WEBVTT - Mutuality feat. Andrew 0:00:01.760 --> 0:00:03.160 Also media. 0:00:05.800 --> 0:00:09.400 Agree. This is Andrew Sage bringing yet another episode of 0:00:09.480 --> 0:00:11.680 it could happen here? As my granny us to say 0:00:11.680 --> 0:00:15.080 when she answered the phone, what's happening? And the answer 0:00:15.120 --> 0:00:18.520 in this case is anarchy. Last episode, I gave a 0:00:18.520 --> 0:00:21.960 definition of anarchism. The anarchism is the political philosophy and 0:00:22.040 --> 0:00:26.080 practice that opposes all authority along with his justifying dogmas, 0:00:26.160 --> 0:00:29.240 and proposes the unend in pursuit of anarchy, a world 0:00:29.240 --> 0:00:33.360 without rule where selfterimation, mutuality, and free association form the 0:00:33.400 --> 0:00:36.120 basis of our society. And then we took that definition 0:00:36.159 --> 0:00:38.239 and we broke it down a bit further. You go 0:00:38.280 --> 0:00:40.160 back to the episode if you want to hear how 0:00:40.560 --> 0:00:42.880 but I left my explanation a bit incomplete. I didn't 0:00:42.880 --> 0:00:46.040 get into the positive side of the definition. So today 0:00:46.080 --> 0:00:47.720 I am joined once again. 0:00:47.960 --> 0:00:52.440 By Miir Wong also who does this podcast and who 0:00:52.440 --> 0:00:54.520 was excited to talk about building the new world in 0:00:54.560 --> 0:00:55.000 Michelle the. 0:00:55.040 --> 0:01:00.680 Old Let's go. So anarchism proposes the unending pursuit of anarchy, 0:01:01.120 --> 0:01:04.400 a world without rule where self determination, mutuality, and free 0:01:04.400 --> 0:01:07.840 association from the basis of our society. See unin pursuit 0:01:07.959 --> 0:01:11.200 element is another important part of the definition. You know, 0:01:11.240 --> 0:01:14.000 it's ongoing. It's a strive. It's not something some perfect 0:01:14.080 --> 0:01:17.000 utopia that we reached and staggering with it. In fact, 0:01:17.040 --> 0:01:19.839 it's not even a suman of when people become perfect anarchists. 0:01:20.319 --> 0:01:24.039 It's about currently and constantly pushing to be better, to 0:01:24.080 --> 0:01:27.600 create systems that produce better outcomes and greater anarchy. It's 0:01:27.640 --> 0:01:31.840 a continuous redevelopment of the value is necessary to maintain anarchy. 0:01:32.120 --> 0:01:34.640 To never get complacent and understand that this is a 0:01:34.680 --> 0:01:39.160 species level project. The idea of anarchy being a world 0:01:39.200 --> 0:01:43.360 without rule is actually something that gets some pushback from 0:01:43.480 --> 0:01:48.040 some anarchists as well. There's this sort of rules not rulers, 0:01:48.080 --> 0:01:51.160 a version of anarchism that has a lot of sway 0:01:51.320 --> 0:01:52.200 in some circles. 0:01:52.640 --> 0:01:54.320 The Inarco Constitution is. 0:01:54.360 --> 0:01:57.640 The anarcho constitutionalists. You know, it was popularized, but the 0:01:57.720 --> 0:02:02.480 sort of direct democracy libertarian Marxist crow that kind of 0:02:02.480 --> 0:02:05.680 got their popularity needs these to mageties. But it's not 0:02:05.760 --> 0:02:09.480 something that I consider an accurate representation of what anarchism 0:02:09.520 --> 0:02:12.240 strives for. You know, now that we have access to 0:02:12.520 --> 0:02:16.000 more historical anarchist literature than ever. If you dive into 0:02:16.280 --> 0:02:18.240 any of it and you get to the root of 0:02:18.240 --> 0:02:21.240 what anarche is. It becomes very clear that anarchists, we're 0:02:21.280 --> 0:02:24.960 not into this whole theraph democracy thing. They want to 0:02:24.960 --> 0:02:27.760 really into any form of democracy, as in the rule 0:02:27.840 --> 0:02:31.799 by majority or the rule by some abstraction called the people. 0:02:32.160 --> 0:02:35.240 Anarchism is really about. It's not just no rulers, also 0:02:35.400 --> 0:02:39.920 no rule. I've been brought into this understanding by the 0:02:39.919 --> 0:02:44.440 efforts of the translator and sort of scholar of anarchist 0:02:44.480 --> 0:02:47.760 history Sean Wilbill, who, in my opinion, is putting forward 0:02:47.840 --> 0:02:51.760 some of the best historical analysis of anarchism today. He's 0:02:51.760 --> 0:02:55.040 actually who inspired a lot of my definition of authority 0:02:55.040 --> 0:02:58.280 and anarchism, and so I'll have his work links in 0:02:58.320 --> 0:03:00.639 the show notes, of course. But in this get into 0:03:00.639 --> 0:03:03.400 this sort of no rules staff A SHAVANARKI, A lot 0:03:03.400 --> 0:03:08.120 of people might ask, you know, but we still need rules. 