File spoon-archives/anarchy-list.archive/anarchy-list_2001/anarchy-list.0103, message 30


From: "Ed Rocket" <ed_rocket-AT-hotmail.com>
Subject: anarchy and crime...
Date: Sun, 04 Mar 2001 13:56:12 -0500


Some possible responses to your school friends:

1. Ask them why they think fighting crime is a primary purpose of 
government. Talk a little about the history of government and the police. 
Government is an ancient institution going back thousands of years, and had 
more to do with military functions and protecting the class structure and 
class privileges than with policing or preventing civilian crime. The size 
and significance of the police has grown only in the past 150 years.

2. IN an anarchist society there would be much less crime than in our 
society today because 1) victimless crimes would no longer be considered 
crimes and 2) there would be no private property against which to commit 
crimes. Less inequality would greatly reduce the motive for most property 
crimes and many violent crimes.

3. For the remaining crimes that would still be committed, people would 
device solutions not entailing a central, hierarchical government. We could 
have consensus or democratically driven community policing and courts, just 
as we would have small scale, democratically or consensus driven decision 
making in the workplace.

4. How effective do you think the police are today? The vast majority of 
crimes go unsolved. Have often have you been the victim of a crime? Was the 
perpetrator caught? Was there justice?

5. How just is our present justice system? Justice costs money, and lots of 
it, in our present system. The poor have inadequate or no legal 
representation (look at death row). Even the middle class can't afford the 
lawyer's and court fees necessary to even get what the law entitles them to.

6. Government itself has committed far more crimes than civilians. It is 
estimated that governments killed 100 million people in the 20 century.

Ed Rocket


>From: Oege Dijk <ooch-AT-euronet.nl>
>Reply-To: Oege Dijk <ooch-AT-euronet.nl>
>To: Anarchy-list <anarchy-list-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu>
>Subject: anarchy and crime...
>Date: Fri, 2 Mar 2001 17:34:42 +0100
>
>Hi,
>
>Today I had a big discussion in school about anarchism with some of my 
>friends, and I think I at least encouraged some of them to get to know more 
>about it. It was difficult arguing to 5 very eloquent people with their 
>minds already set up, but I hope I got them to think a bit about the status 
>quo, and how good it actually is.
>
>The main point I had very much difficulty arguiing with was crime. In an 
>anarchist society no-one is allowed to coerce anyone to do anything, so 
>therefore you cannot punish crimes. The only argument I could come up with 
>is that in an anarchist society because of the increased equality and 
>solidarity there hardly will be any crime. But that doesn't sound, even in 
>my own ears, very convincing.
>
>What are the ideas of anarchism regarding crimes? Should participatory 
>communities have the limited power to punish some crimes? When there will 
>be no agency to control them, will some people go mad, and fall in to very 
>criminal behaviour? I am still considering this matter myselfe, and would 
>very much appreciate thoughts on this people might have...
>
>	TIA,
>
>		Oege
>--
>

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