Ok, let’s bring back the dinos

That’s a police force, not an army. An army can be used to stop riots in an emergency, but that’s not their job and they tend to suck at it.

Legal and structural differences, sure. But fundamentally the same thing- weapons of the state to enforce laws with the threat of violence (internally or externally).

Is some people in some parts of the world losing some of their freedoms a bigger problem than war, colonialism and the sheer waste of resources for ‘defence’ that could be better used for constructive purposes?

Yes. Empathy for others comes AFTER empathy for myself first. Not everyone is an ethical utilitarian, definitely not me. The first thing I burn down is an authoritarian structure that affects me. Once I’m done with that, I move on to structures that affect others. But inviting an authoritarian structure to oppress me with the hope that it will lessen pain for people who hate me? No thanks.

Sigh… Texas…

I didn’t provide an answer because the answer is highly obvious.

Let’s say the means of automation are seized by the public. Anyone can use it. You don’t have to be rich to benefit from the “fruits of automation”.

People can now innovate more. Public services can be a lot more efficient. High frequency, low capacity self driving buses running in remote communities could be possible. The public’s bus fares drop. If we get AI safe enough to engage in healthcare… well healthcare costs down (meaning lower taxes for us).

Basically, any service that requires human labor… doesn’t end up needing it anymore. Noone has to do boring soul sucking jobs anymore.

By “redistribute the fruits of automation”, I mean plans like UBI, more universal basic services and so on.

Ok, rant time.

This is how the market is SUPPOSED to work: Demand high, supply low. Suppliers rush in to increase supply with the incentive of profit. Eventually, supply increases and profits become razor thin. Consumers (average folk) win.

BUT, there are certain sectors where monopolies/oligopolies form naturally. Not necessarily because companies are evil, but because it’s simply economically more efficient to do so. Rail being the best example. Why would another rail company build a parallel track to an already existing freight corridor that connects 2 companies?

Banks require to pass through a lot of financial regulation (as they should). Hence, oligopolies form naturally. Same with telecom.

NOW. Let’s look at our utopic market again. Profits should be high where supply hasn’t met demand. NOT where supply and demand are the same. This is very good for those owning the companies (capitalists), but not good for the consumers (us). In our ideal market, this profit reduction happens due to competition. However, we have established that some sectors naturally are prone to less competition.

Banks posting record profits (when banking isn’t exactly a sector that requires crazy investment to meet allegedly crazy increasing demand) is bad for the average person. Same with companies that are in sectors where not much investment is needed. Groceries being an example.

So what do we do to reduce profits in such sectors so that a handful of people aren’t ripping us off? Here’s my opinion:

The state should force oligopolies/monopolies to become consumer cooepratives. If this is too politically infeasible, then raise capital, start a state owned corp and immediately shift the operations to a consumer cooperative (of which every citizen is a member by default).

So TLDR: The stock market booming isn’t always a good thing. Sure, actually innovative corps posting record profits (from the new stuff they’ve worked on) can be a good thing. BUT, boring ass corps which aren’t exactly innovating posting increasing profits means that the consumer (us) is getting ripped off.

Uh, yes? That would be my dream scenario.

The majority of the world is deeply deeply socially conservative. A singular global state means that it can legislate away freedoms that queer folk have. Unless you are socially conservative yourself, I have no idea why this would be your dream scenario.

Why would they need an army? To fight the penguins?

To enforce laws. A “law” is a legislated rule that is backed by the threat of violence. Let’s say the global state decides to increase excise taxes on weed. The administrative division that was the former country of the Netherlands rebels against this and refuses to pay the increased tax.

The state’s last resort is sending in an armed force that can violently collect this tax if necessary.

Without an armed force to enforce laws, you get… the UN. An institution that just passes resolutions, which can easily be ignored by literally anyone. The UN is a forum of states to “talk”. It is not a state itself.

I’m so tired of the “AI bad” narrative on the left. SEIZE THE NEW MEANS OF PRODUCTION AND ACCELERATE.

Get rid of human labor, redistribute the fruits of automation to everyone so that we can be on a forever holiday with friends and family.

Yes, the current form of AI is not developed enough to accomplish this vision. Yes, billionaires getting to own it is bad. The problem however is not the technology itself and the advancement of that technology.

AI is new means of production. The fight mustn’t be against this new means of production. Rather, it must be to seize these new means of production.

“AI bad” is not a coherent argument.

If I understood your question correctly, you are asking how one can be sure that anarchist militias would be well equipped and trained against a professional army.

