by Bill St. Clair
3 April 2020
I had a revelation a little over a week ago that the anarchist society that I've wanted since I figured out that non-aggression is incompatible with the state, is precisely where we are already living.
The original revelation happened on getting off of my bicycle one chilly morning, at my favorite local espresso shop:
"To all you anarchists out there. You're already living in the anarchist paraside you want. The only problem is that there are these large gangs, that have a whole bunch of people thinking that they need to pay attention to them. If we stop paying attention, they're gone. I already have. Why don't you?"
Here's the selfie video I took of it: https://youtu.be/599yI50Ju3Y
This realization is still growing on me. Statists are always saying that if you eliminate the state, warlords will fill the power vacuum. They already have. The United States of America is the world's meanest warlord. We have some tiny say in how that warlord does his business, but bloody little. I no longer support the warlord. Yes, for now, paying his protection money (taxes) has better value for me than evicting the warlord, but that could change.
This realization feels like what I've been reading for 20 years, finally down to its central core. And into my thick, gummint-skool-programmed, skull.