I made a post on hierarchy a month ago but I have some more specific questions now.
I’ve been hit with the claim that mass production industries that are needed today would not be possible without a hierarchy. That due to regional limitations and the logistics of smartphone manufacturing, technology cannot be produced on the needed scale without a hierarchy of managers.
This is quoted in PCB fabrication, as well as other areas such as medicine and other mass produced goods.
It is also said that managers are needed for efficiency, though I don’t understand that.
Because the anarchist movement, abolishing hierarchy, “runs counter” to the “global direction of humanity and progress”, it is acclaimed to being “doomed to failure” and “idealist”.
What would be the anarchist response to this? Would appreciate detailed responses and/or resources.
I want to improve my anarchist understanding
Just because some people cannot image alternative pathways to reach a goal, it doesnt mean its impossible. But I would agree that current global production lines are incompatible with anarchism, as they use local / regional circunstances to maximize their exploitation through ressource extraction, low wages, lower safety regulations etc.
Managers, CEOs, states, colonialism, patriarchy and more hierarchical institutions are needed to protect this exploitation, to justify it and to further it through violence.
I dont really care about the ability to produce billions of smartphones yearly and I am sure a reduction of PCB production would be manageable for an anarchist society. But medicine should be way more accessible globally, so I think anarchists should have some answers ready. One I can think of is the end of medicine patents. Other answers were mentioned in this Lemmy thread Medicine production in an anarchist society
Yeah, we all need to remember that every smartphone, every cup of coffee is an exported exploitation pain and suffering. That we all partake in this mess routinely.
And I agree completely that anarchistic societies should not really attempt to replicate things that capitalism is capable of. Sure PCBs and chips could be scavenged and repurposed - something hierarchical system is TOTALLY incapable of, it being economically nonviable. Medicine production is whole another thing, local chemists could totally cater to all the finest needs in local community if only they wouldn’t be busted by SWAT on day 1 like some drug making labs (which IMO should also be totally accepted in society so long as they don’t turn into another capitalist abomination of control and pointless accumulation/exploitation). I feel this pain, being a chemist, so many opportunities to make our world a better place just made impossible by violence.
Being able to make enough mobiles for everyone around the world would be significant if we are trying to go for implementing an anarchist model of society globally (or it’s just not viable).
I’ll check out the link.
There are probably already enough smart phones in existense for every person on the planet. And I really dont think snartphones are a necessary component of enabling anarchism, but its also not really anything bad to have them, IF we can source them and their parts without further hurting the earth via extraction. I think the current style of yearly new models and the goal of rapid improvement of capabilities is something that an anarchist society would question and probably end.
The chips themselves would suffice. Check out collapse OS.
That implies people would be content living under a system that didn’t allow them to get a phone, when modern everyday work and life have become inextricably digitized to a significant extent.
Though I agree in that we don’t need new models every year lol.
I think there probably reasonable and non violent ways to get everyone pretty decent smartphones, its just not something I would prioritize. An anarchist society spanning the whole globe might disagree with me of course and I wont object in that case, as long as we dont keep up current destructive practices.