
I've thought this through for a while and my idea was that a common front or something like that would just step in if any environmental or social harm was done by a local community through direct democracy, or something like that. I'm sure there's a more rational answer to this though and a more concrete way of dealing with potential environmental and social problems direct democracy might bring if unregulated, so I'd like to hear them if anyone knows about how most anarchists would deal with this issue.

Let me clarify a little more. I know that post-revolution, a lot of the incentive to pollute the planet would be taken away to begin with, but there I think certainly would be at least some instances where some people would do things like pollute or poach or kill animals (like snakes) just because they didn't like them if there was no environmental regulation. So clearly there's gotta be some way of regulating this. But I don't think local communities can always be trusted to regulate themselves. Like in the southern United States, towns where "Rattesnake Roundups" occur promote the mass slaughter of the snakes for entertainment and have decimated native populations, obviously having a very negative environmental impact. If backwards communities like these were allowed to regulate themselves, they would certainly act in environmentally harmful ways by continuing harmful traditions like Rattlesnake Roundups. So how would these more backwards communities and regions be regulated and stopped from causing severe environmental degradation via their backwards ways? How would this be done without a state and without ever instituting illegitimate authority?

Moreover, how would it be done in other cases as well, like in schools? In some areas of the south, more people support creationism being taught in schools than do not; in fact in some places down there and I'd imagine in other more religious parts of the world as well, even the majority of teachers support teaching creationism and/or other anti-science beliefs. Schools clearly shouldn't be instilling new generations with anti-science beliefs, so once again, how would we combat this without instituting a state?

I'm completely aware that these issues would likely be somewhat marginalized in a world where attitudes had changed enough for their to be a revolution. But even assuming that, I think such issues would certainly still be a legitimate problem that would need to be dealt with, to quite a serious extent. As I said earlier, my idea was that a common front of revolutionaries would step in should communities ever make such terrible decisions, however I'm pretty sure there's a more rational anarchist solution that I simply haven't heard. So could someone who knows about this please explain to me how these problems could be efficiently dealt with without instituting a state? I'm looking for like a coherent system here where we don't have to look at thousands of possible poor decisions (e.g. "teach creationism") made by local communities on a case by case basis.

Thanks in advance.

Petrol_Bomb
1st March 2013, 04:03
I only have time to give a simplified answer, so this isn't very in depth. Anyway, like you said, the ability to do harm would be greatly reduced after an anarchist revolution. It's not backwards communities that do the most harm to the planet. It's states and corporations. When those are removed, well, it would basically be a lot harder to make any impact. However, if communities refused to engage in responsible practices, I would imagine all other communities would cut contact and refuse to exchange goods with them.

Skyhilist
1st March 2013, 06:10
I only have time to give a simplified answer, so this isn't very in depth. Anyway, like you said, the ability to do harm would be greatly reduced after an anarchist revolution. It's not backwards communities that do the most harm to the planet. It's states and corporations. When those are removed, well, it would basically be a lot harder to make any impact. However, if communities refused to engage in responsible practices, I would imagine all other communities would cut contact and refuse to exchange goods with them.

But what if those communities have goods that the other communities need and they can't afford to cut ties with them?

Also, what would stop the isolated backwards regions with their inhumane traditions (like rattlesnake roundups and bull fighting for example) from forming an alliance where they would still exhange goods with each other despite being cut off from other regions?

YouthLiberation
1st March 2013, 14:06
If they are that organized and independent I think even a state would have trouble shuting them down. Even today I think nothing short of a military intervention could stop such people. I don't advocate the use of military force though, I think we would be better served trying to educate communities like these and show them the errors of their ways. Worst case scenario: we will have to attack them as an act of self-defence because they are ruining it for all of us.

Charles Marxley
2nd March 2013, 02:16
I know this doesn't answer your question, but this is one of the major issues that shifted me towards communism.

Skyhilist
2nd March 2013, 02:53
I know this doesn't answer your question, but this is one of the major issues that shifted me towards communism.

I support communism too actually, just the anarchist variety.

cantwealljustgetalong
2nd March 2013, 21:25
Charles' point is that these very questions concerning environmental stewardship and the 'organic' regeneration of ideology shifted him away from anarchism. These questions would probably be better answered by other anarchists, because non-anarchist communists think that these problems are too big for direct democracy to handle alone.