For anarchy to work, human nature does not have to
change. Being anti-hatred, in all its many forms, is something that should be
commended and encouraged. Discrimination based on race, color, religion,
national origin, age, sex, pregnancy, citizenship, familial status, and genetic
information is ethically suspect, but getting rid of this discrimination is not
a necessary element of a society not under the rule of a government authority.
There is an often overlooked benefit of a society
not under the oppressive rule of government. Anarchists societies can, and this
is a necessary element of an anarchist society, exercise the right to free
association. They can freely join or leave groups of an individual's choice and
engage in collective action in order to limit individual access to their own
group. This is something that cannot exist under the rule of ANY government.
There are governments that play lip service to
protecting ones freedom of association. Article 11 of the European Convention
on Human Rights says “1. Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly
and to freedom of association with others, including the right to form and to
join trade unions for the protection of his interest.” The US Bill of Rights
says, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or
of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition
the Government for a redress of grievances,” which should be recognized as
Amendment 1.
Yet, not a single European or American government
has ever followed this. Let me be clear. If one is to have true freedom of
association it is necessary for there to be no impediments on the movement of
the people within the borders of the nation. After all, if a person wants to
associate with someone across the arbitrarily defined line in the sand, and is
denied the freedom to do so, then that individual does not have the freedom of
association.
Even the European countries which are considered the
most free have immigration laws. In fact, you will find that those countries
with the harshest violations of the freedom of association are considered the
most free. The governments have a tendency to tout the legitimacy of these laws
claiming they actually cause freedom.
In the US there is a constant debate about how to
treat immigrants with questionable status. There is an agency completely
devoted to hunting down immigrants and expelling them from the borders. Those
businesses that want to freely associate with these people by hiring them are
given large fines and penalties.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was
adopted on December 10, 1948 by the United Nations. It was signed by 48 members
of the General Assembly, including the US and every European country in the UN
except Poland. Yet, not a single one of these countries has done anything to
follow this agreement, at least in this regard.
The thing is, they can't. It just is not possible
for a government to allow freedom of association. While it is not necessary for
anti-hatred sentiments to exist in an anarchist society, anarchy is only type
of society that can protect human rights.
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