On Wed, Oct 30, 2002 at 08:41:14AM +0100, Russell Coker wrote: RC> We are not anarchistic in that sense because we are too sane. ;) RC> We have some anarchistic tendencies though.
I think that is what we should discuss: instead of holy wars about pros and cons of anarchism per se, why not take a look at what in Debian is anarchistic, and what isn't, and how do we feel about *that*? JW>> We hold these truths to be self evident: that all humans have the JW>> inalienable right to life, liberty, and the full product of their JW>> own labor. JW>> JW>> That this right to life presupposes that everyone has an equal JW>> right to benefit from and make use of humanities common JW>> inheritance, to wit, the land, air, and water of this earth, and JW>> all that they contain. JW>> JW>> That the right to liberty presupposes that coercion of one man by JW>> another is an indescribable evil. But liberty does not include one JW>> man taking what rightly belongs to all of humanity for his JW>> exclusive use, misuse, and non-use. RC> RC> I think that those beliefs are common in Debian, but socialism can RC> meet them too... Anarchism *is* socialism. Marxism also is, but it does not meet the belief in individual freedom, that's why it always ends up in totalitarian state. Returning to the topic, I think that GPL's intention to give all freedoms at the price of only the freedom to take away others' freedoms hits right at the core of anarchism. It replaces property with possession: you can have something, but you can't deny others access to it (it works perfectly with information, wish it could be so easy in the real world). It protects cooperation from competition. It gives liberty to do anything you want with free software, and encourages to share with others. And so on. -- Dmitry Borodaenko
