Libertarian Socialism is a term synonymous with the word "Anarchism". Anarchy, strictly meaning "without rulers", leads one to wonder what sort of system would exist in place of one without state or capitalist rulers. The answer is a society which is radically democratic while preserving the maximal amount of individual liberty and freedom possible. Libertarian Socialism is the best alternative to our current form of government. It is more rational than the capitalist monopoly in which we live. Also, it is more conducive to the well-being of the public. However, this form of politics is not given the support of the general public because of misconceptions, capitalist propaganda, and false information.
One may wonder why it is called Libertarian Socialism instead of Anarchism. Well, many anarchist groups and publications use the word libertarian rather than anarchist to avoid state repression and the negative association of the former term. Libertarian Socialism differentiates itself from Anarchism as a movement only in that it specifically focuses on working class organization and education in order to achieve human emancipation from the fetters of capitalism. Libertarian, as defined by The Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is "an advocate of the doctrine of freewill" or "one who upholds the principles of unrestricted freewill" (pg. 428). However, Libertarian Socialism is nothing like the American Libertarian party. The Libertarian party is the furthest ideal from free. They are an anarcho-capitalist, which means they promote the unrestricted freedom of the elite minority. Newt Gingrich would have been a great spokesman for them, but instead he tried not to let the public know that he was protecting the elite by subsidizing the rich with public funds. Anyone who advocates the total freedom of capitalism is actually advocating centralized control of the economy by an elite group of monopolies in the form of capitalism. Now this leads to the need for socialism. Socialism, in its traditional and true form, is the workers democratic ownership and/or control of means of production. Rather than a government bureaucracy for managing such means, there is a focus on highly democratic organization education and awareness. Every individual is encouraged to become an active, rather than passive, participant in that which affects their own lives.
Obviously these terms can lead to a lot of misconceptions because of stereotypes. For the past millennia the supposition has been accepted that man cannot live without governing authority and anarchy has been associated with chaos and disorder. However, this presumption is false. Anarchy can be a highly organized democratic system. The former association of chaos and anarchy has been based largely on the "propaganda by deed" movement which happened around the late 1800s to early 1900s. Some anarchists, the most popular advocate being Luigi Galleani, believed that violence was the best strategy for opposing the state. This resulted in disaster and anarchists were alienated from the general population. The corporate media had an easy time portraying all anarchists as bomb toting terrorists. Another misconception derives from the stereotype of socialism. Most people think of socialism as authoritarian and oppressive. Generally people think of Marxists, Leninists, Stalinists, and reformis state-socialists when they think of socialism. However, that is the "right wing", authoritarian side of socialism. Anarchists are on the opposite side of socialism, the "left wing", or the libertarian side. Socialism originated as aliberatory movement response to capitalism in Europe. People recognized capitalism’s authoritarian trend of wage slavery for the working class by a smaller, elite group who own the means of production in terms of machines, land, and factories (Libertarian Socialism pg. 4).
Now that some misconceptions and fallacies have been cleared up, we must consider some Libertarian Socialist political standpoints on things such as individual liberty, racism, and discrimination. Libertarian Socialism is an anti-authoritarian form of socialism and the main principles are liberty, freedom, the right for workers to fraternize and organize democratically, the absence of illegitimate authority, and resistance against force. People can make the best judgments for themselves when given enough information and therefore education should be stressed rather than regulation. Libertarian Socialists see humankind divided in a struggle between different social classes: the property owning class, and the working class. Libertarian Socialists are against all forms of coercion, state and capitalist, and do not seek to regulate human behaviors by way of the state, including such issues as possession of firearms, drugs, sexual conduct between consenting individuals, and related issues. Issues such as gun control, speech codes, drug, alcohol, pornography, and prostitution prohibition are seen as a waste of time and an unnecessary violation of individual choice. The answer is not regulation or limitation, but organization and education with a working class emphasis. World problems will not be solved by "professionals", free-market entrepreneurs, the ruling capitalist class, politicians or state bureaucrats. Only the people, organized and educated, can solve their own problems.