0:03:09.080 --> 0:03:12.840 But of course enforceable rules are just really a full 0:03:12.919 --> 0:03:15.639 of laws that are backed by authorities, which I guess 0:03:15.639 --> 0:03:19.680 what I pose is, and unenforceable rules are not really 0:03:19.800 --> 0:03:23.480 rules at all. They're close. It's a norms of behavior. 0:03:23.560 --> 0:03:26.960 And if living in a society tells you anything, you 0:03:26.960 --> 0:03:30.520 should know that norms should be as open to question 0:03:31.120 --> 0:03:34.200 as the most rigidive rules. In fact, norms can be 0:03:34.880 --> 0:03:37.320 even more dangerous if we let them slide. It's just 0:03:37.560 --> 0:03:39.200 the way that things are and the way we do 0:03:39.320 --> 0:03:40.160 things around here. 0:03:40.880 --> 0:03:43.480 Yeah, like patriarchy, for example, something that is I mean 0:03:43.520 --> 0:03:45.839 yet like obviously, yes, pre chacuation enforced by the state 0:03:45.880 --> 0:03:50.040 and by like explicit violence, but it's also really really 0:03:50.160 --> 0:03:54.160 enforced by norms. Yeah, in a way that like you know, 0:03:54.280 --> 0:03:57.720 requires you to like reckon with norms as a concept theoretically. 0:03:58.360 --> 0:04:01.600 Yeah, there's a concept of authority that is inherent in patriarchy. 0:04:01.680 --> 0:04:05.280 That is also the set of norms that exist to 0:04:05.520 --> 0:04:09.640 aid and to reinforce, you know, that authority. We tend 0:04:09.640 --> 0:04:11.200 to speak a lot of you know, the people in 0:04:11.240 --> 0:04:13.200 the community and stuff and anarchist circles, but I think 0:04:13.200 --> 0:04:16.719 it's important to make sure it's clear that something special 0:04:16.760 --> 0:04:19.479 about quote unquote the people or quote unquote the community. 0:04:19.960 --> 0:04:21.920 You know, what the people of the community thinks is 0:04:22.000 --> 0:04:23.880 right and wrong should not be all litmust test and 0:04:23.960 --> 0:04:26.680 what is right and wrong. There's no virtue in being 0:04:26.800 --> 0:04:29.880 a majority, and there's also no virtue in being a minority, 0:04:30.440 --> 0:04:34.520 because you can see within instances where there are minorities 0:04:34.560 --> 0:04:39.520 such as the elite, the rich, who obviously have asvo 0:04:39.600 --> 0:04:43.000 all the time and their instances, the majority is that 0:04:43.279 --> 0:04:45.560 does exist to reinforce a lot of the rules and 0:04:45.640 --> 0:04:49.600 norms and authorities that are keeping all of us down. 0:04:50.040 --> 0:04:52.560 So oligmus test is not a majority use what a 0:04:52.600 --> 0:04:55.840 majority votes for, what the majority wants, or what minority 0:04:55.920 --> 0:05:00.479 use desire. It's really the absence of authority, the sons 0:05:00.720 --> 0:05:04.039 of this sort of power over others at all. And 0:05:04.120 --> 0:05:09.839 it's also inevitably the absence of permission and probisu the 0:05:09.880 --> 0:05:13.200 ability to permit things, the ability to prohibit things. When 0:05:13.200 --> 0:05:16.200 a thing is allowed and the thing is disallowed. Yes, 0:05:16.240 --> 0:05:19.200 people can do what they want, but every el khols 0:05:19.240 --> 0:05:22.600 do what they want, and so that creates the incentive 0:05:23.600 --> 0:05:27.520 to be thoughtful and responsible in what you do, and 0:05:27.600 --> 0:05:29.440 to be thoughtful and responsible in how what you do 0:05:29.680 --> 0:05:33.039 affects other people. You do things, and your things are 0:05:33.080 --> 0:05:35.760 open to any number of consequences, and so if you 0:05:35.800 --> 0:05:39.279 want to avoid negative consequences, you can't get informed. You 0:05:39.320 --> 0:05:42.080 have to learn about how your actions might affect others 0:05:42.120 --> 0:05:45.200 through communication with individuals and groups, and you have to 0:05:45.240 --> 0:05:49.279 find compromises and solutions to points of conflict. You're not 0:05:49.440 --> 0:05:53.599 an island. Your part of a web of mutually interdependent relationships, 0:05:53.960 --> 0:05:56.200 and that's something that exists in every kind of society 0:05:56.320 --> 0:05:59.480 at mutual independence. The problem with hierarchy is in a 0:05:59.560 --> 0:06:03.560 hierarchy society, to access that web of mutual independence, you 0:06:03.640 --> 0:06:06.359 have to obey authority, you have to take part in 0:06:06.440 --> 0:06:10.120 the authoritaian systems, so we have access to human community. 