Category: Bullshit Institutions

Arguments for Libertarian Socialism, i.e., Anarchism

I came across a blog by Andrew Parker who shares my admiration for the postings of Cameron Watt.  I have copied his blog at the Voice of Anarchy below:

‘Libertarian Socialist Rants’ videos

September 18, 2014 by Andrew Parker

I’ve been planning on sharing these four videos for a while because I think they really get to the heart of everything I stand for and have been sharing with you all so far. There is a wealth of aspects of a new society and criticisms of the current model packed very nicely into very easy to digest videos by Libertarian Socialist Rants – a Scottish guy named Cameron Watt. He, like me, is an Anarchist and a Libertarian Socialist, which is the same thing as an Anarcho-Communist or Anarcho-Syndicalist. We are both from the Noam Chomsky School of Thought and I can’t say I disagree with any of his major points. Please check out the videos below:

Part 1/4 – The Case Against Hierarchy

Part 2/4 – The Case For Liberty

Part 3/4 – Arguments Against Anarchism

Part 4/4 – Achieving An Anarchist Society

The Red Bureaucracy: Authoritarian Socialism vs Libertarian Socialism

Cameron Watt clearly explains the difference between authoritarian and libertarian socialists, and argues in favor of libertarian socialism (=anarchism).

The difference between democratic socialism and revolutionary socialism

Socialism in all forms strives to improve the economic life of the downtrodden people — the homeless, the poor. And this can be done only by political means. Democratic socialists hope to do this through parliaments, through congresses of representatives or deputies. Revolutionary socialists, by contrast, think this can be done only by changing the political institutions.

Authoritarian socialists think this can be done by their party taking control of the central government. The assumption is that a central government (i.e. the State) is necessary to do this. In the Soviet Union there was no socialism; there was State capitalism. The government took over the factories and farms and hired wage-workers. And these products entered into the international market.

Libertarian socialists, by contrast, want to get rid of a central government altogether, i.e., the State, and replace it with a federation of small communities governed by democratically elected councils.