If you had no other choices, would you pick Anarchy or Fascism? Explain, as in more than two words?

Question

I feel that which people choose and why says much about their characters.

Naked. Isn't just as likely that the big hairy goon with the gun who murders and rapes you will be a fascist government thug as a freelancer? At least with the Anarchist, you'd be allowed to fight back.

Before I pick a Best Answer, let me give my own.

I would find Anarchy marginally preferable. The difference being that where there's Anarchy, the strong have to prey on the weak by themselves. Under Fascism, the Strong can count on the Government to help. Anarchy doesn't last. People crave order and you will always find pockets of it. Tough to find pockets of Freedom under Fascism. And tough to overthrow an extablished Kleptocracy.

Besides, we already have the Blueprints for Democracy. Once you know how to do it, it's easy to recreate.

David Brin's "The Postman" is a must read. The Costner movie, was fun to watch, but lacked the reasoning and the power.

There's no such thing as a "Right Answer" for this one. And I got so many good answers. Just this once, I'm going to send it to the voters and vote for my own favorite.

Answer 1

My first thought on reading this question was, well d'oh, I'd pick anarchy. Then I started thinking about it. No society can maintain a state of anarchy for very long. People will band together, and sooner or later they will establish order. The problem is that there is no guarantee that the order which is established will be democratic, or kind, or just. Looking back at history, it is full of oligarchies and tyrants and yes, fascists. Democracy is rather a new invention. People tend to think the Greeks were born with democracy springing out of their ears, but they weren't. It took them a long time to settle on democracy, and in the meantime, it was chaos, with city states vying for supremacy, etc...

For that reason, I would choose fascism. Fascism is hateful. But it is organized. And it's a lot easier to tear down one big bad system than it is to get control of and tear down a lot of small ones. With anarchy, every third person would have their own agenda, and it would take a long time to establish some sort of benevolent republic where there was peace for all. You'd have to go to each tiny group and convince them that your desire for an orderly, peaceful society, regardless of how you formed it, was the best way to go. In the meantime, there would be a big mess. With fascism, you are already guaranteed that those who are not at the upper eschelons of the government are not going to be with the program 100%. There are going to be a lot of unhappy people, and all you have to do is find them, and find the ones on which you can rely, and then you have a way to start attacking the system and bringing it down.

I guess what I am saying is it is easier to kill one really big nasty monster with one head than it is to kill millions of small ones with small heads. Anarchy creates a power vacuum which is going to be filled with all sorts of stuff, and you may very well end up with fascism anyway. Why not skip the hundreds of years of problems, and simply start out with fascism in the first place? It makes it easier to organize a resistance and bring it down.

Historically speaking, as I mentioned before, it took a really long time for anyone to organize anything. If the word were not as populated as it is right now, that might not be a problem, but we have a huge world population to contend with, and not everyone is going to want to be cooperative right from the start. Fascist governments, on the other hand, collapse fairly quickly. I know people will say that the only thing which brought Hitler's Third Reich down is the fact that the Allies trounced him. Well, there is truth in that. But the system was flawed from the beginning. Talk to someone who was born in Germany before Hitler came to power, and 90% of the time you will find yourself talking to someone who was already nervous with the situation before he really even got the ball rolling. German Jews naturally left Germany when possible before the war started, but if you look closely at history books, what you find is that a lot of non-Jewish Germans fled, too. They could see where he was going and they didn't like the path the country was taking one bit.

So that's my answer. Fascism, because it's easier if you all band together (or at least as many of you as you can get) to bring down one single evil than it is for everyone to try and organize and stamp out hundreds of tiny ones.

Answer 2

Greetings. Anarchy of course. Fascism is simply a nice word for dictatorship of the wealthy. Anarchy is the people being in charge of their own destiny. Why would I choose Anarchy instead of Fascism, or its other more common name Nazism? Because I believe people are basically good and if left alone will not choose such evil goals as war for profit. I can understand war in self defense, but war for money for the leaders? that is obscene. Under Anarchy people would be able to exist and prosper. No one other then the chosen ones prosper under Fascism, everyone else pays the piper as they say. Anarchy may not be the best choice for a government, but it sure beats our version of perverted democracy by a non-representative government to shreds. At least in a anarchy we would have a say so. we have none now. and would have even less under a total Fascist system as we are headed for if we don't get totaled in the coming invasion and war with Iran and the rest of the world.