0:06:11.240 --> 0:06:13.600 So in anarchic society, you don't have as well be 0:06:13.720 --> 0:06:17.359 an authority, but our behavior is still regulated quote unquote 0:06:17.600 --> 0:06:19.920 in a sense that we are dependent on other people 0:06:20.440 --> 0:06:23.279 and we want to have as much as possible a 0:06:23.279 --> 0:06:27.480 harmonious relationship with those other people. Perhaps controversially, I could 0:06:27.520 --> 0:06:31.239 say that it's actually the absence of rules and rulers 0:06:31.279 --> 0:06:35.320 that makes anarchism work, because, for one, harm can ever 0:06:35.360 --> 0:06:38.280 be fully captured by rules and rules cand of capture 0:06:38.279 --> 0:06:41.320 all the possible circumstances where harm could occur. Because of 0:06:41.400 --> 0:06:46.520 the two, the existence of rule often provides protections for authority. 0:06:46.600 --> 0:06:48.400 This is something we talked about in our definition of 0:06:48.440 --> 0:06:51.279 authority in the last episode. This idea that the authority 0:06:51.360 --> 0:06:54.800 is there's a right that grants it privileges and protections. 0:06:55.040 --> 0:06:57.039 You know, the idea that the police officer can beat 0:06:57.080 --> 0:06:59.400 you up, but you cannot raise a hand in defense 0:06:59.480 --> 0:07:02.200 of yourself. You know, the bank can evict you from 0:07:02.240 --> 0:07:05.200 your home, but you can't be throwing all its alveaus 0:07:05.200 --> 0:07:07.520 into the bank. You know, that sort of thing is 0:07:07.560 --> 0:07:13.480 a very unequal relationship that is enforced and defended by rules, 0:07:13.520 --> 0:07:16.840 by the rights granted by those rules. And so rather 0:07:16.880 --> 0:07:20.600 than approaching society with a one size fits all approach 0:07:20.640 --> 0:07:22.680 to rules that are enforced by some type of authority, 0:07:23.560 --> 0:07:27.480 we can instead create solutions that are tield specific problems. 0:07:27.920 --> 0:07:30.560 And yes, you might approach concepts like best practice and 0:07:30.600 --> 0:07:33.600 solving problems in conflicts, but I'll be different from rules. 0:07:33.640 --> 0:07:35.560 You know, that's something that that's not enforced, and then 0:07:35.560 --> 0:07:40.280 that's constantly in in negotiation. So then it's constantly taken 0:07:40.320 --> 0:07:45.560 into practice and developed and shifted, and it's far more flexible. 0:07:46.040 --> 0:07:48.120 And I know that it can be difficult to break 0:07:48.120 --> 0:07:50.160 away from the idea that we need rules and that 0:07:50.200 --> 0:07:53.880 the rulers are essential, but it's necessary that we can 0:07:53.960 --> 0:07:59.520 conceptualize anarchy from that angle. With that implication. It's difficult 0:07:59.520 --> 0:08:01.520 because of how we've been socialized how we tend to 0:08:01.560 --> 0:08:04.040 view human nature. You know, it take time to develop 0:08:04.040 --> 0:08:06.680 these ideas, to join them food that I'm still grasping 0:08:06.720 --> 0:08:09.080 some of these things and trying to understand them. But 0:08:10.320 --> 0:08:12.320 you know, between this episode and the next, and all 0:08:12.360 --> 0:08:14.800 the books and all the work that is being put 0:08:14.800 --> 0:08:17.640 out there to sort of develop anarchism, to bring it 0:08:17.800 --> 0:08:20.480 to more people, and of course through practice, we can 0:08:20.480 --> 0:08:23.800 get a clearer sense of how anarchist organization can work 0:08:24.280 --> 0:08:28.800 in all of its harmonious complexity. And I say organization 0:08:29.120 --> 0:08:33.240 and complexity specifically, because it is often assumed that the 0:08:33.320 --> 0:08:35.840 presence of anarch is the absence of organization or the 0:08:35.880 --> 0:08:39.240 absence of complexity, because those terms are often associated with 0:08:39.400 --> 0:08:43.400 are synonymized with hierarchy and authority. But you can