At this time, u/rvauofrsol is the only moderator of the subreddit. "I didn't create it," they told Bored Panda. "I was just around when it was created."
I know, not often do you see a subreddit this big with just one person running the show. Or a completely empty 'Rules' section. But as u/rvauofrsol says, consider its name!
"Some of the most popular ways first world anarchists rebel are touching things, taking photos, and crossing lines," they explained. According to the moderator, the community of the subreddit is "chaotic yet cyclical."
Michael Friedman, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist, life coach, and the co-founder of Hardcore Humanism, and he thinks that in order to understand the meaning of and need for peaceful anarchism, we need to look at humanity — being humane to humans, animals, and the planet.
To make his point, Friedman suggests looking at a conversation he had with Mark Greenway, the frontman of Napalm Death. "Human lives and other sentient lives as well, are more important than politics because ... if you can't ensure the welfare of those things, then politics is meaningless," Greenway told him.
The musician went on to describe a "crisis of humanity" resulting from a large percentage of the world's population being stuck in certain cultural standpoints and drawing red lines that they won't cross. "And that's problematic because then you prioritize the cultural aspects of the human being."
According to Greenway, peaceful anarchism is freedom. "The whole point of anarchy is not to be governed and you are your own god basically... There are a lot of people who advocate for revolutionary anarchism with forceful means. For me, the very troublesome part of that is then you're encouraging conflict again," he said. "Surely, for me, one of the things that underpin anarchism is to achieve a world where everybody can live with dignity and equality and such — like to where we understand that we don't need to take up arms against each other anymore. That should be completely a thing of the past."
Speaking to Friedman, Greenway advocated for more direct representation in local government. "It could be argued that, well, governments are all more or less the same thing. You know, they're based upon the protection of capital, and therefore, if you sort of get rid of the whole governmental system like when the Roman Empire collapsed ... you have a widespread representation on councils," Greenway thought out loud. "How many people on this earth don't have representation by their governments ... in terms of how things affect them, what they get from it? ... I'm hoping that it would show people that they have more value, that they have more worth and, in turn, that would then encourage people to be more cooperative within a community system."
What would emerge, Greenway said, is a natural connection to human beings rather than symbols or governmental parties. "I want to be able to take every human being, as a human being ... I don't want to judge people by any other standard. The whole sort of proud to be British thing, you know, the whole you've got to stand up for the flag and national anthem. No, I don't, why should I? I don't, for one thing, believe in them and the monarchic system ... so why should I stand up for something that I don't think is particularly great for the human beings that live in this country?"
However, Greenway acknowledged that this type of political shift probably won't happen any time soon, if ever. But that does not stop him from following these principles in his everyday life. "I want to be free and able to breathe and not strangled by this stuff ... So when I walk out of where I live and want to take my bike out ... I go down to the beach and I ride around, you know, sometimes I think about this stuff," Greenway explained. "And I think to myself, you know what, I'm here right now, or even when I go back home, I'm here and I'm free ... Within myself, I am free because I'm not restricted by any kind of dictatorial kind of methodology ... And that's really liberating."
When you think about it, the subreddit First World Anarchists is exactly that — a celebration of freedom. And it's awesome.
