What is Anarchy Anyway? | Matthew Candelaria & Colton Lee | TEDxMSUDenver

Modern discourse would have you believe that anarchy is
about disorder and chaos. However, this couldn’t be farther from the truth. For Colton and
Matthew, anarchy is a form of social and political organization focused on making all spaces as
non-coercive and horizontal as possible. Or more specifically, the presenters view anarchy as
an everyday practice and as a tool to critique social and political hierarchies.
In their Socratic dialogue, Colton and Matthew have a conversation about what anarchy
means to them. They talk about how hierarchies influence their everyday lives, and imagine a
world where everyone has access to exercise their autonomy in their work, home, and
relationships. On a broader level, Matthew questions the efficacy of systemic hierarchies, and
considers participatory social activism as a means for liberating all people. On a more tangible
and micro level, Colton questions planned obsolescence and talks about how they practice
anarchism in their everyday relationships.
Matthew, a self described punk skateboarder and academic, is majoring in English with a concentration in composition and rhetoric, and minoring in philosophy. In pursuit of a career in higher education, Matthew wishes to develop his masters thesis on anarchist pedagogies and social activism in the near future. As an activist of social justice and intersectionality, Matthew seeks to dismantle, or at least disrupt, all unjust hierarchies especially in everyday life.
Colton is majoring in Philosophy and is working on two minors; one in Psychology, and the other in an IDP minor titled Ideology Estadounidense. Areas in which Colton will work in the future includes, but is not limited to; autonomy, identity theory, relationship theory, access within inclusivity versus exclusivism, and critical theory. They will also continue their work on the infinite predicate of god, which is their Honors Thesis topic, within Philosophy of Religion. They hope to attend The New School in New York to pursue their Graduate career. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx

[@krishnansrinivasan830]

It's Super Cool way to address it in a conversational way :) & I really liked that they carried in a longboard & a skateboard for the TEDx Talks :)

[@vollsticks]

These two guys seem lovely guys 🏴🏴🏴

[@TylerMusicSandwich]

Good job guys :)

[@Pookhability]

I have referenced this multiple times in multiple scenarios. It's such a good explanation

[@okule1977]

good attempt but a bit complicated whereas anarchy as for now is only and all about decentralisation of power and equal ownership of everything our rights and responsibilities our resources and profits anarchy is the only option for humans to survive and thrive on this planet longer than even 200k years other socio political systems when compared with anarchy seams useless hope that the word will spread and maybe just maybe someday we will all grasp it thanks guys

[@MatthewCandelaria]

Good Points!

[@Actingfan01]

abolish landlords but not abolish police?

[@sy99939]

yeah I thought it a bit odd that anarchists educating others on anarchism didn't introduce the conception of police abolition? one of the central tenets of anarchism, as far as I've read and understood it.

[@501lilspoon]

Nice talk

[@ZendelWashington]

This whole thing was a date…… btw why do prominent anarchists say it’s a philosophical approach not a practical reality? horrible way to promote a cause that would need to take place on a manageable scale. how can the individual tell the difference?

[@americopedroni6837]

Do you want to have laws telling people what they can & cannot do with her own property, wouldn’t it be easier to make a law to have people educate themselves on the reality. Have them become familiar with finances, economics, public education, military history

[@gizznajet1]

Didn't know Ted X audiences were smarter than a 5th grader

[@gtastuntman3486]

Oi punk

[@xvizionsx]

Wrong right off the bat. Anarchy is a Greek word meaning "no rulers." It has nothing to do with hierarchies. You're talking about communism.

[@kafst26]

It amazes me the people who want to insert their beliefs of what words should mean into what words actually mean. Voluntary associations are pefectly fine in anarchy and that means heirarchical voluntary associations as well. They haven't understood that the basic key to understanding moral interaction between humans is consent. Non consentual associations are toxic - heirarchical or not. Heirarchical ones can generally amass a lot more power against an individual that does not consent and so are very often more easily seen as the opponent by those who haven't discerned the distinction is consent not structure.

[@japo8757]

Have you ever heard of anarcho-communism and mutualism? Those were the first forms of anarchism, and they weren't capitalistic.

[@JacktheRah]

And now look at its history and the its theory. It's more complex than the translation of the word. For most of the time people were called anarchist when they were criminals. The modern day equivalent would be terrorist. Anarchism IS the abolishment of all unjust hierarchies.

[@silerbage]

semantics