On Anarchism was a collection of short essay that wasn't really what I was expecting. I was hoping for examples, or at least ideas, of how anarchism would actually work in the real world. How we'd get from an idea to a product without a profit motive. What I got instead was basically a label for my wife. She doesn't think governments should exist but while they do she supports a large welfare state to take care of the people. Chomsky appears to be the same.It was well writen and well cited, and otherwise awesome if I had gone in with different expectations it might be getting a 5 instead of a three.

If someone has a recommendation for a different book on anarchism that actually answers my questions I would appreciate it.

@re@d.jimfulner.com There are few books I’d recommend more highly. It definitely does not explain in practical terms how “anarchism” could/would work, or exactly how different instances of human organization have been “anarchistic” — but it is a super engaging look through history at the different creative ways that humans have structured social, political, and economic realities. And it is explicitly built around values of human freedom. For me, it opened up a lot of questions I’m still working on figuring answers to — most pertinent to your question: “how were the pre-invasion political and economic systems of the Americas, being isolated from the world-system that eventually culminated in European colonialism, able to create so much freedom for people and communities? How can we learn from those examples as we try to live the right ways now?”

@seanderson13@bookwyrm.social they've got it at the library!