have 0:08:43.520 --> 0:08:57.120 organization and complexity without them. So on the next part 0:08:57.160 --> 0:08:59.520 of the definition, we get into the idea of anarcheb 0:08:59.600 --> 0:09:03.120 You know, well, where self determination, mutuality, and free association 0:09:03.240 --> 0:09:06.840 form the basis of our society. Self attimination is probably 0:09:06.800 --> 0:09:08.960 the easiest to explain it for three terms that I 0:09:09.040 --> 0:09:11.440 use to define such a society, because it's just the 0:09:11.520 --> 0:09:14.920 idea that individuals can define and pursue their own paths 0:09:15.440 --> 0:09:18.160 is the belief that people individually and collectively have the 0:09:18.200 --> 0:09:20.760 capacity to live and organize themselves in ways to reflect 0:09:20.760 --> 0:09:24.400 their own needs, desires, and values. It rejects the notion 0:09:24.559 --> 0:09:28.559 that others, whether they be states, corporations, religious institutions, or 0:09:28.559 --> 0:09:31.080 other elites, should have the power to dictate the lives 0:09:31.080 --> 0:09:36.400 of individuals or impose structures exploitation and control. Self detimination 0:09:36.559 --> 0:09:39.480 is the basis of autonomy, which is necessarily followed by 0:09:39.559 --> 0:09:42.839 free association. The first and foremost I want to get 0:09:42.880 --> 0:09:48.880 into the idea of mutuality. Mutuality is feeling an action 0:09:49.000 --> 0:09:51.440 in a relationship that is based on shape benefit between 0:09:51.480 --> 0:09:55.079 individuals and groups in a society. There is reciprocity and 0:09:55.080 --> 0:09:57.960 its communication. It's a shar enough sentiment and an exchange 0:09:57.960 --> 0:10:01.800 of positive actions, and it's not unique to anarchy. Weutral 0:10:01.840 --> 0:10:05.040 into dependence, which is a component of mutuality, is also 0:10:05.120 --> 0:10:07.040 not unique to anarchy. It can be free found in 0:10:07.040 --> 0:10:10.400 pretty much every society because we rely on neutrality to 0:10:10.440 --> 0:10:13.120 survive and progress through our day to day life, whether 0:10:13.160 --> 0:10:16.000 we're working together to clean the house for Christmas or 0:10:16.080 --> 0:10:18.640 troubleshooting a problem in the workplace, or taking part in 0:10:18.679 --> 0:10:21.160 a club or sport, or sharing resources follow in a 0:10:21.200 --> 0:10:26.880 natural disaster. Mutuality happens constantly, informally and often without recognition. 0:10:27.320 --> 0:10:29.559 This is something that Creator talks about in Debt of 0:10:29.600 --> 0:10:31.880 First five thousand Years. He says, this is the glue 0:10:32.160 --> 0:10:37.679 that who will society together? Not contracts or power, but solidarity, empathy, 0:10:37.960 --> 0:10:41.920 and the natural human inclination to care for others. All 0:10:41.960 --> 0:10:45.480 world is so divided, and we still find ways to care. 0:10:46.000 --> 0:10:48.439 Are there obstacles that care? Of course, you know the 0:10:48.600 --> 0:10:53.240 various presuences, propagandized mindsets, socio economic systems, and material conditions 0:10:53.240 --> 0:10:56.760 that limit our practice of mutuality. But these are problems 0:10:56.760 --> 0:11:00.679 that he seeks to rectify. Obviously, it's used like cluialism 0:11:00.720 --> 0:11:04.880 and white supremacy are fractured societies along racial lines and 0:11:05.080 --> 0:11:08.720 create a distress and competition where mutuality could flourish. The 0:11:08.720 --> 0:11:13.320 propaganda perpetuated by states and corporations also limits our capacity 0:11:13.360 --> 0:11:17.600 to imagine mutuality and create this sense of ssty in 0:11:17.600 --> 0:11:22.079 this competitive mindset that creates an unnecessary dichotomy between the 0:11:22.120 --> 0:11:25.440 success of the individual and success of the collective. Because 0:11:25.440 --> 0:11:28.440 of the very nature these hierarchical systems are forcing us 0:11:28.480 --> 0:11:32.360 intexplosive relationships. Things like mutual aid and are being replaced 0:11:32.360 --> 0:11:38.000 by transactional exchanges. Care and community become commodities, basic human 0:11:38.080 --> 0:11:41.760 needs become profit driven markets, and the state takes on 0:11:41.920 --> 0:11:44.920 a lot of the role that was formerly filled by mutuality. 