To be or not to be

From the moment we are born, we are already part of what we call society. If we would define society, it would be a group of people who live under the same rules, rights and obligations. During all the History, society can be defined more or less like this, even on the remotest past, when the first social relations were started.

Nowadays, to be part of a society is an unquestionable subject. We just accept this as part of normality. But it is not a so simple question as we generally think, as our conception of world. You, dear reader, have you sometime chosen if you want or not to live among our social institutions and forms?

Bakunin, one of the most important anarchist philosophers, wrote about this in his famous papers which were spread in Europe during the 19th century. He said, in clear words, that to be part of a society has to be a right, a choice, and not an obligation, a compulsory act, as it is today, not suffering any kind doubts.

Bakunin explains that when we decide to be part of a society, we are accepting its rules and obligations in both directions: ours with the collective, collective’s with us. It would work with all kind of social relations, being able to be explained with an example, such as security.

Let’s go: a society, which means a group of individuals, nothing else, can decide it will protect its members from external and internal violence. Only the rules, or law, of this society can decide what forms violence can be used by its members. Its members have to have a behavior according to its rules, and it has to protect them from all kind of physical violence. But, being to be part of this society a free choice, no people may be forced to follow those social rules, which will mean that that society will not have the obligation to defend those people from violence.

According to this, a member of this society has the right to be protected by it from violence, if respecting its rules. But this individual may be free not to want to observe those rules, which means that society will have no obligation to protect him any longer.

This argument can be extended to other social relations: Do you want to be protected from the violence by the society? Do you agree with the public education and the forms it is practiced? Are you in favor to pay for public services and companies? Do you really want to be part of all this? Could you choice it?

Finally, are you really free, or had you never thought about this?