CivcraftImport:Government/anarchism

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See also: The LSIF.

= Theory =

Anarchists believe that a non-hierarchical society is both desirable and necessary in order to ensure both the continued survival of human society and the liberation of all people. To anarchists, individual freedom is the primary goal. This does not mean the freedom to oppress others through capital or the state, but the freedom to self-realisation in the context of a like freedom for all. This translates practically into the anarchist belief in the abolition of hierarchy in all its forms, decentralisation, and voluntary association.

Unlike Marxists, who hold egalitarian society to be the end goal of a long, political battle through means such as the state, anarchists organise for the future non-hierarchical society using non-hierarchical methods of organisation in the present day. This overcomes the arguable logical inconsistency of non-hierarchical goals achieved via hierarchical means (what Marxists call a '&quot;Worker's&quot; State') Anarchists then oppose both the state and capitalism as part of a broader struggle against hierarchy whilst emphasising the violent nature of class relations (both political and economic). This has resulted in an anarchist desire for direct democracy, therefore demanding decentralisation of the economic, political and social realms of society.

Anarcho-syndicalism has historically dominated the anarchist movement. But it is important to emphasise that all anarchists are communists, and syndicalism, far from being a separate strand of anarchism entirely, is a specific method of anarchist communist organisation which view the class struggle labor movement as the authentic locus of struggle. (Check out 'Black Flame' by van der Walt and Schmidt!) Other strands include social ecology or 'green' anarchism, which argue that the abolition of hierarchy and the development of decentralised production are necessary for the establishment of harmony between all men and nature (Murray Bookchin perhaps being the most fervent advocate of green anarchism). Other prominent forms of anarchism exist, such as queer anarchism, Mutualism and collectivism. It is important to remember that, far from being mutually exclusive, the different 'types' of anarchism represent different focuses for different anarchists, giving each organisation a rich tapestry of different struggles.

= History =

The oldest still-active anarchist group on the server, the LSIF was formed pre-1.0, when Bodhi helped form the Libsoc Guild when Civcraft was still known as AncapMinecraft. On 1.0, the LSIF were active and influential in server-wide politics, participating in local Columbian politics from their main communes, Panneton and Goldmayne. From there they developed more communes in Mt. Augusta, Chiapas, [REDACTED] and [REDACTED].

Other anarchist groups began to emerge, such as the syndicalist C.I.T., the C.A.L.F (which successfully liberated over 300+ cows) and, of course, the Occupy Columbia movement. These movements, despite popular belief, formed outside of the LSIF despite having a dominant LSIF feel.

With the invasion of the HCF, the LSIF and other anarchists went into hiding in the deep Nether. Here they became the primary producers of arms for the server-wide war effort, with 3 communes running 8 grinders 24/7 for over 2 months. Due to the secretive nature of production, many players deny the LSIF had any involvement in the war. History is written by the victors, and unfortunately, the anarchists of Civcraft define victory differently. Where were we during the war? Going insane in a bunker building stuff for you.

Since the release of 2.0, anarchism on Civcraft has only grown stronger. Current settlements include Catalonia, Churchill, Carson, Grundeswald, Nadereon, and many others.

= Politics =

Direct Action

Direct action is an anarchist tactic where change takes place without deference; that is to say, those who want change directly make that change. In Civcraft terms this means: if a commune needs diamonds, they'll go and get some diamonds. If a building needs repairing, the building will be repaired. No committee or third party is involved in the decision. Catalonia use direct action extensively for production and construction. It is this method that underlies the vast majority of other in-game anarchist politics - for example, rather than asking capitalist pigdog lackey 0zymandia5 to free his cows, the Animal Liberation Front used direct action to free the cows instantly, leading to 0zymandia5's permanent ragequit. Anarchists ultimately believe that direct action is what brings results, so long as it is granted legitimacy through non-coercive democratic means.

Direct Democracy

Votes can be held in-game or in a subreddit, where all relevant parties vote in favour of or against a motion, where a majority's (the cut-off may differ per community) decision is passed. For example, the LSIF uses this system for most of its LSIF-wide issues in its subreddit.

Referral

Used as a manner of accepting new members into a community, referral is quite simply needing one or more referrals from existing members in order to become a member.

Consensus

Consensus entails a unanimous decision must be made before a motion is passed. Should this be impossible a compromise could be made, or the motion is dropped. Some early communes such as Black Cat Commune used this system.

Federalisation

Federalisation is used as a manner of large-scale implementation of decision-making. The early LSIF used this method extensively in its early days, through having individual communes and cities vote internally on international issues, and relaying the outcomes to the subreddit.

Representation

Although very rarely and carefully implemented, sometimes communist entities use forms of representation. Usually when this happens, positions are either symbolic or hold little enacting power, are always instantly recallable, and are usually tied to responsibilities that can realistically only be held by one person. For example, the Libertarian Socialist International Military (LSIM), which is the LSIF armed wing, votes for a commander just before an operation, based on merit and trust. The position is instantly recallable and expires when the operation is resolved.

Syndicalism and Committees

Sometimes communist societies in Civcraft create committees based on geographical, societal or economic (such as Syndicalism) situations for organisational reasons. For example Chiapas has a Housing Committee which everyone who builds within the City borders automatically joins. This committee holds certain standards of architecture that must be adhered to. Any conflicts are resolved within this committee. Proudhonia was an LSIF city which operates partially through Guilds, based on economic specialities such as Potion-making, Farming and Grinder Maintenance. Informal syndicalist unions spontaneously emerge - for example, Grundescorp or loosely-knit groups of engineers in Catalonia.

= Economics =

Anarchist communities generally operate with an internal gift economy – having neither currency nor official trade between members. Shared, group-reinforced, communal chests are used for common items while more valuable items are kept in secure vaults or distributed in private, off-site caches.

In general, members are entitled to 100% of the fruits of their labor, and contribute surpluses to community chests voluntarily. Surpluses in those chests are then usable by all members, with democratic oversight occuring only for massive allocations. This model leads to rapid allocation between motivated producers and motivated builders.

Export and import occurs in the same manner between other anarchist communities.