0:11:45.640 --> 0:11:48.600 Just the idea of disaster response, for example, is dominated 0:11:48.600 --> 0:11:53.240 by bureaucratic agencies that monobilize and direct the resources that 0:11:53.360 --> 0:11:57.280 could be used and more effectively used by people addressing 0:11:57.320 --> 0:12:01.040 their own needs locally. And of course, with the implementation 0:12:01.120 --> 0:12:04.800 of the property regime, with privatization fencing off the commons 0:12:04.800 --> 0:12:07.640 that once supports at communal life, it creates that sort 0:12:07.679 --> 0:12:11.160 of scarcity that the limits or interpersonal practice of neutrality. 0:12:11.600 --> 0:12:14.559 And when people are poor, when they're struggling intermediate will needs, 0:12:14.840 --> 0:12:17.600 they often lack the resources or energy to extend help 0:12:17.640 --> 0:12:20.599 to others. Food and secure families may not have the 0:12:20.640 --> 0:12:24.680 capacity to engage in community support networks. Or you know, 0:12:24.720 --> 0:12:26.679 if you look at how cities are often designed their 0:12:26.760 --> 0:12:29.679 structure to isolate people, they make it harder people to 0:12:29.760 --> 0:12:33.240 form balance of trust. The existence of all these non 0:12:33.280 --> 0:12:37.840 places like highways, the absence of third places, and the 0:12:37.880 --> 0:12:40.880 prevalence of civil and sprawl or make it more difficult 0:12:40.920 --> 0:12:44.280 for us to form bonds of trust and solidarity. And then, 0:12:44.320 --> 0:12:47.280 of course you have the intervention of the state into 0:12:47.280 --> 0:12:50.840 people's efforts to engage in mutual aid. You know, the 0:12:50.880 --> 0:12:55.800 states punishes and criminalizes mutual aid efforts for migrants or 0:12:55.840 --> 0:12:59.319 for homeless people. You will often see the police or 0:12:59.400 --> 0:13:03.679 border authority is preventing people from helping those people, charging 0:13:03.720 --> 0:13:07.240 them with criminal penalties just for trying to help their 0:13:07.240 --> 0:13:10.880 fellow humor and all these are things that limits the 0:13:10.920 --> 0:13:15.480 free and full flourishing of mutuality. Or we shouldn't look 0:13:15.480 --> 0:13:17.920 to the limits of mutuality in our current system as 0:13:17.920 --> 0:13:20.560 an indication of how it might be limited in another system. 0:13:20.760 --> 0:13:22.559 In fact, we can look at these limits and see 0:13:22.920 --> 0:13:26.240 what ways mutuality could flourish even further when they no 0:13:26.360 --> 0:13:29.880 longer exist. So by taking the time to dismantle prejudices, 0:13:29.920 --> 0:13:33.600 to challenge propaganda, to build alternatives, and to create abundance, 0:13:34.000 --> 0:13:37.120 we can start to recognize the potential of our mutuality. 0:13:38.080 --> 0:13:41.040 And so really getting from zero point A to point B, 0:13:41.720 --> 0:13:45.400 it becomes a matter of expanding our solidarity, which would 0:13:45.400 --> 0:13:49.400 expand our capacity for mutuality to drive our social organizations. 0:13:50.040 --> 0:13:53.960 Solidarity is about establishing and recognizing the bond between all people, 0:13:54.440 --> 0:13:56.800 understanding that I center gain from you doing well and 0:13:57.000 --> 0:14:01.319 vice versa rememother. Our system incentivized selfishness that acts to 0:14:01.400 --> 0:14:06.000 the detriment of others. So anarchy doesn't need perfect people, 0:14:06.600 --> 0:14:10.360 it just needs systems to have better incentives. So anarchic 0:14:10.480 --> 0:14:14.880 systems would incentivize generosity and selflessness, of course, But the 0:14:14.920 --> 0:14:18.200 real trick is really in creating systems that utilize selfishness 0:14:18.480 --> 0:14:21.120 to the benefit of others, making it so that even 0:14:21.120 --> 0:14:24.520 the most self interested and self absorbed people are a 0:14:24.560 --> 0:14:26.800 net positive or at least a net zero on the 0:14:26.840 --> 0:14:29.080 impacts of the rest of society, because they will find 0:14:29.120 --> 0:14:32.080 themselves acting in ways that are generous and that are 0:14:32.160 --> 0:14:35.160 selfless in order to get the gains that they desire 0:14:35.240 --> 0:14:38.120 for themselves. You can call it to kind of a 0:14:38.160 --> 0:14:39.680 selfish selflessness. 