from the glacier

A lot of the anarchist thoughts of Bakunin strike me as interesting. Of particular note is that the governments do not exist for the sake of the common good. Nope. Rather government limits the opportunities of the subjects to realize their virtues. Of course I can't agree with all that the good anarchist says, but this one point I really liked. Power, commanding - are these perfective of man? Analogously, look at the institution of slavery in this country. Not only did it deprive people of their liberty to act, but also reduced them to the level of animals. But what did it do to he who commands? Unfortunately, he who commands life or death of his "chattel" suffers as much from the commanding as the slaves. Bakunin makes a similar point about rulers. He asks us to suppose we had a society of virtuous men. Then this organization would need a leader - so they choose the best and brightest, wisest and prudential men to rule. But the very act of ruling is what perverts them: for every virtuous Platonic philosopher-king, there are a million Neros.
I would love to see a government for the common good. But I fear that with our fallen state, our insipid Western failure to rely on the Sacraments, and our hyper-materialistic capitalist views, the closest thing a government can offer to 'good' is a welfare state. If so, then where's my fucking kick-back? Ah, for a Duma, for the right to peacefully assemble (and make an assembly). I fear revolution can only be messy, and it can only be while on the brink of destruction. And while cable T.V. still operates, we will never be that close to the brink.