There’s somehow an underlying assumption that anarchist militias themselves wouldn’t be professional armies.

Let’s say 3000 anarchist communes exist in a given piece of land. There’s a dictatorship nearby which could invade. 2800 of these communes recognise the threat and a need for their own defense force. They come together and form a defense pact. Requirements of the pact are that every commune supplies x individuals for the militia and x resources. Training is done at xyz training camps, yadayadayada.

Communes are free to leave this pact, but doing so makes them lose protection.

Effectively what you get out of this is a professional army just like any other. WITHOUT the existence of a state.

Organisation can be done by these communes without giving the high command of this defence pact monopoly over violence.

I don’t get your point, you ask me a question then assume to know what my answer is, then build your case on straw?

It was my attempt to lessen the impact of status quo bias by positing the idea of states as a novel, non status quo concept.

Yes, yes I would very much support that government.

Hmm… Most of the world is deeply deeply socially conservative (Africa, India, the Middle East). Queer folk would be outright banned. Women’s rights would be eroded super quickly.

I mean forget Africa and stuff. I’m in Canada, and I wouldn’t want to be in any union with the US despite sharing similar cultures.

they serve no purpose in such a world, and why would the UN be allowed to be violent?

How else would laws be enforced? A law is fundamentally a rule that is enforced with the threat of violence.

who is meant to uphold these values once they get trampled on? Is it then every man for himself, wild west style, and fuck the weak?

Anarchist militias. Again, no state ≠ no organisation. Anarchist communes would likely have their own militias. These militias would likely form coalitions with other militias for collective protection and efficiency. Large consensual organisation can form. These militias could also be involved in preemptive strikes against forming authoritarian structures.

The important point however, is that these power structures can be exited. Let’s say a coalition member decides to exit the coalition. While the coalition can become violent against this former member, the former member still has teeth, as it hasn’t given this coalition monopoly over violence.

Talking about human rights violations, almost always, it’s states that are actively involved in trampling human rights. Slavery, the Holocaust, Native American genocide, most genocides, etc. were all conducted by states.

Anarchists in fact DON’T believe in the goodwill of society. Which is why they’re against all states, (even if the states are democratic).

Lemme ask you a question. Would you support a world government? One democratic government, one armed forces. Only the UN has the ability to be violent. Noone else. I’m guessing you wouldn’t support such an arrangement. Why? Because you don’t trust the rest of the world to have the same values as you, the same way of life, etc. The world is deeply homophobic for example. The UN could immediately ban homosexuality. You wouldn’t want that.

The UN is an organization, yes. Is it a state? No. Would the world be better if it was one state? No.

Try analysing using the same technique to lower and lower levels. What about a country? Imagine country X doesn’t exist and instead, sovereign provinces in that country exist. They all want to make a deal to cooperate and further shared interests. Does giving up sovereignty over violence make sense as part of that deal? It almost always doesn’t (in my opinion).

Take this further down to cities and towns in those provinces.

Sovereignty over violence makes sure that exit from a cooperation agreement is possible. If you remove the ability to exit, then well… you’ve essentially allowed yourself to be enslaved.

Society is an attempt to string tribes together under agreed upon frameworks.

And anarchism doesn’t contradict this. Anarchism does not mean no organisation. “Agreed upon frameworks” means consensual organisation. No anarchist is against this.

However, non consensual organisation, where an entity with monopoly over violence forces frameworks on “ruled” tribes and peoples is something that anarchism is meant to solve.

Quite a few comments making false claims about anarchism unfortunately.

Anarchism DOES NOT MEAN NON VIOLENCE. Anarchism means that no institution should have a monopoly over violence.

What happens when a king decides to invade anarchist communes?

Anarchist communes form militias and fight back. Violently.

Anarchism does not mean no organisation. It just means no individual elements giving away their means to violence to an entity that claims to represent the group.

I am not an anarchist myself, but for different reasons. However critiques of anarchism presented in the comments of this post make no sense whatsoever.

Elon’s new soulless art generator

The riper the better

Unciv is a pretty cool game! It’s basically FOSS civ 5 that can be played on mobile. Huge timewaster haha

But it is. Bikes don’t need gas

Interesting! Is there any way to combat this “false consciousness”?

What’s the guy gonna do? Sue them? He’s dead. Murdered by the capitalist authoritarians.

The only rightful place for kings is under the blade of a guillotine.

Schizophrenia is a serious mental health condition that affects how people think, feel and behave. It may result in a mix of hallucinations, delusions, and disorganized thinking and behavior. Hallucinations involve seeing things or hearing voices that aren’t observed by others.