1. Introduction / Definition of Anarchism
Libertarian socialism, also called “anarchism” or “anarcho-communism,” is an idealistic form of government founded on complete freedom of the individual from any form of hierarchical government. Usually, all decisions that would be made by a traditional government are made by the populace as a whole. Everyone does work to the best of their ability and then the produce is divided equally among the people (Chomsky 1-2). In his “Anarchism: Arguments for and Against,” Albert Meltzer concisely describes anarchism: “Workers control of production, community control from below, no Government from above.”
Modern anarchist philosophy originated when William Godwin published An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice in 1793 (Philip, “William Godwin”). He is regarded as the founder of philosophical anarchism (Philip, “William Godwin”). A modern proponent of anarchism is Noam Chomsky.
In this paper, I will present three main reasons why an anarchist society could not be a successful political model: it encroaches upon the freedom of the individual, it forces people to cooperate against their will, and humans are innately selfish.
I will use the following example as a reference to explain various arguments for and against anarchism: A man, living in an anarchist society, harvests apples. He harvests ten in an hour. His friend harvests only two. At the end of the day, or the week, when the redistribution happens, the first man must give his friend four apples. Now, both men have six apples.
2. Freedom of the Individual
Anarchists believe that, given the chance, people would choose to be selfless before being selfish. They believe that equality is derived from each individual having what he needs and what he wants, as long as those equal what others have. The main issue with this lies in the redistribution of the products of labor. Under a capitalist society, each man has an incentive to pick as many apples as he can because they belong to him. Once he has picked them, he can do with them whatever he wills; he can eat them or sell them, both of which provide benefit to him. When he eats them, he gains sustenance, and when he sells them, he can use the money from the sale to purchase other necessities. Under anarchism, however, he has no incentive to pick many apples, because no matter what, they do not belong to him; they belong to society, and they will be divided equally. He can no longer keep his excess produce.
This equal division, Ayn Rand argues, is an encroachment upon personal freedom; the man picked the apples and they should be his apples. A man must have the right to the product of his own labor (“Man’s Rights”). If he is forced to give up his apples, then his freedom as an individual is revoked. Ayn Rand states that all forms of socialist government and political philosophy, anarchism included, divide the produce among the people to benefit the “common good” of society, but “the common good” is a meaningless phrase because it implies the good of every individual person involved in the society, which is impossible (“What is Capitalism?”). She argues that usually, when “the common good” is used in reference to socialist ideals, it actually means “‘the good of the majority’ as against the minority or the individual” (“What is Capitalism?”). When the apples are redistributed from the man with ten apples to others in society, that is for the good of the majority, but not the common good; the man who picked ten apples has fewer than when he started.
Anarchists often argue that they protect the freedom of the individual (Meltzer 7), but seizing the property of someone is not protecting his freedom, but they are removing his right to property, which Rand says is where all other rights stem from.
Thomas Hobbes, in his “Leviathan,” states that “there is not ordinarily a greater signe [sic] of the equall [sic] distribution of any thing [sic], than that every man is contented with his share” (ch. 13). This works as an argument against perfect egalitarianism. Thoreau was happy to live a simple life at Walden pond with his meager possessions, but not everyone would be. As long as people are happy with their possessions, society is equal. It does not always serve to make everything perfectly equal so long as everyone is content.
3. Forced Cooperation
For an anarchist society to succeed, everyone must cooperate in order to have the basic necessities of life and beyond. Communal living is founded on a basis of cooperation and the expectation that each individual will contribute to the best of his ability (Meltzer 7-8). Ayn Rand argues that this is one of the main flaws in socialist/communist societies, because in capitalism, “all human relationships are voluntary. Men are free to cooperate or not…as their own individual judgements, convictions, and interests dictate” (“What is Capitalism?”) People do not always want to cooperate, and if they are forced to, they would be less willing and would do their work with less conviction.
4. Humans are Innately Selfish
In Thomas Hobbes’s Leviathan, he states that all humans have a number of innate desires, one of which being a desire for “Competition of Riches, Honour, command, or other power” because this leads to ascribing glory to oneself and removing it from another. He believes in rational egoism, which means that humans will follow their own self-interest as long as it makes sense (“Thomas Hobbes”). An anarchist society is built on the expectation that people will perform actions for the good of the community, but, unless the situation makes sense for the individual, they would have no desire to act. In the apple-picking example, it would make sense for the second person, who only picked two apples, to participate in the redistribution of the produce, because it would be in his own self-interest. He would pick two apples, but get four more and end up with six, through no extra effort. If he was preserving his self-interest, it would not make sense for the first person to participate in the redistribution of the produce because he would lose four apples and gain nothing.
Ayn Rand also supports rational egoism: “Man — every man — is an end in himself, not the means to the ends of others. He must exist for his own sake, neither sacrificing himself to others nor sacrificing others to himself. The pursuit of his own rational self-interest and of his own happiness is the highest moral purpose in life” (“Introducing Objectivism”) She lists this as the third tenet of Objectivism, her own philosophy. She uses this as an argument against altruism, which is an important part of anarchism: “Altruism holds that man has no right to exist for his own sake, that service to others is the only moral justification of his existence, and that self-sacrifice is his highest moral duty.” Since an anarchist society relies on individuals being selfless and altruistic, this goes against the innate nature of man to rationally pursue his own self-interest; it gives him no choice except to sacrifice his own self to society and the well-being of others.
5. Conclusion
An anarchist society could not function, because humans rationally selfish, it removes the incentive to work, and it forces people to cooperate. Humans can be rationally selfish under capitalism because you can squander the products of your labor if you wish; there is no obligation to give it to others. You can pursue what you want in order to better yourself without having to slow down and help others.
There are numerous incentives under a capitalist society, the most important being that if you do not work, you do not get paid and thus can not purchase what you need to survive. Incentives are what drive society, and an anarchist society removes all incentives. If the first person were to pick ten apples and the second person were to pick none, nothing bad would happen to the second person; he would receive five apples in the redistribution. He has no incentive to harvest any apples of his own because he knows that someone else will harvest apples and he will get some, anyway.
You can be rationally selfish under capitalism; you can select with whom you work. If you do not want to cooperate with someone, you can quit and get a new job. You can work simply to benefit yourself without having to worry about other people. In an anarchist society, you are forced to cooperate in society and you can not pursue actions that only benefit yourself.
Thus, libertarian socialism could not be a successful political model, and it is not an ideal society as anarchists believe. We should work to improve the conditions of the capitalism that we live under now in order to further the freedom of the individual and remove socialist programs from the government that restrict the ability of man to function under rational egoism. All of the human flaws that would cause the breakdown of an anarchist society would allow a laissez-faire capitalist society to succeed. It allows people to interact “as traders, by free…exchange to mutual benefit” (“Introducing Objectivism”) In this society, the government would serve only as a body to protect personal freedoms.