0:14:40.400 --> 0:14:43.760 Yeah, And it's funny because like that's the sort of 0:14:44.440 --> 0:14:47.560 justification that capitalism uses, that like, oh, if everyone that 0:14:47.680 --> 0:14:51.720 purely acts into self interest and everything will get better 0:14:51.760 --> 0:14:54.920 for everyone, you know. But it's effectively just like a 0:14:54.960 --> 0:14:57.280 code of paint that's been put on a system that 0:14:57.600 --> 0:14:59.680 people use their self interest to make things better for 0:14:59.680 --> 0:15:00.720 egas exactly them. 0:15:01.600 --> 0:15:06.280 Yeah, So clearly the system of capitalism has these systemic 0:15:06.360 --> 0:15:10.920 incentives and structures that allow for selfishness that not only 0:15:11.160 --> 0:15:16.680 expand and propagate and be reinforced, there also ensures that 0:15:16.680 --> 0:15:20.840 that impulse that in inclination has an extraordinary impact on 0:15:20.880 --> 0:15:25.920 the lives of millions of people. An individual selfish person 0:15:26.160 --> 0:15:29.960 cannot do that much to impact others, but put them 0:15:29.960 --> 0:15:32.080 in a position of power, and all of a sudden 0:15:32.160 --> 0:15:36.920 their decisions can impact the lives of thousands, millions, even billions. 0:15:37.840 --> 0:15:40.040 So the practice of anarchy is a way of creating 0:15:40.040 --> 0:15:42.680 a society where no one stands above another, and where 0:15:42.800 --> 0:15:46.280 lives are built in cooperation instead of domination. Reshape and 0:15:46.320 --> 0:15:49.200 how we practice mutuality why building new habits of cooperation 0:15:49.320 --> 0:15:53.080 that work without rulers. And that's what social revolution is 0:15:53.120 --> 0:15:56.200 all about. It's an ongoing and intentional transformation of our 0:15:56.200 --> 0:15:59.560 society for economy and culture and philosophy and technology and 0:15:59.600 --> 0:16:03.320 relationship and politics. It's the ongoing indication of all forms 0:16:03.360 --> 0:16:06.280 of authority and prejudice and the ongoing affirmation of freely 0:16:06.360 --> 0:16:10.080 associated equals. There is, in many ways a reconstitution of 0:16:10.080 --> 0:16:13.920 our natural initiative or capacity of mutuality and our responsibility 0:16:13.960 --> 0:16:16.920 for ourselves and each other. And that starts here and now, 0:16:17.200 --> 0:16:20.120 not at some distant points in the future. It won't 0:16:20.160 --> 0:16:23.480 be easy, but it's necessary to unshackle our mutuality to 0:16:23.560 --> 0:16:26.640 create a society where it can flourish. And this is 0:16:26.680 --> 0:16:29.720 where we get into things like mutual aid. It's confused 0:16:29.720 --> 0:16:33.280 with charity very often, but it's a manifestation of our mutuality. 0:16:33.760 --> 0:16:36.680 It's a voluntary and mutually beneficial exchange of services and 0:16:36.720 --> 0:16:39.480 resources in a society. And so it's not about tit 0:16:39.520 --> 0:16:42.920 for tat peedback or measuring each person's contributions. It's what 0:16:43.040 --> 0:16:45.960 taking responsibility for one another as members of a society 0:16:46.480 --> 0:16:49.960 and building social relations that sharpen our ability to collaborate 0:16:50.040 --> 0:16:53.960 and share. To part phrase Peter Creputkin, practice and mutual 0:16:54.000 --> 0:16:56.640 aid is the surest means forgiving each other into all 0:16:56.680 --> 0:16:59.560 of the greatest safety, the best guarantee of existence and 0:16:59.600 --> 0:17:05.000 progress bodily, intellectually, and morally, but mutually. Like I said earlier, 0:17:05.240 --> 0:17:08.480 it derives its basis from our interdependence, which is another 0:17:08.520 --> 0:17:12.440 component of mutuality. Mutual independence is the very basic idea 0:17:12.480 --> 0:17:14.879 that we rely on each other for various aspects of 0:17:14.880 --> 0:17:17.840 our lives. In every kind of society and an he 0:17:18.000 --> 0:17:21.919 our mutual interdependence is unrestricted by authority and instead guided 0:17:21.960 --> 0:17:25.600 by complementarity, so we are all approached and appreciated as 0:17:25.680 --> 0:17:30.760 unique equals cooperated on that basis. Mutual responsibility is another 0:17:30.800 --> 0:17:34.600 manifestation of mutuality, as the idea that in the absence 0:17:34.720 --> 0:17:37.880 of legal order, in the absence of authority, when society 0:17:37.960 --> 0:17:40.480 is no longer guided by laws that are binding and 0:17:40.640 --> 0:17:44.720 enforceable by some authority, we must be guided instead by responsibility. 