context: got a bit carried away in response to another post asking for good examples of real-life socialism from an anarchist perspective, reflecting on how few examples come to mind. alas. probably best to make this its own thread, anyhow.
gonna go off script here, since the silence already speaks volumes… but the older i get, the less sure i am what “socialism” is actually supposed to mean (typically a religion and/or governing body descended from the prophet Karl Marx? but that tells you about as much and as little as any other hypothetical ‘morally just’ theocracy, as does the nonsensical use of basic logistical language like “left” and “right”… i invite us all to explore the imagery of a bird with the use of only one wing, left or right; and to watch it flap tragically with all the detached intellectual dexterity of a modern discourse on ableism).
the problem is, when you don’t value sovereignty and individuality, when asking questions is forbidden or discouraged, and when new classes of people start to emerge and diverge out of our ideological/cultural differences… ideals quickly start to dissolve and are replaced instead with propaganda, repetitive occult affirmations (indoctrination?), and illusions of grandeur superimposed upon we “the people.”
people are too easily hoodwinked by social engineers, especially when those social engineers have a few thousand years head start in terms of studying human consciousness inside and out. and if you’ll notice—socialists, social engineers, and sociopaths all share a vital root/path in common. all three are studied in the occult manipulation of human consciousness (for better or worse), collectively and individually, and all three use a whole lot of “so shall it be” rhetorical promises to keep you hooked on future rewards that are forever just over the horizon of visibility.
an “-ism” usually refers not to a science but to a system of human belief; what is in essence a “religion” (a word which linguistically in and of itself refers to repetitive/ritualistic affirmations in service or devotion to dogma, aka a system of artificial or hypothetical “laws” constructed from “belief” and repeated often enough to reinforce those beliefs.)
anarchism is somewhat unique among the isms, in that the word is almost an oxymoron: an ism that reminds you of the fatal flaw in all isms/schisms? a concept that constantly asks you to weigh your belief against reality, but also to manifest a new reality from this frictive aether: what is a belief, without its arch to stand upon? without the controlled opposition, counterbalance, and arch-nemeses of its right and left pillars? the archway collapses, the foundation not as sound as we once assumed when we could blame all of our cognitive dissonance on “the other” (the opposer, once called Satan in Christianity, or vice versa depending upon your affiliations).
it is difficult to provide a functional example of socialism because it’s a hypothetical ideology, usually promised to those in the afterlife (of their revolution); and as soon as factions emerge, classes re-emerge, hierarchies re-emerge, unwelcome disagreements happen, resources are made scarce, privilege becomes highly selective, tribes go to war, and all of a sudden we’re back at discrimination/crime, oligarchy, martial law, and militant dogma. bad actors playing their part on the world’s stage, who could have guessed (or well, aside from Orwell). in other words, it is a false premise to believe that socialism will free the minds of unfree people, because socialism does not exist in isolation from the power struggles and spiritual/physical malnourishment that humanity has always grappled with. our oppression is not just externally systemic, it is internally systemic, alchemically systemic… scarcity exists in our minds (and our egos) as much as on this Earthly plane… jealousy being a perfect example, or lusting violently after something that is not rightfully yours to take.
only by empowering individuals, and individual consciousness, can we collectively evolve our “collective conscience” to prevent tyranny; because a truly sovereign person cannot be controlled, nor easily corrupted and manipulated, and they won’t produce a domino effect if/when they fall. that’s why you will tend to see socialist ideals praised only within certain ideological bubbles; where the thought experiment controls every variable and doesn’t have to worry about other worldly powers intervening in their carefully greased gears. outside of a controlled experiment, in the messiness of real life, these ideologies don’t account for additional unknown variables in the equation. it is bad engineering… assuming it isn’t a platform designed willfully to self-destruct, anyway, as social engineers do.
also p.s. ironically, “domino” is a word already directly tied to dominion and domination.
most examples of “socialism” are social experiments… they rise and they fall, barely a blip in history, as quickly as waking up to a new dawn fades to the past tense of woke. it is what it is. and it was what it was… and because it’s a power vacuum now, a social contract full of unforeseen loopholes, socialism itself becomes utterly infested with agent provocateurs, wishful thinkers, and sociopathic egos—who may or may not be well-meaning, but certainly can’t empathize with the collective human spirit deeply enough to set us free from our internal bondage. these are people who’ve reached the thought-terminating cliches of neoliberalism and don’t perceive the need to go any further. think of a doctor who doesn’t understand the interwoven ecosystems of your body, they poke, they prod, they diagnose what they know and they address certain symptoms, but they are not able to actually heal you because their expertise does not cover the full spectrum of holistic diagnosis.
