Yesterday I was hurrying through a giant list of things I had to get done (and pretty much knew I wouldn't get done) when I suddenly got extremely annoyed.
See, my brain is odd. Nothing happened on that particular day to annoy me but my mind decided to go back to the day before and become annoyed all over again about something that had happened at that time. I thought I was over it but apparently I am not.
I guess this still bugs me so I am going to attempt to write about it as clearly and non-rant-y as possible because I am holding a cup of coffee and if I get on too big of a rant I will probably spill it all over me.
The other day I got into a discussion on politics with a acquaintance. Personally, this is a subject that I rarely discuss or even want to discuss but one that happened anyway. As I listened to him rant on about this problem and that, how society (which, apparently is a giant, breathing, living monster and not at all what I thought it was ) is ruining whatever, and how we need to fight the power I must admit I found myself growing increasingly annoyed. I wanted to ask him, "Well, dearest, what is that you plan to do to change all of these horrid things?" but I kept my mouth shut. Until I got the question-
"So, uh, what is your political party? Who'd ya vote for?"
" No one."
"What? That is impossible. Who will you vote for?"
"No one."
Silence.
"What are you, like an Anarchist or something?"
And there was the big, bad, "A" word. The word that keeps me from talking about this. Yeah, buddy, I am an Anarchist or something.
I can never gauge what most people will do when I tell them my political views- some look at me like I kicked a dog, others tell me it is just a phase (apparently a 5+year phase), and there are those, usually young, stupid kids, who try to high five me because apparently I am hardcore.
In a way I can see how people would view Anarchism as something that doesn't really exist- the people who call themselves Anarchist, or who get labeled as such, are the ones running around during protests, setting cars on fire and breaking store-front windows for whatever demented reason. They are the ones who usually complain about big box stores while dragging their sorry butts into one. They are the ones who have no idea the rich, deep and intense history of Anarchy or the people who helped create it (People like Heywood, Spencer,Spooner, Warren, and Thoreau, to name a few). To these people Anarchy is an excuse to do whatever the hell you want and get away with it. It is an excuse to be violent and cruel. It is an excuse to play dress-up for a night. It is nothing more than a way to get our their frustrations and anger.
If you ask me what it means to me to be a Philosophical/ Individualist Anarchist this is what I would tell you- I have studied the works the the aforementioned men, I have also studied the works of writers like Hobbs, Smith, Paine and other such writers. The choice I made to be a P/I Anarchist was due to the fact that it made the most sense to me and because I felt by being one I could do more good in my community and world than I could as anything else. I do not vote because I do not believe that this particular system works and I see no point in pretending otherwise but I would never discourage someone who does believe in our government system from voting. I believe that violence, perpetuated by anyone under any philosophical, religious, or political flag, only creates fear, division and more violence and will never solve anything. I believe that we should be working in our communities to create better lives for ourselves and those around us. I believe that diversity should be celebrated and not demeaned. I believe in hard-work and passion and despise apathy. I believe that people have the ability to think for themselves, make good choices, and help others but I also believe that most of us are too lazy, selfish and apathetic to do so. This is not the fault of society, government or any conspiracy theory- it is simply our fault. I am not an idealist- I see that our government has done good for our people, but I also see the bad and corrupt. I do not think that we should strip down this system in one tear because that would only lead to more corruption, violence and the promise of something much worse. Do I believe that humankind could do well without government? Yes, I do. But I also believe that we must be willing to take on the responsibility, hard work, and a deep caring for others. I do not believe we are there yet.
Listen, I understand that these views are not the views of everyone and I am okay with that. I am perfectly content in knowing that there are people who do not think like me. I honestly think it is great- we need to view other ideas and thoughts, we need that creativity and passion. I am not asking anyone to think or believe like me. All I am asking, and ever will ask, is that you view me as a person who has a view point, albeit different than yours, that is well thought out and deserving of a little respect. I don't understand people who are extremely one party or the other but I respect their decision to believe that way. I don't understand specific religions but I am not going to rush around screaming, "I am Chan/Zen Buddhist and all of you are wrong!". I have views on abortion, capital punishment, and the environment that make people give me a funny look but I am not going to try to sway you to my thinking. I do not think enough of myself to honestly believe that my viewpoint of this world is the correct, one-true-way of thinking and everyone else will be damned if they don't think like me. We need to learn the difference between a calm, intellectual discussion/debate and a disrespectful "frak-you" screaming match that we tend to see all of the time.
It isn't just about respect for me, I honestly think we could all do with a little more respect for one another. It doesn't really matter if someone doesn't agree with you, does it? Unless they outright call you an idiot or stupid for believing something you should not automatically assume that is what they mean when they disagree with you. Should the fact that someone doesn't agree with you cheapen your beliefs? It is time to grow up, learn to speak in intelligence and love, and respect one another. You want to change the world around you? Do something great? That is where we all need to begin.
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