Answer 3

Anarchy. With anarchy survivors can learn, first to take care of themselves, second what really matters to themselves, and thirdly how to make and keep deals. Voila!!! A free society with a Conservative (powers derived from the people and strictly limited and enumerated) government becomes possible.
With fascism, there is no freedom and no growth. Power centralizes at the top. Ordinary people are crushed and kept down. And, as long as the people on top never let their thumbs up off the people under them, that is the way it will stay.

Answer 4

I would hate both. I guess that if I really had to choose, then I'd go with anarchy. But just because I have no option. Anarchy isn't really a paradise were every person would naturally do what's better for each other. I relate it more with chaos and a state of things were anyone can do as he pleases and there are no consequences. The survival of the fittest.

Answer 5

Anarchy is a lot better than Fascism honestly. how can one want to live in a society where the government seeks to oppress the people as actively as Fascist regimes always do? Anarchy at least would afford people freedom to think the way they like and live freely. Even without any government people will still be able to live and organize themselves.

Answer 6

LOL, Mad. Wicca is Religious Anarchy. We do our OWN thing without regard to how or what other Religions think, feel or say about it. So, Why not continue that in my political aspect as well? Fascism is JUST one more form of control by a central authority. It CAN be a good thing if the central authority is TRULY benevolent and governs with the common good of alll foremost in mind. But, that's in theory. In practice, Fascism has been shown to be JUST as tempting of its leaders as every other form of government and it is SO easy to allow the leaders to become corrupt.

Under Anarchy, EACH of us is resp[onsible for our OWN security, safety and defense. Each of us is an army of ONE, or at least a very small core group. There is NO central authority, no one to dictate what will be belived, what political philosophy will sit at the apex of "governing". Anarchy, by its very definition is the army of the self in order to govern the self. Each of us is supposed to be responsible for every aspect of our selves, politically, economically, spiritually, Philosophically, and materially.

It IS the American Dream, as set forth in the minds of the founding fathers of our nation. Fascism is simply another authoritarian way of being controlled, just as Communism, Capitalism and ALL the other "isms" by which the general populace is controlled. Under Anarchy, people are SELF-controlling and require NO outside force to keep them in line. They just DO it on their OWN and enforce it for themselves.

BB,
Raji the Green Witch

Answer 7

there is no real choice here, it would have to be anarchy....at least anarchy could breed creativity and have some positive results at some point....therein lies hope
anarchy relates to revolution and i think america needs one right now but i think apathy rules, along with prescription drugs every other person is on that inhibit deep thinking....etc., etc.
it would be nice if we actually had these kinds of choices in life still....i think these kinds of choices have been usurped by the government and other huge governments and they in turn are supported by big money interests(such as pharmeceuticals, etc.) who actively work with the government to 'dumb the population down' , prevent deep thinking and make all natural substances that might be mind expanding ILLEGAL of course.....
it's very hard to live in our world without getting around to conspiracy theories of all kinds at some point because they make more sense than the things we're all expected to believe.
these are just a few of my never to be humble opinions....

Answer 8

Well as it is unanimous I'll pick Fascism. Those of you who think zero government is a good thing; Will you be surprised when a big hairy guy with a gun comes to your house and rapes and murders you? It won't be against the law? so what's to stop him? Will you enjoy trying to barter for food since there will be no monetary system? Will you miss the music and internet when there is no longer a FCC with a national frequency plan? I suppose you'll volunteer to build the roads and schools right? The prerequisite for fascism is anarchy.

Answer 9

I would pick Anarchy... to me it seems like the only true freedom. No government telling you what to do, it puts you in control of your life and it could be really really fun. Just make sure to pack a strong enough punch when someone gets in your way. Fascism is just crap. But this is just my opinion.

Answer 10

Although I love the spiffy uniforms and shiny buttons and their boots are to die for, I wouldn't have time to pick all the dog and cat hairs off. Also they don't just give that stuff to you. You pay dearly, and the trip to Venezuela that is promised? Well, let me tell you. it is a scam-like-pyramid scheme. Only the ones at the top get that vacation.

I have to pick Anarchy because I don't live in the world of should's and have-to's.