Wednesday, January 02, 2008

Authoritarians for Anarchy!

The other night, Mrs Vache Folle and I were coming home from a social gathering, and the roads were a tad icy. It was late. There was no traffic. We were on the isolated country roads of our immediate neighborhood. Nonetheless, I came to a full stop at a three way stop sign on a hill where there was some risk that we wouldn't be able to continue our ascent due to icy road conditions. This was not occasioned by the likelihood that the intersection might be surveilled (it never is) or any concern for safety. It was a pure reflexive response to an authoritarian upbringing. It's the same reflex that keeps me from jaywalking even in New York side streets when everyone else is doing it and that makes me observe speed limits even when it is almost dangerous to do so. If there is a rule, I am apt to follow it without thinking about it. I wouldn't dream of trying to get through the express lane at the market with one too many items. It makes me uncomfortable on some level to violate rules, no matter how stupid or inapt they may be under the circumstances. I am the perfect self policing subject.

Does this make me a bad anarchist? Mrs VF thinks so.

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