municipalism, anarchism & polyarchy
Municipalism, Anarchism, and Polyarchy: Some Thoughts on a Series of Writings by Ryan Neugebauer and Ryan McGaughey (2026) By Kevin A. Carson
via kevin carson bsky post [https://bsky.app/profile/kevincarson1.bsky.social/post/3mj6nhbbfes2b]
notes quotes from 24 pg pdf [https://c4ss.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Municipalism-Anarchism-and-Polyarchy.pdf]:
2
“Audre Lorde counsels us that ‘The Master’s Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master’s House,’ while MLK said “the law cannot make a man love me, but it can restrain him from lynching me.” Somewhere between replacing the system and using the system lies a pragmatic – if easily derailed – course.
*“Lorde is telling us that a rotten system can’t be redeemed by using its own chosen reform mechanisms. King’s telling us that unless we live, we can’t fight – **so anything within the system that makes it easier for your comrades to fight on can hasten the end of the system.”
master’s tools will never dismantle master’s house.. martin luther king.. et al
*aka: any form of m\a\p
**but if still fighting (aka: any form of us & them ness).. not going to ‘end’ the system.. will just keep perpetuating the same song.. the whac-a-mole-ing ness of sea world.. of not-us ness.. of part\ial ness.. perpetuating survival triage.. for (blank)’s sake..
From the 19th century utopian socialists on, Henri de Saint-Simon’s concept of replacing “legislation over persons” with the “administration of things” has been reiterated in various forms by one thinker after another. In General Idea of the Revolution in the XIX Century, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon described it as “dissolving the state in the social body.” Marx and Engels referred to the same process as the state “withering away,” and it clearly influenced Marx’s view of the Paris Commune as prefiguring the dictatorship of the proletariat. Since then, the same general principle has been restated by countless anarchists and libertarian socialists.
utopia of rules et al.. proudhon org law.. proudhon ruled law.. et al
In a 2017 piece for C4SS, Ryan Neugebauer described his view of anarch In a 2017 piece for C4SS, Ryan Neugebauer described his view of anarchism as a practical project: Anarchism, for me, is less about “end goals” and more about a particular ethic and outlook. It should reject the idea of “final” states of existence altogether and instead emphasize the importance of a never-ending discovery process in producing a better world….Quite to the contrary of many anarchists, I think changes that make the present system more open and free are very helpful. This allows for greater ease in building alternative organizations that can flourish and help people and communities become less dependent on state-backed institutions.
does this mean part\ial ness..? when we have the means for full on global detox leap ness.. for (blank)’s sake
This briefly stated approach became the basis for a series of subsequent pieces of writing, all relevant to the question of how the state can be made to become less statelike. As he developed this approach, he tied it in with a number of practical issues, including the nature of the state and of authority, and how the overall authoritarianism — or “statism” — of the system can be reduced in a realistic manner.
ok.. so yeah.. and part\ial ness is again.. just perpetuating survival triage et al
In this paper, I will survey his development of these lines of thought, and follow up with some ideas of my own in light of them.
3
In an article written January of last year (Medium, January 27, 2023), Neugebauer elaborated on the question of what “state” or “government” even means in practical terms, and *which forms of organization are most compatible with human flourishing.. **Even an anarchist society requires some sort of constitutional structure, “some form of enforcement,” by which “it maintains itself and doesn’t end up becoming something other than itself.”
*org around legit needs is most compatible.. has to be sans any form of m\a\p
**to me that’s whalespeak.. we have no idea what legit free people are like (black science of people/whales law et al).. so we keep perpetuating myth of tragedy and lord ness.. so in actuality we keep perpetuating not us ness.. ‘something other than self’ ness..
the thing we’ve not yet tried/seen: the unconditional part of left to own devices ness
[‘in an undisturbed ecosystem ..the individual left to its own devices.. serves the whole’ –dana meadows]
there’s a legit use of tech (nonjudgmental exponential labeling) to facil the seeming chaos of a global detox leap/dance.. for (blank)’s sake..
ie: whatever for a year.. a legit sabbatical ish transition
4
On the assumption that an anarchist *society with no constitutional structure (at least, presumably, in the small-c sense) is unlikely to remain viable in the long run, Neugebauer appeals to Chris Sciabarra’s concept of Dialectical Libertarianism to consider the best path forward from where we are right now. He uses this quote from
*crazy to me.. since nothing to date has been legit viable.. for legit free humans.. we need to org around something every soul already craves if we want something that lasts/endures/runs-itself.. aka: maté basic needs
5
Neugebauer appeals to Chris Sciabarra’s concept of Dialectical Libertarianism to consider the best path forward from where we are right now. He uses this quote from Sciabarra, which explains that one of the core principles of dialectical analysis..’.. *Every fact, event, issue, or problem is constituted by a cluster of relations — that is, its connections to other facts, events, issues, or problems. These connections cannot be ignored without doing irreparable damage to our ability to grapple with and/or resolve the issues or problems at hand. Tracing relations is key to understanding how a fact, event, issue, or problem came to be what it is — while providing a necessary grasp of what it can be, might be, or ought to be.
