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How do you finance schools, hospitals and other public services in anarchy?
0
votes
I want to know if there is a plan to finance teachers, doctors, etc. (workers who do not produce actual products, but give us things which should be our basic rights like education or health care) if society adopts anarchy?
asked
11 months
ago
by
anonymous
1 Answer
+2
votes
I am not aware of any grand plans on how to operate public services in an anarchist society, I would inevitably have to be skeptical of any such sort of blanket approach. Many more libertarian versions of contemporary society are imaginable, but making them happen is what is lacking. Many anarchists maintain that in such a society people would voluntarily assume tasks without financial motivation to do so. There is plenty of evidence of people doing so, and writers like Kropotkin, Peter Gelderloos and Colin Ward have documented a number of examples. Also in moments of mass anti-establishment movements such as Tahrir or revolutions of the past, folks have taken even the most inglorious tasks such as trash collection upon themselves. Many people who enter service sector jobs do so, at least initially and in part, out of a motivation to help other people. I think it highly likely that if bureaucratic institutions are gotten out of the way altruism will become less stifled and undermined. It's hard to imagine a money-less society -- and far from all anarchists advocate such -- but i would like to aim for one in which services are not motived by financial considerations.
It is worth noting that this question can easily be reversed: How can public services be financed in a state-based society? More and more we are finding that the state is not willing or able to provide certain "services". The welfare state is slowly eroding, only to shore up the police state and capital state.
answered
11 months
ago
by
enkidu
(
5,680
points)
Ok, but as I understand anarchy workers would split profit made from producing and selling products, then they would have money to buy other products they need or want ( anarchy allow people to get rich, like musicians artists etc. those who do not need to hire other people to create a highly valuable products). Now I'm interested how can a doctor or a teacher afford anything if he isn't earning any money, do you think a solidarity tax is reasonable solution?
—
11 months
ago
by
The_5
(
100
points)
–
edited
11 months
ago
by
The_5
Sorry, i don't really have any answers within the parameters you specify. There are anarchists who reject capitalism, but not the market. There are anarchists that reject the market economy, but not currency. I tend to think money itself is not a desirable aspect of exchange relationships. Maybe someone with a different theoretical approach can get you the kind of answer you're looking for.
I can tell you that i cannot conceive of any circumstance under which taxation is /not/ authoritarian.
—
11 months
ago
by
enkidu
(
5,680
points)
The point enkidu is making is that there are many ways that anarchists have answered the question of what an anarchist society might look like. the one you're asking about is not common.
if you're interested in the version of an anarchist society that adheres to what you have already stated, then perhaps you need to find the person or organization that promoted that vision, and ask them (or invite them to answer you here, if you like).
the anarchists that i know do not posit that *anyone* would "get rich", at least not in any sense of the meaning that "getting rich" holds today.
also, the idea that there are basic human rights isn't something that anarchists necessarily agree with. that may be a semantic difference at this level, but i think it is worth noting.
people have been teaching each other and helping heal each other long before there was capitalism or the kind of specialization that we have now. in my version of an anarchist society, these roles would be decentralized -- more people would have the skills and would share them because that is what being connected to other people means.
—
11 months
ago
by
dot
(
18,590
points)
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