Most often, the term “anarchy” describes the simple absence of publicly recognized government or enforced political authority. It has been characterized as “mob rule” but how is that any different than pure Democracy?
Most people characterize the internet as being “anarchy” and that is probably the closest to what it is.
Anarchy holds that government is evil and that given the opportunity people with behave within the structure of the social order at a given time. In other words given the choice most people will do the right thing.
When we look at PWL we see that none of the companies lifted a finger to bring it down, had they done so one could make the argument for Fascism. The government (A Constitutional Republic) was essentially powerless, the bureaucratic red tape and the sluggish ability to respond made that approach rather worthless, add to it the ability to reach across many international borders and it isn’t surprising that this approach wouldn’t work.
What did work? Plain and simple Anarchy. People got together and said we aren’t going to tolerate this behavior, you might think you are free to yell fire in a crowded theater and in fact you may do that, but when the crowd proceeds to then beat seven shades of shit out of you you come to the realization that with freedom comes responsibility for your actions.
Donny and his pals were doing worse than yelling fire, they were inciting violence, and they got what they wanted, but it was the good people of the internet society that got together and gave it to them. They were outed in the public square and suddenly they realized that the way they were behaving was unacceptable, and they are now throwing themselves on the alter of mercy to avoid more public embarrassment.
Would the “Rule of Law” have been as effective and quick at dismantling this threat? I honestly don’t know but I certainly don’t think so. As a student of political science I see the problems with anarchy as well as democracy but the more I think about it the more I think anarchy is the right form of regulation for the internet.
Think about it……
One Response
I don’t have to think about it. I’m a couple of short steps from being an anarchist… and i’m not talking about internet anarchy. Ridding ourselves of a central, oppressive, and authoritarian form of government, distant from the lives of most citizens and one that keeps demonstrating it’s own many flaws almost on a daily basis sounds great to me. Those who want to bring self-governance back to local communities in a democratic form where everyone’s voice is heard, are anarchists, certainly semi-anarchists, whether they admit to it or not. It’s not about mob rule. It’s about people rule… people as a collective. Most anarchists, btw, respect the rights of private property as well as a free market economy. Sure. There are more than a few aspects of anarchy that might seem difficult to implement, even unworkable, especially from the POV of security, but solutions to those problems could be worked out.