Katherine Acosta — Is Anarchism an Idea Whose Time Has Come?

Thoughtful post on anarchism and evolutionary theory. It's focused on Dmitri Orlov's three part series on anarchism, largely based on Kropotkin, a Russian prince who became a champion of of common people.

Kropotkin, a scientist, zoologist, and geographer, argued that mutual aid, rather than competition, is the most common feature of animal behavior and is essential for the survival and evolution of a species....

In Part II of his series, Orlov notes that Kropotkin "pointed out that the term 'survival of the fittest' has been misinterpreted to mean that animals compete against other animals of their own species, whereas that just happens to be the shortest path to extinction…"

AlterNet
Is Anarchism an Idea Whose Time Has Come?
Katherine Acosta | Smirking Chimp

The central question in modern political and social theory is harmonizing and balancing the trifecta of individual liberty, egality, and community.

Contemporary Libertarianism focuses chiefly on personal liberty, however, the roots of social anarchism lay in a reaction to feudal government, just as classical economics was a reaction to the holdover of feudal economics in its opposition to governmental intervention and the imposition of economic rent, especially in the form of land enclosure and feudal conveyance of title.

The thinkers of the Enlightenment confronted the social, political and economic institutions of the time and proposed reforms that would institution greater personal freedom, less hereditary privilege, greater equity in law, and enhance social solidarity. This project is far from complete in its manifestation.

The American and French revolutions were the 18th century outcome of this on the world stage, and the 19th and 20th centuries are the historical record of the extension of this "spirit of the age" to Europe and Russia, and finally China. By the close of the 20th century, most of the remnants of feudalism were eliminated or greatly reduced, although vestiges like constitutional monarchies remain as reminders in the West. This historical force is now extending its reach globally at the outset of the 21st century.

The dialectic now is between hierarchical authority, and the privilege it conveys, and decentralized governance that is as close to consensus as practical; between a double standard in law and justice and greater equity, equality before the law, and fairness; and between social organization that benefits elites and social organization that is "of the people, by the people, and for the people."