NationStates Jolt Archive

Supposing I'm living in an anarchy, and I steal from someone. What happens then? Does that person take the matter into their own hands and do whatever they want to get their possession back and punish me? Or do they depend on the generosity of their neighbors to help resolve the situation? Or supposing I just walked into someone's home and killed everyone, then split town? With no government, there would be no laws against it, would there? Or if someone committed some offense against me, and I killed them for it, what would become of me? Would people just say, "Oh, that guy had it coming?" I'm sure not everyone (or a large portion of everyone) would agree with my decision to kill the guy, but with no government to handle the situation, it's really up to me to decide what I want to do, isn't it?

Supposing I'm living in an anarchy, and I steal from someone. What happens then?


What would your circle of friends do if you stole from one of them?

What would your circle of friends do if you stole from one of them?

Beat that n***a's ass!

What would your circle of friends do if you stole from one of them?
Are you suggesting that everyone in anarchy is friends with everyone else? Or are you suggesting that they're all perma-high?

I agree with the nationstates model of Anarchy that biker gangs (or something similar) would essentially take control because they're orgonised enough to go round in groups fucking you up.

Are you suggesting that everyone in anarchy is friends with everyone else? Or are you suggesting that they're all perma-high?

I'm not suggesting anything: I am just asking the OP a question. It is possible that they have experienced a similar kind of problem amongst their friends or acquaintances and been able to resolve it without recourse to the police or the legal system.

I agree with the nationstates model of Anarchy that biker gangs (or something similar) would essentially take control because they're orgonised enough to go round in groups fucking you up.
Yeah, that's kinda what I would see happening.

I agree with the nationstates model of Anarchy that biker gangs (or something similar) would essentially take control because they're orgonised enough to go round in groups fucking you up.

Ever seen a film called The Magnificent Seven or one called The Seven Samurai?

What would your circle of friends do if you stole from one of them?
Hmmm... Thinking about that, I've decided I DEFINITELY don't want to live in an anarchy!

Hmmm... Thinking about that, I've decided I DEFINITELY don't want to live in an anarchy!

What would you do if they stole from you?

I'm not suggesting anything: I am just asking the OP a question. It is possible that they have experienced a similar kind of problem amongst their friends or acquaintances and been able to resolve it without recourse to the police or the legal system.

If a friend steals a pencil from you, that's not something to go to the police about.

If a friend steals your car, your house, or kills you, then only a mentally challenged person wouldn't go to the police, because those people are not your friends. That's what the OP is asking about; it's easy enough to resolve a minor dispute (done all the time in school involving fights) without getting legal, but the larger things are in an entirely different boat.

Supposing I'm living in an anarchy, and I steal from someone. What happens then? Does that person take the matter into their own hands and do whatever they want to get their possession back and punish me? Or do they depend on the generosity of their neighbors to help resolve the situation? Or supposing I just walked into someone's home and killed everyone, then split town? With no government, there would be no laws against it, would there? Or if someone committed some offense against me, and I killed them for it, what would become of me? Would people just say, "Oh, that guy had it coming?" I'm sure not everyone (or a large portion of everyone) would agree with my decision to kill the guy, but with no government to handle the situation, it's really up to me to decide what I want to do, isn't it?
If there was no true govt you might be afganistan right now.
Warlords rule all but the capital. Most power goes to warlords. It was a tiny bit safer in the Taliban's leadership but then again America was less safe.

Yes, watch Mad Max, great example of what happens because they was chaos and anarchy.
Actually, eventually small settlements would make mores and customs representing laws but with little impact but general consensus.
Its not up to you to decide what to do, your conscience is still there unless you had ahead injury and hurt it.
People might gang up and kill you or enslave you for you deed.
Anarchy rarely lasts forever, eventually some form of law is reformed.

I'm not suggesting anything: I am just asking the OP a question. It is possible that they have experienced a similar kind of problem amongst their friends or acquaintances and been able to resolve it without recourse to the police or the legal system.
It might work amongst high people, or stoned people, but it probably wouldn't work out when some random fellow walks by and steals something, eh?

If a friend steals your car, your house, or kills you, then only a mentally challenged person wouldn't go to the police, because those people are not your friends. That's what the OP is asking about; it's easy enough to resolve a minor dispute (done all the time in school involving fights) without getting legal, but the larger things are in an entirely different boat.


