LF439 Keith Preston - Anarchism and the Death of Empire

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Keith Preston discusses his book Philosophical Anarchism and the Death of Empire

More than half of the world's countries are democracies, even if in name only. Democracy is hailed by its advocates as the only rational political system, producing the best outcomes for the greatest number of citizens. But is this belief grounded more in ideology than reality? Are modern democratic governments actually doing more harm than good when it comes to the daily lives of individuals? Although the very idea may be regarded as unthinkable, democracy is essentially a gentrified form of mob rule and its failings are becoming increasingly obvious both in the West and in imitator countries around the world. And yet no matter how bad things get, few can even imagine an alternative.

However, in Anarchism, a much maligned set of social, cultural, political, and economic models, genuine alternatives exist, and Preston makes a convincing case on their behalf. His recent study in anarchist theory and practice is committed to the promotion of decentralised societies, autonomous regions and localities, self-managed municipalities and villages, stateless tribes and voluntary associations, peoples’ militias and federated communities: the foundations for a new, diversified world even as the old world is falling apart.

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