Arch-anarchy and The Fable of the Dragon-Tyrant

post by Peter lawless · 2024-12-13T20:15:04.031Z · LW · GW · 0 comments

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In "arch-anarchy", already republished here, the anonymous author "A" presents some good insights into why the laws of nature should not be seen as immutable decrees that govern the universe and much less worthy of veneration. However, I would like to make my arguments. I would say that our relationship with the laws of nature is a form of Stockholm syndrome, our entire lives we have been trapped by them and most of us cannot imagine that we can ever be free from them, because of this.Until we reach a point of idealizing them as something sacred. I will give two examples to better explain what I mean.

First, the state under the anarchist vision, we spend our entire lives living under the rules of the state, hearing at school or in state propaganda about how wonderful and necessary a state is, that the majority of the population really thinks it is impossible to live without politicians and bureaucrats regulating our lives. The second is the death over death view of the life extension movement. We spend our entire lives being told that death is a natural and inevitable part of life. Much of the population actually thinks that death is actually good, and that a world without death would be horrible.

A work of fiction that perfectly illustrates the errors in this view is "The Fable of the Dragon-Tyrant," a short story by Nick Bostrom. The plot is about a dragon who personifies death, aging, and disease who tyrannizes a kingdom through human sacrifice and imposes Stockholm Syndrome on the people for centuries before being destroyed by a new invention. Although the focus of the story is a critique of complacency about the inevitability of death (something that as an arch-anarchist I definitely agree with), it is easy for readers to interpret it as a critique against complacency about some other accepted part of life: cancer, society, etc. Although it is logically not the author's intention, I can also interpret the story as a critique of complacency against statist laws and laws of nature, as an arch-anarchist. That's why I recommend it as a reading tip, if you prefer audiovisual media, the YouTuber CGP Grey has an animated adaptation on his channel.

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