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by piloto_ciego 877 days ago
So, as a bit of an “anarcho-pragmatist” myself I found that the pandemic really challenged me in this regard. Ultimately, the conclusion I reached was that the ideal anarchist would mask up, stay home, and wash his or her f-ing hands, not because someone told them too, but because they had an ethical obligation to care for the weak and immunocompromised, but the state had no right to impose restrictions requiring this sort of thing or anything else. That’s tough I know, and practically presents challenges, but there’s a different between how things “are” and how they “ought” to be and the widespread terrible behavior during the pandemic was a result of poor education, selfishness, and bad manners. I tried to contextualize it with other “not necessarily illegal but rude” behavior.

Basically, “look Randy, it’s not illegal to scream racial slurs here on this public sidewalk, and the state doesn’t have the right to stop you, but you’re being an asshole and you should shut up.” We should all aspire to do the right thing, but not everyone is going to. I imagine 10-20% of any group is filled with jackasses, so trying to build society around those people neglects the other 80-90%.