• A_Union_of_Kobolds@lemmy.world
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    17 days ago

    Opposition to hierarchy.

    From Greek for without rulers. Anarchism is rooted in opposition to forms of domination and coercion; historically, its three main opponents have been the Church, the State, and capitalism. The main Western tradition of anarchism dates back to the advent of socialism, although there have been many anarchic societies and philosophers the world over for pretty much as long as people have existed.

    There are lots of forms of anarchism, generally relating to either different visions of an ideal horizontal social structure, or just boiling down to what that particular activist focuses on (anarcho-feminists are mostly concerned with patriarchy, for instance). Mostly, anarchists aren’t prescriptivist - as long as people are trying to take power into their own lives, anarchists are for it.

    • lousyd@lemmy.sdf.orgOP
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      17 days ago

      What counts as hierarchy? Like, if I pay a plumber to fix my plumbing problems because I don’t know how to, does that imply some hierarchy between us?

      • A_Union_of_Kobolds@lemmy.world
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        17 days ago

        No, because the plumber doesn’t have power over you.

        Your boss has power over you - he can decide to remove your source of income, and uses that as leverage to get you to do what he wants.

        Your government has power over you - they have a monopoly on the use of violence and use it to maintain control.

        Your preacher has power over you - by making you afraid for your soul, he can manipulate you unwillingly, or severely impact your social status.

        Your plumber is someone providing a service, that’s completely different.

        • lousyd@lemmy.sdf.orgOP
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          16 days ago

          It doesn’t seem that different, in essence. He could withhold his service and let my bathroom flood.

            • lousyd@lemmy.sdf.orgOP
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              16 days ago

              But that’s what people say about bosses. You don’t like this one, go get a different one. I’m not understanding the difference in terms of hierarchy and power and so on.

              • ChronosTriggerWarning@lemmy.world
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                16 days ago

                If you don’t understand the difference between a boss and a tradesman that you called, then I’m out. Either you’re too dense to understand, which would make explaining a waste of time, OR you’re just sealioning, as i suspect, which would make explaining a waste of time.

                  • prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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                    15 days ago

                    I believe most anarchists are against unjustifiable hierarchies.

                    If you want to consider the dynamic between a tradesman and their customer as a hierarchy, it’s justifiable because it’s one person who is an expert in their trade, working on that trade for something in return. Both parties have consented to this temporary “hierarchy” in order for both parties to receive their desired outcomes.

                    Now if we want to talk about HOAs… Add them, and their ability to come in and say, “you can’t use that color paint,” and you now have a completely unjustifiable (imo) hierarchy.