The Anti-Reality Prejudice in Anarchist Psychology
by Nats Revilo

I have always thought it ironic and perhaps even dishonest for those who call themselves "anarchists" yet are among the most ardent politicos -- political activists caught up in the pseudo-romanticism of political power tripping within partisan takeover plots and schemes, yet they denounce politics and all forms and scopes of government.  The hypocrisy seems to be obvious only to observers, not to the anarchists themselves.

 Sometimes only a psychological explanation is in order to gain insights into the source of ideological positions and behavioral patterns.  Such is the case with those who label themselves "anarchists" and see themselves as being "anti-statist" and even sometimes posturing as defenders of individual liberfty.  But when one analyzes their concept of liberty it turns out to be nothing more than the old whimarchal statism under a different label.

Psychologically, the anarcho-whimarchist mentality not only wishes desperately to impose his will on everyone else, but also wants reality itself to conform to his arbitrary desires. He does not want to be confronted with the idea that there are laws which inhere in the nature of things, that 2 plus 2 equals 4 and not 22, or that there is such a thing as an objective morality -- which may be in conflict with his whims.  He not only does not want to be judged by other people, but wishes to hide from the judgement of the real world and the real-world consequences of some of his thoughts and actions.  It is not that the anarchists are merely still rebelling against their parents or any human authority figures, but that they see reality itself as an affront to their sacred whims, which they want to be omnipotent and to trump everything else.  Thus, they not only eschew governmental laws which they dislike, but also even the moral suasion of ethical admonitions from either religion or philosophy.  No collection of "thou shall nots" applies to them. Their psychological view, if it were expressed out loud, is that reality should conform to their whims (no matter how irrational or perverted those may be) rather than for them to try to conform the ideas in their minds to a recognition and acceptance of the facts of reality.  In order to suppress their possibly being confronted by the recognition that reality imposes limits on them and what they may do, they secretly lust for power over other people in order to silence anyone who might dare suggest that ultimately reality trumps their whims or that there are moral values which conflict with their whims.*

This is the psychological motive behind the left-wing establishment's "politically correct" thought police.  It is an attempt to silence through intimidation (or stronger measures) anyone who might disagree with their ideology or their "talking points" of the moment.  It is also the psychological push behind the insistence by many anarchists on the ideology of moral relativism -- the idea that there are no absolutes, that one person's lifestyle is no better or worse than another's, or that private-property-based capitalistic Western culture is not superior to primitive African tribal rituals grounded in genital worship.

Relativism in Ethics Leads to Absolute Tyranny Politically

Even though some of the anarcho-whimarchists posture as "libertarians" and claim to be for individual liberty, to the extent that their psychology tends to cause them to support ethical relativism to that same degree they generally don't support those values which are necessary for a free society to exist -- values like respect for law, private property rights of other people, meeting contract obligations, the need for police and military defense, the need for moral self restraint, due process, constitutional government, etc.  Since there is no such thing as a constitutional anarchy, the result of any attempt to put their notions into practice would necessarily be statism -- unlimited government.  This is just as opposed to laissez faire constitutionalism and freedom for peaceful adults as any other form of unlimited political power

There is a remarkable similarity between the psychology of the anarchist and that of the American "liberal" or socialist.  See:  "Liberals" and the Cult of Moral Relativismn.

Those genuine libertarians and American conservatives who advocate a constitutional republic, i.e., those who favor upholding principle over whim in the exercise of coercive power, would do well to separate themselves as much as possible from being confused by the public with the anarchists who pose as libertarians and conservatives and who seek to steal those labels for themselves.

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* It should be clear that not all values are objective -- that some things are subjective and relative.  For example, unless a person is allergic to either chocolate or vanilla ice cream, which flavor is his or her favorite does not matter as it is purely a matter of personal preference.  If a person is severely diabetic, perhaps he should not be eating either chocolate or vanilla ice cream at all, at least not on a regular basis. Again, it is the reality of one's life and its objectively demonstrable requirements that is the standard of what is right and wrong for a person.  If a person is an alcoholic and yet refuses to stop drinking booze, he is elevating his obsession for alcohol above the real needs of his life's health.  It is one thing to indulge a relatively harmless "whim" from time to time, but to elevate ones whims to a level which is above anything and everything else, including what is best for one's health, life, and happiness, necessarily contradicts life and reality and is what some have called whim worshipping.  This is the root of the anarcho-whimarchist psychology.  To the extent that this psychological tendency prevails over reason, it will lead to error and ultimately disasterous consequences.  Nature to be commanded must first be obeyed -- not evaded.