0:17:45.520 --> 0:17:48.320 But actions are pre authorized or pre judged by an 0:17:48.359 --> 0:17:52.199 external rules, but that each action is undertaken freely and 0:17:52.560 --> 0:17:57.679 subject to any number of responses positive and negative. Are 0:17:57.720 --> 0:18:00.960 you curious about this idea of legal order and permission, 0:18:01.040 --> 0:18:04.920 prohibition and unusual responsibility? I recommend Sean Wilber's and new 0:18:04.920 --> 0:18:08.280 glossary on the Libertarian Labyrinth, as it offers the exploration 0:18:08.680 --> 0:18:14.400 of that concept and a lot more to synthetic anarchism. 0:18:15.040 --> 0:18:18.320 So anarchy demands a high degree of self awareness, care, 0:18:18.359 --> 0:18:22.920 and reciprocity from individuals and communities, not through coercion or enforcement, 0:18:22.960 --> 0:18:27.479 but through voluntary continue us and conscious negotiation. Incentivized by 0:18:27.480 --> 0:18:29.639 the nature of the system itself, with its basis in 0:18:29.720 --> 0:18:35.960 cooperation and the desire to prevent annecessary conflict. In hierarchical systems, 0:18:36.280 --> 0:18:40.640 humans of justice often escalates conflict. Imprisonment, for example, tends 0:18:40.640 --> 0:18:45.880 to breed resentment and resistance and further criminalization. In anarchy, 0:18:46.240 --> 0:18:50.440 the absence of preauthorized retaliation encourages us to find that 0:18:50.560 --> 0:18:54.440 dialogue and to create restorative practices. If a conflict arises 0:18:54.440 --> 0:18:57.280 over a resource, people have an interest in reachion and 0:18:57.320 --> 0:19:00.520 resolution that benefits both rather than escalates and things and 0:19:00.680 --> 0:19:06.560 prolonged disputes. So, such as society, you will necessarily require responsibility. 0:19:07.280 --> 0:19:13.399 They're both responsibility for the environment and responsibility for other people. 0:19:14.320 --> 0:19:18.520 You know, if you are costing the ecosystem its resources, 0:19:19.160 --> 0:19:22.239 it can just offload that cost onto everybody else, As 0:19:22.280 --> 0:19:25.080 it's common in captive systems. You have to be in 0:19:25.119 --> 0:19:28.080 dialogue with other people to ensure your actions are balanced 0:19:28.080 --> 0:19:31.920 by replenishing the resource, by mitigating harm, or by securing 0:19:32.000 --> 0:19:34.919 so kind of collective agreement. And if somebody is creating 0:19:35.040 --> 0:19:39.160 a disruptive situation, if they're blasting out music at night, 0:19:39.760 --> 0:19:42.679 we kind oft rely on an external authority to mediate, 0:19:43.080 --> 0:19:45.639 but we have to mediate in some way. We have 0:19:45.680 --> 0:19:48.320 to find ways to ensure that they bear the costs 0:19:48.359 --> 0:19:52.879 of disturbing others, whether involves apologizing or making amends or 0:19:53.000 --> 0:19:54.840 just in their behavior, or if they don't want to 0:19:54.880 --> 0:20:00.720 take on other people facing other consequences as necessary. So 0:20:00.720 --> 0:20:05.640 social revolution really aims to prepare us for that responsibility. It's, 0:20:05.880 --> 0:20:10.080 as Wilber describes, a basic principle for encountering, recognizing, and 0:20:10.080 --> 0:20:14.080 engaging with others. It's our beefed up and extremely demanded 0:20:14.200 --> 0:20:18.960 version of the Golden rule. The organic emergence of this 0:20:19.080 --> 0:20:23.159 responsibility and the incentives of this system could create a 0:20:23.200 --> 0:20:26.800 sort of a mutual understanding, which is another aspect of neutrality. 