Amos Yee


Why We Should be Anarchists

The best political system that ensures that everyone in the world can not only survive, but live to their fullest potential, and be the happiest they can be.

Anarchism, specifically left-wing anarchism, also known as libertarian socialism or anarchocommunism or socialism. On the complete bottom left of the political compass, notable anarchists in history include: Noam Chomsky, Henry David Thoreau and George Orwell.

Anarchism has an economic system where the richer you are, the higher tax rate you'll pay. This allows any excessive money and resources the rich possess to be allocated to: housing, food, healthcare etc. Every human on earth will be granted these minimum needs to survive, therefore completely eliminating starvation and poverty.

Psychological evidence shows that humans are motivated to work, less so because of money, but more so because they feel their work has value to others. So humans will always conduct the necessary actions needed to produce humanity's wants and needs (water, electricity, appliances etc.). They do not need to be forced to work, or risk homelessness and starvation.

Naturally some people will contribute more to the world than others (entrepreneurs, leaders, etc.), and possess more money, so there will always be a degree of inequality. Anarchism simply ensures that as much as possible, inequality occurs based on the amount of value you provide to others, as oppose to environmental factors (being born in poverty, receiving a poorer education etc.).

All industries in society, from offices to schools, will be democratically-controlled, meaning every person who makes up an industry has a say in major decisions. If majority of workers don't like their boss, he gets fired and replaced. If students don't like what is taught in school, they can vote to change it.

Unlike common misconception, an anarchist society will still have an organised leadership structure. However since the rich have less control, money will have far less influence in politics, meaning leaders will enact policies that fulfills the needs of the people, as oppose to rich corporations to make a profit.

Anarchists are the most free on social issues, and so unlike communists, will never advocate for policies that restrict someone's personal freedom, and hurt society in the long-run (censoring the media, imprisoning people outspoken against leaders etc.).

And although some Anarchists are violent, that's not a core belief of Anarchism. Achieving Anarchism using violence causes more harm than good. I advocate spreading awareness non-violently, like the most prominent civil rights leaders in history: Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.

The few instances in history where Anarchist societies were built have shown remarkable results. One of the most notable being Revolutionary Catalonia, during the 1930s. George Orwell was so impressed with Catalonia, he wrote an entire book praising it, called 'Homage to Catalonia'. Unfortunately, powerful republican forces eventually raided Catalonia. We can only image how utopian a society humans are capable of achieving, if the Anarchist ideology were supported by larger numbers.

Even in a perfect political system, there will still likely be death and despair, because humans are imperfect. However Anarchism, compared to other political systems, ensures such suffering happens the least. When humans are not forced to work mundane jobs they dislike just to survive, they can freely work on projects they're most interested in, that allows them to reach their fullest potential. And thus a level of happiness, innovation and prosperity can occur throughout humanity, unlike anything we've ever imagined.

Shall we stop this bleeding?


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