Political Bad Faith and the Anarchist Cure

by blackhand

In Existentialism, bad faith is a willingness to conform and an unwillingness to reflect upon yourself. People who have bad faith never change, never question, and never think inward. The same can be said about government. Government never looks within, never questions itself and never tries to change. Those in power rarely ever change themselves, and when they do, it's never for the good of those they rule, it's for their own political salvation.

Sadly, this bad faith spreads to those under government rule. The citizens take on the government's refusal to politically reflect upon themselves. They assume that government will take care of their problems; they just argue on how much government is needed so their problems can be fixed. They don't think that they might not need government. They don't think that they might actually have the right to run their own lives in totality. This is political bad faith: the refusal to reflect upon your government and your own political essence.

Political bad faith has been around since before the creation of modern government. It has gone through several names over the centuries, its newest alias being "patriotism". Governments all over promote the cult of the State using bad faith. Do not question. Do not change. Recently, just after his government's close call, Canada's Paul Martin immediately called for the end of reflection upon his government and the need to unite for the better of the nation. It was a pathetic display of deeply rooted bad faith, grown out of the need to survive in the political world. Even in today's media bad faith is rampant, as can be read in newspapers and see on TV. Columnists and talking heads call for the silencing of dissent, the expulsion of "traitors" and the unwavering backing of the neo-conservative regime that is pushing government down the throats of peoples both in America and abroad. The National Post, a hypocritical newspaper, calls for Muslims and liberals to reflect upon themselves, but refuses to budge when the neo-conservatives bark their party lines. The Toronto Star is no different in its unwavering support for liberal pro-government ideology. Both of these major papers pass on their bad faith to their readers, and in turn infect the populous with the idea that they need government, when in fact they don't.

Anarchism is the cure for political bad faith. Without government the populous is free to reflect upon itself without the talking heads and the intrusive columnists trying to get them to follow their opposing dogmas. Without government there is no longer the fear of being called a traitor by rabid nationalists and black listed by anti-freedom activists. Anarchism will not remove the bad faith of religious convictions or other cultural philosophies; that is up to others within those institutions, but as of now, there is the chance that the political world can be cleansed of bad faith when the infectious idea that government is necessary is removed.