- 03 Apr 2003 06:09
#5975
Freedom is the ability to exercise power over one’s self. When you exercise that power to take away the freedoms of another individual, there is a conflict of interest. It is absurd to be against totalitarianism, and not against wage slavery. We are against Totalitarianism because we are against a few holding absolute power over the masses. We try to prevent ourselves from going to prisons by all costs, because we find it humiliation to abide by the absolute power and authority of the warden and his guards.
However the same hierarchy continues in the workplace, restricting your freedoms and degrading your humanity.
When a minority of the populous, ( the cooperate executive) holds a monopoly on the machinery of production, it is not out of the imagination of the masses to assume that they are against democracy. Capitalists have contempt for true direct or participatory democracy, and only support fraudulent “representative†democracy, where it can be manipulated to their will.
Their contempt for democracy however does not make the capitalist anti state. They need and use the state when it supports the interests of big business and the free market, and will go against the state to the point where they talk about right wing “libertarianism†when the state’s laws impede it from making profit.
Capitalist claim that Capitalism is freedom, however one must define what constitutes “Freedom.â€
An Anarchist would define Freedom as “freedom from and “freedom toâ€. When we say freedom from we mean freedom from exploitation, freedom from domination, freedom from coercive authority, repression and other forms of degradation and humiliation. When we talk about freedom to, we are talking about the ability to express yourself at your maximum ability, while upholding the maximum respect for the freedom of others.
Both of these “freedoms†imply that people have the responsibility, and right to govern the decisions that affect their lives. It means the ultimate self management. And it means (since no man is an island) we must work collectively in social groups that respect each other’s individuality and rights to self management.
Despite all the rhetoric boasted by capitalists. The most advanced capitalist states only remain democratic on the surface. Meanwhile, never coming close to meeting these conditions we call freedom. For most of the population, it’s the boss that makes crucial decisions in the economic sphere If the most basic freedom, ‘freedom to think for yourself’ is denied, than there is no freedom under capitalism.
However the same hierarchy continues in the workplace, restricting your freedoms and degrading your humanity.
When a minority of the populous, ( the cooperate executive) holds a monopoly on the machinery of production, it is not out of the imagination of the masses to assume that they are against democracy. Capitalists have contempt for true direct or participatory democracy, and only support fraudulent “representative†democracy, where it can be manipulated to their will.
Their contempt for democracy however does not make the capitalist anti state. They need and use the state when it supports the interests of big business and the free market, and will go against the state to the point where they talk about right wing “libertarianism†when the state’s laws impede it from making profit.
Capitalist claim that Capitalism is freedom, however one must define what constitutes “Freedom.â€
An Anarchist would define Freedom as “freedom from and “freedom toâ€. When we say freedom from we mean freedom from exploitation, freedom from domination, freedom from coercive authority, repression and other forms of degradation and humiliation. When we talk about freedom to, we are talking about the ability to express yourself at your maximum ability, while upholding the maximum respect for the freedom of others.
Both of these “freedoms†imply that people have the responsibility, and right to govern the decisions that affect their lives. It means the ultimate self management. And it means (since no man is an island) we must work collectively in social groups that respect each other’s individuality and rights to self management.
Despite all the rhetoric boasted by capitalists. The most advanced capitalist states only remain democratic on the surface. Meanwhile, never coming close to meeting these conditions we call freedom. For most of the population, it’s the boss that makes crucial decisions in the economic sphere If the most basic freedom, ‘freedom to think for yourself’ is denied, than there is no freedom under capitalism.
ANARCHIST
"Lenin is not comparable to any revolutionary figure in history. Revolutionaries have had ideals. Lenin has none." ---Peter Kropotkin
"Lenin is not comparable to any revolutionary figure in history. Revolutionaries have had ideals. Lenin has none." ---Peter Kropotkin