> Chuck:
> Anarchism doesn't call for a "wholesale change of heart," because it sees
> that most people already have libertarian and cooperative instincts. The
> problem is getting rid of the state and capitalism so that people can have
> total freedom to develop and explore these tendencies.
> << Chuck0 >>
>
> David:
> ....and quite a problem it is, indeed, especially with no means or
> organization or institution to carry out the removal of the state, let alone
> capitalism. But, how is it that we've determined that "most people", in a
> capitalist society, have libertarian and cooperative instincts?
I'd appreciate more thought on this subject as well. It's problematic. I can't say, like Chuck0, that people "already" have libertarian/cooperative instincts. But that doesn't diminish the desirability of a society that has production and distribution organized along egalitarian lines, either.
It seems people are often rewarded in our economic system not for acting in cooperative or 'libertarian' ways, but are penalized for it. There are institutional and cultural barriers to solidarity. This doesn't bode well for instilling the values of solidarity needed for social change. Our educational and doctrinal system doesn't encourage critical thinking either. These things don't animate people towards struggling for a better world; if anything it de-animates them. The result is an apathetic, apolitical populace who "can't be bothered," not a population fo people brimming with libertarian and cooperative sentiment just waiting to spill over.
However, it seems to be the nature of advanced industrial capitalism to repeatedly thrust people into positions where they must *of necessity* organize for better conditions. These situations seem to provide the bursts of class consciousness and collaborative class activity that leads to deeper social change. Capitalism does organize people into closer quarters (take the great industrial cities) as well as into corporate structures, prviding a precondition for cooperative production - production is social and cooperative already, but for the benefit of owners and not the workers themselves. This is an important precondition.
> Was a poll
> conducted by Gallup that I don't know about?
Polls since even before last Fall revealed that Americans distrust corporations, their boss, and believe they have workplace rights they don't. This seems to indicate some commonly held belief about things that are harmful to society (unfettered greed, authoritarian work environments, etc.)
> Suffice it to say, I don't think we will rectify the situation by way of good
> will, or "natural" human instinct, whatever that is. Otherwise it would
> simply be no problem, and, since "most people" supposedly have the "instinct"
> to do the "right" thing, the revolution would already have been won by
> now......
Imagine some Americans saying in 1775 that if the American Revolution were correct and desirable -if people really wanted it - then it would had already been waged by then. This could always be used to defer any revolution or movement for social change.
As Noam Chomsky says in his Introduction to Daniel Guerin's _Anarchism_ : "[S]peculation should proceed to action." If this never happens, even the most noble of ideas will not become reality.
Brian