On the anarchist non-aggression principle (NAP) The NAP is already the basic moral principle underlying all civilised relations between ordinary people; and between modern nation states since the treaty of Westphalia. The implication that the NAP is an anarchist innovation or concept is simply & demonstrably wrong. It is like the Christians claiming they invented human kindness or love. The whole NAP thing is an anarchist red herring. Furthermore, anarchists just like nationalists or statists of any variety will manufacture pretexts for aggression as defence, when it suits their needs or ambitions. The NAP in the minds of anarchists will be as effective, or ineffective, as it has always been. Indeed judging by their rhetoric and love of guns I would say perhaps even more so. An ideological principle, no matter how laudable, will not alter human nature; nor remove the problem of human evil. That is why orderly society and civilisation requires organised law and order. The problem of properly and ethically managing organised law and order and avoiding its abuse or even usurpation, cannot be resolved by simply abandoning the principle of civilised cooperative social order and governance. Governance understood as cooperative management of society is a responsibility we cannot avoid, unless we want our societies to descend into a dark age of pure anarchy. Instead of abandoning the principle of cooperative social order and governance, we need to develop it. Representative democracy is a relatively recent innovation in human relations and governance and has yet a long way to go to be perfected.
Posted on: Sat, 11 Oct 2014 14:32:29 +0000
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