socialists double-down on an ideology of “control” like blood-letting, because it’s the only grasp on reality that they hold, a temporary hack in the code, a moment of feeling power in their own hands, and it’s often the only true currency they have outside of accusations and deflection. “if only we had more control over the unexpected variables, if only the opposition hadn’t intervened, this never would have happened.” yes, sure, but that’s precisely the point: the vast world beyond (y)our control. it’s like a drug user, chasing after their alchemical dragon, but there will never be enough there to satisfy the addict, just a trail disappearing into withdrawal. it’s always just out of reach, a moving goalpost.
ah, wait, but religion is the opiate of the masses, right, not socialism? left? right? must have gotten my isms all mixed up with my ducks out of their row.
look to how complex nature is… it evolved this way because that’s how life is truly governed, by intelligence, strength, counterbalance, ingenuity, mutation, innovation, collaboration, grace under fire. it is not a homogeny. these stagnant stodgy corrosive invasive systems of social governing don’t yet allow for our vital, adaptive, fluid, resilient, integral resistance to corruption. their only resistance is brittle and frail once it ossifies. and that’s why so many “revolutions” and coups end up becoming a trojan horse for regime changes. their machine wasn’t built for the terrain ahead, and besides that it was designed with logging in mind; not gardening, not fertile growth, regeneration, and verdant perennial wisdom, seeds that survive fires and floods.
i do feel that respectfully exploring the victories and failures of various “social governing experiments” IRL is vital to the discussion of anarchy, and consciousness, but there’s a reason why socialists avoid this question and usually revert to pre-colonial utopian rhetoric…”all would have been peaceful and just” if not for white supremacy and patriarchy (etc)…which, while i don’t strictly disagree with the premise that this particular vestige of imperialism was a wrecking ball to our intuitive indigenous ways of life, it ignores the fact that imperialist governments and crusaders will pursue their path to dominion regardless of hurt feelings or moral platitudes. they laugh in the face of “land back.” it’s a little bit like the Leftist talking point, “instead of teaching women self-defense, have we tried telling men not to violate?” yes, actually! yes we have. we have tried that.
see also: all of human history and co-evolution and the rise of a dominant culture that couldn’t care less about you, a land where the only native language it speaks is whether or not you can effectively evolve to stop it in its tracks before it destroys you brutally by any means at its disposal. there are no methods it won’t use, no technology nor biology it won’t try to hack and hijack, no movement it won’t try to co-opt.
this was true in 1945, and in 1975, and in 1995 as sure as 1492… just imagine how true it will be in 2025, as the technological arms race peaks.
it’s not THEIR consciousness that’s at the root of the problem, the oppressor, they’re doing exactly what they do—as predators; it’s our consciousness that gives them their power. it’s our feeble will and spirit that lends credence to their own, and our refusal to face the true nature of reality that sends the pendulum flying wildly in the other direction, away from the change you hoped to see; it’s our daft pride that sends confused minions fleeing towards their mutual aid instead of to our “cause.” cause…and effect: consciousness is power, and right now a lot of us lack that quintessential power.
“you speak of our liberation and when the people rule—well ain’t it people rule right now, what difference would there be? just another set of bigots with their rifle sights on me.”
(a warning from Crass’s ire-inducing “Bloody Revolutions.”) it all sounds like a clichéd cautionary tale, a pacifism meant to pacify, until you understand how penetrable our pseudo-democratic collectivist movements really are…how prone we are to corruption, mob anger, tribalism, and misdirection.
tl;dr/// with our consciousness as it is, here, now? socialism is a dysfunctional ideology that rode in on a chivalrously gifted wooden horse; and if we were to evolve our consciousness in tandem with true natural law, it would no longer be necessary to adopt its theoretical virtues as an ism in the first place.
anarchy is the end game not because somebody says so, but because anarchy is already the force underlying nature, and humankind, in the beginning, as in the end, the only “rules” and “laws” that truly govern us are inherent to life: action/reaction, cause and effect; alchemy. these are the true underlying principals of “reality” and yet so rarely taught.
don’t throw our world into the chaos and stupor of martial law at whimsy, if you can help it, because the spoils of war may not go to the victors of your choice. we are playing into the hands of social engineers when we do that… like a chess game, one must act and react… but every move you make counts. every thought matters, more or less, in the butterfly effect scheme of things. our actions will not be undone, in time, and our inactions will not be done. life will move on, and we will have been key dancers in this movement.
an arch key: this is the source code, here all along, hiding in plain view.
tl;dr/// tl;dr/// keep in mind that humans have had “civilization” for thousands and thousands of years, likely hundreds of thousands of years… if it were as easy as they say for “the people” to implement and maintain socialism, we would have achieved it long before Karl was a little lad forming his prophetic world views growing up tall in pre-National-Socialist Germany.
the reality is, if you evolve your consciousness you will accomplish more in a single instant than you could with the unknown odds of 3,000 battles. that is the real numbers game, and it’s “quality” over quantity. quality, as in the qualities of things? as in equality… equals = the middle of the equation, somewhere in between the problem, the variables, and the solution. think about it.