The town of Cherán was once plagued by people claiming the right to rule over them and now they live peaceful lives free of violence. After the town of 20,000 people in Mexico decided to take matters into their own hands by kicking out politicians, cops, and criminals, the now completely voluntary society is running great and the people finally have freedom and peace.
Cherán is now run by autonomous groups of armed individuals acting on a voluntary basis, with no one making laws, but no one harming each other either. Choosing to work together instead of submitting to the authoritarian regime previously claiming ownership over the town and those who reside in it, the people couldn’t be doing better now that they’ve grabbed a firm hold of their freedom.
It sure sounds scary to those unable to imagine a life of true freedom, but the town has been liberated since 2011 and no politician is allowed to come in and begin to control the people. According to Vice, armed men and women — not police, but members of an autonomous militia — guard every entrance to the town, looking for strangers with contraband. “Contraband” would be considered political propaganda posters of those who claim the right to rule other human beings. Since the town has been free since 2011, there’s no use for politicians or those who want power over others.
For years, the town had been terrorized for years by an organized crime syndicate devoted to illegally logging the surrounding forests. So after mobs drove out the criminals, they disarmed and drove out the corrupt cops who had protected them. Then they banned the politicians. -Vice
Cherán has achieved something unthinkable in Michoacán: a dramatic drop in murder rates, with rates for other serious crimes hovering at nearly zero. For those in Mexico, especially in an election year marred by wanton political murders, Cherán stands as proof that, in the country’s entrenched cycle of violence, the key ingredient to that violence is the state. Remove that ingredient, and it’s possible to start from scratch. It bears reasoning that when those who claim the right to rule over others are removed from society, and people are left in freedom, they are much better human beings.
When you remove the myth of authority, that some have the right to own others, people freely and cooperatively work together for their best interests. Cherán is evidence that freedom works better than the bold and obvious socialist slavery in Venezuela. As soon as people begin to realize that their freedom is not at the whims of any other human being, real change and a society based on non-violence and cooperation can thrive. But it’ll take considering the idea of a truly free society rather than putting one’s life into the hands of a master “politician.”
Mexico did that before, the armed citizen militia that were a vigilante group arresting criminals and police combined.
The problem was that the drug cartel infiltrated the vigilante group and turned them into another wing of the drug cartel.
Then, they already know how to fix that problem.
See online footage of their atrocities, and tell me that is tolerable.
I believe it was done here in the US just after WWII in Athens Georgia.
oops
The Battle of Athens, Tennessee
Kevin2, that’s correct, in MY home state. Google the story; very interesting. I’m back at the BOL for the next 2 weeks.
This idea fails, or succeeds, by default, depending on whether a majority of the people have any socially-redeeming value.
There are simple, productive things, which anyone can do, to be useful.
Beaumont, you bring up some very important points. Depending on what region of the US, the idea would be easier to implement in some areas than others. You’ve got politicians, cops, criminals, free shit army, foreigners, etc. to contend with. It would be interesting to see how it all turns out.
Let’s just say, hooray. Now, all of those dependent people are “free”, like a zoo animal, which has never known anything besides domestication. It’s like freeing your housepet.
Some of the careerists, with redundant jobs — poodles — think I’m just talking about the poor people.
From 1680 to 1689, Pennsylvania had no functioning government.
America is control freaks central. Above the law untouchable government that steadily decreases freedom for the people and makes them pay more for less as the currency shrinks in value. A vicious cycle of insider you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours and if anybody objects a mafia style solution awaits. Organized crime at its finest. Some comedy thrown in like Hillary in her pooped dress in public when campaigning. Lmao, Hillary the epitome of WTF! Take her down and a bunch of crooks fall with her. In Mexico the drug cartels could take that town in a New York minute. You’d think politicians there would have security, yeah about as much as the southern border of the US.
Mussolini said that every anarchist is a baffled dictator.
Conversely, imo, the dictators act like anarchists, who have found material successes. They realize that the govt is an abstract idea — like a lie — so change it, on a whim. Flippant, shtick, “the business”. I bet, their frame of mind is closer to Larken’s, in this one regard.
But, do you get to take a gun off any one of the militia, at random. Or, is it still governed. Who is appointed, into Cheran’s martial law, on what grounds?
Do you get to come and go, from working one of their businesses, at will, like in a gift economy. They have business concerns, larger than a home business. Is someone in charge, even a little, or are there no rules, at all.
I am not in favor of flagrant, environmental degradation, per se. But, militia is supposedly guarding their trees. Then, how can you make a private living, in the commons. (A right afforded to Medievals.)
We’re inferring that Cheran is disorganized and voluntaryist. I think, there are type-A’s and B’s, as a matter of human nature.
Probably, due to their population size, in respect to available resources, everything is spoken-for, imho. It’s opinion.
I would be interested to hear common sorts of disputes, and how those were navigated, except noone seems to have anything impolite to say, ever. Really?
Most people are improvident, or have no objective morality. If you believe in the Bible, a sin nature is the default status of mankind, since the fall of Adam.
There are some kind of rules, there, or etiquette, or noone would know how to behave.
Many Indian towns in Mexico have an ancient self-government tradition which is theoretically protected by our constitution. That is, all important decisions are taken by the assembled town (in some regions women participate, in others not) and government officials are elected in the same way, but everybody is obliged to participate and to take on the various government positions. Traditionally, they didn´t get paid, so nobody was too keen on obtaining these positions, indeed it was often a great sacrifice, for they´d have to give service to their town instead of tending to their family, land and animals. Now, in many instantes, the higher positions are granted some kind of pay by the federal government, thus subverting the system completely. Young men, as soon as they marry, have to serve as policemen, no pay, and gradually ascend to other positions. These towns usually take care and often even build their own (primitive) roads, drinking water systems, and infrastructure in general, they watch over protect their communal land, (which loggers were illegaly destroying in Cherán). When left alone, these towns are usually quite well organized, everyone knows what they have to do, they are used to making decisions and being responsible and they are all interested in making good decisions for their own wellbeing. That is why when these people really stand together its very hard to make them budge without a massacre.
Unfortunately the federal government is constantly interfering, particularly when they are somehow interested in the land these towns own. Then the government begins to bribe people, who are usually very poor to begin with, or they create some kind of artificial conflict within a town or between towns, or the narcs are sent over to intimidate or force the townspeople to flee.
Anyone interested should investigate the zapatista Indian territories in the Mexican state of Chiapas. They revolted in 1994, threw out the government and are doing pretty well. They have built their own education, judicial and health system and have the only health system (largely traditional medicine) claiming to have less patients every day due to the fact that they don´t allow pesticides and other poisons of that sort, no alcohol, no drugs in their territories and they produce only good and pure food. I´ve been there, those people look really good, strong, healthy, happy. Never seen anything like that. Women participate on an equal standing at every level. They have founded a large number of cooperative farms for their consumption and they export coffee and honey to Europe and a few manufactured goods. They organize meetings of intellectuals, artists, scientists with lots of conferences (the one I went to included 650 different talks, workshops, etc. and they filmed and recorded everything in order to share it with others who couldn´t come). That way they have a lively cultural exchange even if they don´t ever leave their towns.
They are constantly harrassed and attacked surreptitiously by the federal government, but have resisted thanks to the fact that many people around the world support them. They have become a very important symbol for indigenous peoples and freedom fighters around the world and openly attacking them would be a very stupid move for the government to make.
These people know how to live together and support each other because they have been completely abandoned by the central government, they are very poor and know that they can only survive if they help each other out, in spite of any conflicts.