What about social problems such as discrimination? It has always been impossible to challenge capitalism effectively as long as divisions of people based on gender, skin color, or sexual orientation have continued. Racism in particular has always been used as a way of dividing workers along an arbitrary basis and weakening chances for solid organization. As long as there is someone being looked down upon, someone forced to accept lower wages because of their low status in society, wages in a competitive system can always be pushed to what the lowest and most desperate will accept. Since gender, skin color, and sexual preference do not determine capability, no person should be forced to accept lower wages because of them. Should we discriminate anything such as hate speech and pornograhy?. Artistic freedom and the necessity to criticize what one disagrees with must be taken into account. However, when it is clear that a conscious effort is being made to degenerate a group of people from another, with some economic or political goal as its motivation, Libertarian Socialists would resists such actions on the basis that it would divide and weaken chances of liberation from capitalism. This view of social class discrimination would lead one to question the Libertarian Socialist position on welfare.
Welfare would be a different issue in a Libertarian Socialist society. Since the people, primarily the working class, would be controlling the economy and not the elite minority, distribution of currency would be remarkably more equal and poverty would accordingly be dramatically decreased. Therefore poverty would be taken care of as an indirect result of Libertarian Socialism. So it isn’t sensible to ask specific questions about a welfare policy using our society as a basis.
This theory was not developed over night. There were, and are, a lot of Libertarian Socialists who led, and are leading, this movement. Noam Chomsky, a linguistics professor at MIT is probably the most rational and important Libertarian Socialist alive today. He is famous for works, among others, such as "Manufacturing Consent" and "Necessary Illusions", not to mention the many interviews and speeches he has given. Chomsky is quoted in Zmag magazine as saying, "Libertarian Socialism is nothing like a well-defined doctrinal system: it has no general answers to the questions you raise, which are serious ones. Individuals have to work things out as best they can" (pg. 26). This shows that the theory is all we have to work with because particular questions are answered by the rational thought developed by using the theory. There is no doctrine that says exactly how society should function in a Libertarian Socialism. Some other renowned Libertarian Socialists, just to mention names, are Murray Bookchin, Daniel Guerin, Mikhail Bakunin, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, and Peter Kropotkin.
Aside from reading books and essays written by the theorists previously mentioned there are other ways one can get involved and support the Libertarian Socialist movement. By starting out small, finding out how corporations like Shell Oil. and Nike are polluting the environment and exploiting the less fortunate and then refusing to buy their products. Simply by education, learning about politics and the politicians that are in office. One can read the Libertarian Labor Review. This is an anarcho-syndicate magazine which was founded in the U.S. in the late 1980s by Sam Dolgoff. It is issued twice a year and includes news on anarchist movements, the U.S. labor situation, book reviews, and other important anarchist information. Before a Libertarian Socialist society can occur people must be educated on a large, national and international, scale. Zmag political monthly is another great anarchist publication.
Do anarchists have the support of a large organization? Yes, the International of Anarchist Federations (IAF or IFA) was formed to counter the internationalization of state and capital powers that are developing their influence on a global scale. It was founded in 1968 by three existing anarchist organizations to coordinate their efforts into a larger movement. The IFA gathers in a congress once every three years. The congress decides unanimously on orientation and lines of action. For example, during a congressional meeting they decided to create the Libertarian Radio. The Libertarian Radio, or Radio Libertaire, is currently a fairly prominent European radio station that helps circulate anarchist information. The IFA fights for the abolition of all forms of authority whether it be economical, social, political, cultural, religious, or sexual. They are striving for the construction of a free society, without classes or states, founded on anarchist federalism and mutual aid (Statement of Principles of the IFA pg. 1-3).
Therefore, when we see through the capitalist propaganda, stereotypes, and society’s misconceptions we can see that Libertarian Socialism is a better alternative to capitalism when we take into account the economic and social well-being of all people. It may seem that Libertarian Socialism is idealistic and utopian suggesting that it would never work except on paper. However, One should strive for utopia rather than except the atrocities of capitalism. It’s easy for middle class Americans to say that they are perfectly happy with our current system while not showing any true empathy for the economically oppressed. They may claim that they are free, possibly saying, "I am free, I have the freedom to buy my gas at Shell and while I'm there I can decide If I want to buy a Coke or Pepsi". What that person doesn’t realize is that Shell is polluting and exploiting the environment that the consumers, and nonconsumers, live in. They probably don’t realize that Coke and Pepsi are only a couple of the many examples of corporate monopolies which are taking part in the centralization of capitalism. They don’t realize that they will some day, if they haven’t already, become a victim of the companies and corporations they support.