Timeline for If there's no government, who will stop people from creating one?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
6 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 20, 2020 at 19:28 | comment | added | Acccumulation | "a government simply cannot exist without a certain general consensus that it has a right to exist." False. Sure, there might be consensus among the governing that they are legitimate, but that doesn't mean that there is among the governed. There are plenty of counter examples in reality, such as Vichy France, Jim Crow, and drug cartels, and even more when it comes to hypotheticals (e.g. the Saviors in TWD). Unless you're going to weasel out with the phrase "certain general consensus" and say that whatever consensus there was, no matter how little, is that "certain" general consensus. | |
| Sep 9, 2020 at 1:33 | comment | added | Ted Wrigley | @ItalianPhilosophers4Monica: killing a few people would only impose a dictatorship if the remaining people were sufficiently frightened to cede power to the dictator. If no one cedes their power, the dictator has accomplished nothing by killing those few. The act of killing is merely a fear argument aimed at living people. Most people would find that a legitimate fear and be willing to cede their power to the dictator (granting him a degree of legitimacy). But again, it's that ceding of power based on a legitimate fear that creates authority and government, not the act of killing itself. | |
| Sep 8, 2020 at 16:41 | comment | added | Paul Johnson | "assuming the he could find enough people willing to give up the principles of anarchism and follow him blindly". There doesn't seem to be any shortage of such people. Anarchists assume that everyone will basically agree with them once they have it properly explained. Trouble is, someone else will come along and properly explain something else. Maybe a religion, maybe QAnon, but something. And then everyone goes and believes that instead. | |
| Sep 8, 2020 at 16:22 | comment | added | Italian Philosopher | But a government does not have to be legitimate (and the question did not put that up as a restriction Somalia, Islamic State, warlords in Congo). We see plenty of that around. Good answer otherwise. Killing everyone is more of an extreme thought experiment boundary condition than a realistic limitation - killing 1/20 or 1/10 would probably amply suffice to impose some form of dictatorship. | |
| Apr 11, 2020 at 16:27 | history | edited | Ted Wrigley | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
typo
|
| Apr 11, 2020 at 15:22 | history | answered | Ted Wrigley | CC BY-SA 4.0 |