0:20:27.240 --> 0:20:29.800 As people will necessarily form norms of behavior that will 0:20:29.840 --> 0:20:33.879 guide the interactions between them. They'll facilitate consultation and negotiation 0:20:34.359 --> 0:20:38.000 to restrain the escalation of conflict. They'll maintain the viability 0:20:38.040 --> 0:20:42.479 of shared commons and libraries of thiths, and similarly, our 0:20:42.480 --> 0:20:45.400 desire to prevent the escalation of conflict, to prevent threat 0:20:45.400 --> 0:20:47.640 to our being and prevent threats to our social harmony 0:20:47.880 --> 0:20:51.160 or society's integrity with thus developed a sense of mutual 0:20:51.200 --> 0:20:54.480 defense it's in all of our interests to minimize the 0:20:54.480 --> 0:20:57.800 potential Hoever, our actions to proctively seek out solutions to 0:20:57.840 --> 0:21:00.960 potential and actual conflict ensure that we won't get flack 0:21:01.040 --> 0:21:04.479 and pushback and negative consequences to the things that we 0:21:04.560 --> 0:21:07.919 do and threats to the sustainability of our society and 0:21:07.960 --> 0:21:22.040 our lives I. Thinyet. Another manifestation of mutuality become to 0:21:22.080 --> 0:21:25.520 the idea of mutual interests, which are what make free 0:21:25.560 --> 0:21:29.120 association as the basis of an arctic social organization possible. 0:21:29.920 --> 0:21:33.639 Free association is the founding principle of an archic social organization, 0:21:33.880 --> 0:21:36.440 and it refers the ability of each person to move 0:21:36.480 --> 0:21:40.119 around to association disassociated with others as they so choose, 0:21:40.359 --> 0:21:45.480 without being subject to authority. Free association is free from 0:21:45.840 --> 0:21:50.960 the impositions of wage labor, from the boundaries of citizenship, 0:21:51.240 --> 0:21:55.920 and from all other hierarchical relationships. This is different from 0:21:55.920 --> 0:21:59.240 the sort of liberal idea of freedom of association, where 0:21:59.320 --> 0:22:03.240 under capitalists that freedom of association is the freedom that 0:22:03.359 --> 0:22:08.240 comes with signing contracts and control in private property. So 0:22:08.320 --> 0:22:10.840 being free from authority, we still have to do what 0:22:10.920 --> 0:22:13.879 we have to do, because we're still muchly interdependent, but 0:22:13.920 --> 0:22:16.679 that free association empowers people to connect with others and 0:22:16.680 --> 0:22:19.600 to form groups based around shared interests or as add 0:22:19.680 --> 0:22:23.680 actions to pursue those interests. Of actions. So interest maypy 0:22:23.720 --> 0:22:26.639 as broad as onet and to eat, or as niche 0:22:26.680 --> 0:22:30.120 as wanting to maintain the traditional Japanese art of wood joinery. 0:22:31.080 --> 0:22:33.840 Or they might span the globe or whatever unique to 0:22:33.880 --> 0:22:36.560 a particular interest, such as those who are interested in 0:22:36.560 --> 0:22:39.879 the mantia and the cleanliness of a local river. So 0:22:39.920 --> 0:22:42.239 groups don't just exist for the sake of existing. They 0:22:42.240 --> 0:22:45.240 don't exist to perpetuate on existence. They exist with a 0:22:45.280 --> 0:22:49.119 particular goal in mind, whether that is mintian roads, producing 0:22:49.119 --> 0:22:52.560 a distributing food, or building housing. And then such groups 0:22:52.600 --> 0:22:56.280 may exist for a long time, or they may dissolve frequently. 0:22:56.720 --> 0:22:59.120 They may split, or they may emerge. They may overlap 0:22:59.200 --> 0:23:01.920 or come into conflict, and the spaces where they interact 0:23:02.320 --> 0:23:05.800 could be called spaces of encounter, taken place in factories 0:23:05.920 --> 0:23:09.800 or in gardens, specifically to at online platforms or some 0:23:09.840 --> 0:23:13.800 sort of community center. So free association may occur on 0:23:13.840 --> 0:23:17.600 the level of networks of individuals or federations of groups. 0:23:18.040 --> 0:23:20.480 But I need to explain the commune and the federation, 0:23:20.680 --> 0:23:23.040 because those are things that can be interpreted in a 0:23:23.040 --> 0:23:26.080 few different ways. You know, federations people who might think 0:23:26.119 --> 0:23:30.800 of government, communes people might think of well, local government 0:23:31.000 --> 0:23:33.960 or con geese or something of that nature. Yeah, be 0:23:34.040 --> 0:23:38.480 cult too. So i'm a key is about funding ways 0:23:38.520 --> 0:23:40.480 to cooperate in ways that are not bound by the 0:23:40.480 --> 0:23:45.080 traditional boundaries of authority, and that includes didditional boundaries of 0:23:45.359 --> 0:23:49.760 shared territory. The Anech's commune has been confused very often 0:23:49.800 --> 0:23:53.959 with things like intentional communities or administrative divisions. But if 0:23:53.960 --> 0:23:56.760