Mr. Abonilox, as I am calling myself on Twitter, is still around. The state of the nation is rather dismal and I have not much to add to the superficial discussions that abound. I will tell you though, that I have tried in vain these past three weeks to set up an account at Healthcare.gov and have been amazed at how bad it really is. I didn’t listen to Obama yesterday but got the gist of his Rose Garden comments which were, as usual, utterly underwhelming. Is he human? They really need to have a perp walk over this. Maybe Sibelius getting fired on TV. Whoever is in charge. The criticisms from the right about government inefficiency are not off base. How many millions of dollars were sunk into this disaster?
It’s bad enough that this monstrosity of a bill ever managed to survive in its present form. And of course you have to consider the intransigence of the other side; it’s unwillingness to settle for anything less than the total repeal of the bill. A little patience would have been in order. Let it collapse under its own weight. The single payer diehards want this thing to fail just as badly as the tea party folks–and I guess I’m in that group. But at this moment in history, my personal situation compels me, for the sake of my family, to try and take advantage of this program if it ever gets off the ground. So I was one of the earnest, highly motivated folks that actually was looking forward to having insurance in January. Now, it’s possible that my wife will find another job between now and then. (My praying friends can send up a little prayer on her behalf!) But there is also the distinct possibility that we will still be uninsured at the end of the year.
These quotidian issues are separated by a vast intellectual gulf in my mind with my commitment to anarchism. I agree with many of my interlocutors over the past few years on this blog that anarchism begins at home, you might say. It’s a form of humanism, or it’s grounded in a radical humanistic ethic. It’s based on a view of human value that is not utilitarian but ontological. The value of a human being is infinite. And that value is not increased, diminished or altered in any way by the products of individual human behavior be they good or ill. That’s my take on it anyway. And this basic intuition is in direct conflict at almost every level with the way our society is organized. Economies may be made up of individuals making individual decisions, but we treat the economy as something more valuable than the sum of its parts (as we do other hierarchical systems) when in fact they are infinitely less valuable than the sum of their parts. So too with nations. They are mythological constructions that hide and obscure the exploitation, abuse, torture, crime and evil that are done in their name. They are worthless fictions.
Which brings me to my libertarian friends and why, even though we agree on many issues, I believe they are dead wrong at the base of their philosophy. They are utilitarian absolutists, first of all. Because of the relic of religion in their midst, they sprinkle their rhetoric with moral realism, but their philosophy is dead in its heart and would be a worthy successor to Malthus if allowed to run its course. The American Libertarian is a purely economic creature. The value of an individual human being is determined solely by its production. This can be quantified in different ways: not all production leads to monetary reward, but all human activity can be scored by its value to the group. The person doing the work is not important. It’s only the output that matters. Charity has value to the extent that it ameliorates the unpleasant emotional responses that we have to human suffering. There is nothing more to it. And the bigger the gift, the bigger your name in lights! And since you (the giver) earned that excess, you get to decide how to dole it out. And who better than you. You are a higher quality human specimen (proven by your net worth) therefore you have not only the presumed ability to discern the best use of your excess, but the absolute right to do or not do as you please with it.
I don’t understand how a philosophy like that could ever produce an anarchist society. Actually, it seems perfectly suited to a military dictatorship.
