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I had heard that there was a well-known anarchist living in my neighborhood, and one afternoon I had the pleasure of meeting him in a local coffee house. We talked awhile, and eventually I asked him if he would be willing to do an interview for a highly respected internet arts magazine. He said he would. So we set a time and place, and parted on friendly terms.
A few days later I met up with Alec, as arranged, and began asking my questions.
“Is Alec Diogenes your real name?”
“It’s the name on my birth certificate.”
“Are your parents anarchists?”
“Yes. Although they become weary of it sometimes.”
“And you don’t?”
“We are all weary of being suspected of all sorts of things. We are weary of people who speak without understanding what they are saying.”
“A lot of people mis-understand what anarchy is really about. How would you describe it to these people?”
“It simply means absence of government,” said Alec with a cryptic smile.
“For most people the idea of living without any government seems absurd. We humans have had rulers and governing bodies from the very beginning.”
“I won’t deny that it’s a very fantastic way of life, and no doubt impossible the way things are.”
“So anarchy is just a dream?”
“Realities begin with dreams. And a lot of such dreams, like this one, are full of difficulties.”
“Like what?”
“One of the main problems with being an anarchist is that once you have accepted the idea that you can live, and want to live, without government, then you are beset by a variety of other obstacles. Every business has a hierarchy of leadership. So do all our institutions. Churches. Schools. Hospitals. Etcetera. Even museums.”
“Isn’t it impossible to have a civilization without some kind of organization in some areas?”
“Organization doesn’t have to take the form of government. The best things are accomplished without a hierarchy of leadership, and without the motivation of money or power.”
“What about the legal institutions, the courts and prisons. Can civilization get along without these?”
“The legal problem isn’t so much a question of justice as it is a matter of brotherhood. When all men and women everywhere have learned to live with love in their hearts, then there will be no need for courts of law and prisons.”
“That sounds very utopian.”
“Oh, it is. We are a bunch of fantasists, dreamers to the core. But the only way anarchy can succeed is for everyone to have an open heart full of love.”
“Anarchy is beginning to sound more like a religion than simply the absence of government. Everyone would have to change dramatically.”
“I don’t think any of us are saying we can change the world instantly. We are suggesting the possibility of people someday having enough enlightenment of the mind an illumination of the heart to live together without having to be ruled.”
“Your anarchy sounds a little like communism-Karl Marx’s notion of the withering away of the state.”
“Ha!” Alec chuckled. “Marx failed to recognize that you have to change the hearts and minds of the people first, then comes the withering away of the state. The changes Marx envisioned cannot be accomplished by political revolution.”
“What would a successful anarchist society look like? Wouldn’t it be a little too homogenized?”
“Not at all. Part of being open-hearted is being open-minded. Differences are essential. And remember, ‘Within sameness there is differentness, and in differentness there is sameness.’ This is a concept that must be embraced.”
“So you want a community of angelic eccentrics?”
“Something of the sort, although we don’t envision a world full of angels. Angels are special, and must remain small in number. An anarchist society only needs good people, as I have already described them. We are not trying to create a utopian future. If it happens- great! But for the most part, anarchists are only trying to make people think. It’s just a beginning.. or maybe nothing at all. Anarchists have been around for a long time, you know.”
“I guess there aren’t enough of you.”
“We aren’t in the business of enlisting followers.”
“You’re not a cult”
“Quite the opposite.”
“Nevertheless, you have gained something of a reputation in these parts.”
“Well, I talk a lot. And I do occasionally publish something on the subject. I should tell you that many people are only interested in anarchy because it seems so outlandish.”
“Do you think it is outlandish?”
“I think its perfectly natural. What’s accepted as normal is what’s outlandish.”
“Well, Alec, I wish you success in opening the minds and hearts of people. I guess, as you say, that comes first. I have always had a vision of a future civilization, if we and the planet survive long enough to evolve to such a point, in which there is no need for laws and government. So, I hope you understand that I’m an anarchist too, in my very own way.”
“I know you are. When you told me you were a poet and a painter, I said to myself, ‘Aha! There’s a kindred spirit.’ Most artists are anarchists, even the ones who vote.”
“Is voting a no-no?”
“There are no no-no’s. As you know. Anarchy has no real definition beyond the absence of government.”
“It’s going to be a long, slow process.”
“You are so right, my friend, you are so right.”
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