*again.. to me.. crazy.. to me.. all data to date is non legit.. (pertains to whales in sea world).. so using/preserving/understanding that data.. just perpetuates same song.. oooof
to me.. ‘problems at hand’ ness is part of the problem.. we need a problem deep enough to resonate w/8b today.. via a mechanism simple enough to be accessible/usable to 8b today.. in an ecosystem open enough to set/keep 8b legit free
ie: org around a problem deep enough (aka: org around legit needs) to resonate w/8b today.. via a mechanism simple enough (aka: tech as it could be) to be accessible/usable to 8b today.. and an ecosystem open enough (aka: sans any form of m\a\p) to set/keep 8b legit free
For Neugebauer, acting on a dialectical understanding of the present system entails an eclectic approach: the state is replaced with voluntary, horizontal, and self-managed alternatives wherever possible, and the state functions that are retained for the time being are organized in a way best calculated to promote human flourishing with a minimal level of authoritarianism.
but if not ‘eclectic’ enough from the get go.. again.. just perpetuating the whac-a-mole-ing ness of sea world.. of not-us ness.. of part\ial ness.. perpetuating survival triage.. for (blank)’s sake..
‘Any use of regulations or social insurance measures are grounded in a commitment to expanding individual freedom and flourishing rather than some sort of top-down collectivism or elitist technocracy’
but if any reg/insurance/measures/commitment.. et al.. not expanding.. rather diminishing freedom ness.. because still top-down/elitist ness.. still a form of people telling other people what to do
As a practical example, he quotes my description of a society build primarily around decentralized, self-managed commons as an organizing principle: ‘In particular, it is to a large extent a transition to a post-capitalist society centered on the commons. As Michel Bauwens puts it, the commons paradigm replaces the traditional Social Democratic paradigm in which value is created in the ‘private’ (i.e. corporate) sector through commodity labor, and a portion of this value is redistributed by the state and by labor unions, to one in which value is co-created within the social commons outside the framework of wage labor and the cash nexus, and the *process of value creation is governed by the co-creators themselves. Because of the technological changes entailed in what Bauwens calls ‘cosmo-local’ production (physical production that’s primarily local, using
*still cancerous distractions to the dance.. ie: value creations, governings.. et al .. makes no diff if say doing it themselves.. since 1\ all of us need detox 2\ if we were detoxed.. those things would be irrelevant s
skim
13
Thinkers, ranging across eras, disciplines & ideologies as Aristotle, IbnKhaldun, Smith, Darwin, Kropotkin, Hayek, Taleb, Ostrom, Meadows, Bookchin, Scott, Polanyi, Collins, Sahlins, Ward, Graeber & others, emphasize complex, evolved, decentralized, organic systems. These emerge in time & space through slow plodding, tacit knowledge, learning, trial & error, cooperation, evolution, selection, internalization, canalization, and so on, *without unitary top-down planners global/universal in time & space.
pëtr kropotkin.. nassim nicholas taleb.. elinor ostrom.. dana meadows.. murray bookchin.. james c scott.. colin ward.. david graeber.. et al
*to me.. everything to date has had some for of top down ness.. some form of measuring, accounting, people telling other people what to do.. and that’s why we have not yet gotten to legit freedom..
if we listen deeper.. all these people have other little messages we can combine in order to try/see something legit diff.. ie: there’s a nother way for all of us to live.. that we keep getting kind of close to in theory but in practice.. it has to be way deeper.. to the root of problem.. for the dance to dance
skim
23
The fictional wikified construction project of the Belt and Braces co-living space/inn in Cory Doctorow’s Walkaway is in some ways suggestive of how an open-source regulatory code might work, in microcosm.
cory doctorow.. walkaway.. et al
need more of a city sketchup ness.. but has to be both in the city.. as the day.. aka: sans any form of measuring, accounting, people telling other people what to do for the dance to dance
ff
___________
_________
________
________
_______
________
________
be you. 