this post was submitted on 05 Mar 2026
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Society only works by consent. If the people do not consent to the laws, they are authoritarian and should be resisted.
Any top-down system of governance will never be free by its very nature.
The only free society we will get is an anarchist one where people agree to work together and create rules that they can all abide by. Those who don't want to abide by the communities rules can leave.
That's not anarchy. That's some form of democracy.
That's exactly the kind of logic bullies use to inflict their freedom on others.
Real "I'm 14 and this is deep" energy here. Laws and governance of any kind are inherently rooted in consent to authority. Hell, even being a good citizen in an anarchy is about consenting to the authority of etiquette, basically the tyranny of empathy over free will. Authority invites resistance, arguing for resistance to authority simply because it exists is an empty nothing burger of a philosophy.
This all feels like a libertarian dog whistle to excuse politics lacking any empathy.
That is literally anarchy. You obviously do not know what anarchy is.
When I shoot a Nazi in the face, I am taking away his choice to shoot trans people in the face. If the Nazi does not consent to the law of not shooting trans people in the face, I will still shoot him in the face. If the Nazi argues that I am taking away his ability to make the decision to shoot trans people in the face, I will still shoot him in the face.
And if the Nazi argues that he is part of a community I am not in and that community has a law about shooting trans people in the face, I will still shoot him in the face.
Society only works by mutual aid. If you will not help me when I am vulnerable, why should I waste my time building a relationship with you?
Consent is secondary. A specific form of helping someone by creating a smooth exit with them if they don't want to be there anymore. Which means it can be overruled if aid is more important. You can push someone out of the way of a moving bus without asking. You can raise a child who isn't capable of consent yet. You can shoot a Nazi in the face.
Which unfortunately means that a community where people agree to work together and create rules they can all abide by is not necessarily in the clear. If that community produces far more CO2 emissions than their fair share, they are causing harm through climate change and should (IMO) be stopped. If they are on stolen land and refuse entry to native people, if they poison the river downstream, if they abuse children, if they put barbed wire fences across a natural area, if they factory farm animals, if they dry out a natural aquifer for frivolous consumption - if they raid the commons or cause harm to others in any way, they should (IMO) be stopped.
I'm ready to admit this is less free for those local societies than if they could pollute everyone into extinction. Anarchism isn't about perfect freedom, it's about abolishing hierarchy. You will attend the weekly meetings and you will help the community make informed decisions. You will avoid causing harm and you will avoid violating consent. Not because someone told you to, but because "everyone" told you to. Horizontal accountability, and horizontal enforcement if necessary.