Personally speaking, if i had a car, and a so-called friend stole it from me, I would probably first go to them myself and say 'Give me back my fucking car'*, before I would consider going to the police.


* I might even ask nicely first.

The real question is why you would want to kill someone or steal. Government officials want tax dollars and territory and capitalists want profit, leading them to steal and kill, indirectly at least. If you got rid of them, death from war, starvation, treatable illness among the poor, etc. would drop like a brick.

It might work amongst high people, or stoned people, but it probably wouldn't work out when some random fellow walks by and steals something, eh?

In the case of some random dude walking by and stealing something, the most that the police are going to do in most cities is take a note of it and maybe tell you to try asking in secondhand shops.

What would you do if they stole from you?
Well, if they stole something major (as in, robbed their ass blind), they definitely wouldn't get the same fair treatment that the courts provide. This is, of course, in the event that we felt it necessary to take the matter into our own hands. More than likely, we would never see the guy unless he was taken into custody, and, having had time to consider our options, cooler heads would prevail. But imagine you just got a brand new, really nice car, and you catch some a$$hole keying it. Most people would say he doesn't deserve to have his head bashed in, but at the time, you would disagree. This is why we have an established court system to judge our fellow man. It may be flawed (perhaps just the teeny-tiniest little bit ;)), but at least we don't have raw emotion deciding how people are punished for their transgressions.

The real question is why you would want to kill someone or steal. Government officials want tax dollars and territory and capitalists want profit, leading them to steal and kill, indirectly at least. If you got rid of them, death from war, starvation, treatable illness among the poor, etc. would drop like a brick.
does this "changing the question" mean that the real answer is "you would be out of luck?"

You'd call the police, of course! If this sounds weird read the article below.

http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Libertarian/Machinery_of_Freedom/MofF_Chapter_29.html

Supposing I'm living in an anarchy, and I steal from someone. What happens then? Does that person take the matter into their own hands and do whatever they want to get their possession back and punish me? Or do they depend on the generosity of their neighbors to help resolve the situation? Or supposing I just walked into someone's home and killed everyone, then split town? With no government, there would be no laws against it, would there? Or if someone committed some offense against me, and I killed them for it, what would become of me? Would people just say, "Oh, that guy had it coming?" I'm sure not everyone (or a large portion of everyone) would agree with my decision to kill the guy, but with no government to handle the situation, it's really up to me to decide what I want to do, isn't it?

Anarchies can still have protection. The police would investigate the matter. If the thief was caught, he would either accept the society's punishment, or chose to be banished. That's a fairly fundamental rule for most anarchies: if you don't like the place you're in - leave. If you can't behave like a normal citizen - leave. Your life, liberty, and possesions will never be taken from you unless you first submit your will to the general authority. Anarchies can have organization and laws and regulations - the difference can be very slight but very important: every citizen is free to accept or reject the society's decisions.

"The people's will is not my will. The majority's will is not my will. My will is my own." -Bakunin (slightly off, reciting from memory again)

The real question is why you would want to kill someone or steal. Government officials want tax dollars and territory and capitalists want profit, leading them to steal and kill, indirectly at least. If you got rid of them, death from war, starvation, treatable illness among the poor, etc. would drop like a brick.

No matter who you consider the villains of society to be, then unless you are planning to exterminate them somehow, you will have just as many of them in an anarchy as in any other form of society. So the initial problem - what are you going to do about them - remains.

Deaths form war would disappear, yes - but only to be replaced by smaller scale violence.
Starvation would go throught the roof. Without the organised trade we have at them moment, it would be impractical to import or export food, so the first drought or bad crop you had would result in localised famines. Besides, where is the incentive to work the land if people can just wander in and help themselves to your crops? Hmm, question for the Americans - didn't your Pilgirm Fathers have a problem like this, with no one bothering to collect food because it was all distributed equally?
Treatable illnesses - where is the incentive to treat illness? To even study medicine? How are the universities to be protected?
Remember that charitiable organisations take casualties, because working in slums and so on they get caught in the crossfire. Without police, military etc their losses would be even higher, so humans are going to grow less compassionate as our saints are slaughtered by the people they're trying to help.