Poster series: Democracy means...

Together, the posters explain how democracy depends on police, borders and other institutions of control. Sharing, copying and hanging is expressly desired

We hope this series helps clear up the lingering confusion about the differences between democracy (a form of government) and anarchy (i.e. freedom). Democracy, even direct democracy, is not the same as self-determination. Democracy starts from the idea that only a single decision-making body should have legitimate authority, while anarchism proposes a decentralization of power: not only horizontality, but also autonomy.

In the time after weSeries of anti-capitalist postershave published, anti-capitalism in the USA has become more and more part of the public consciousness and so people could continue to look for alternatives to democracy in the coming year. It is up to us to offer liberating options because the other alternatives to democracy are even more oppressive than democracy itself.

What does democracy mean?

Our ancestors overcame kings and dictators, but did not abolish the institutions with which kings and dictators ruled: they _democratized_ them. Whoever uses these institutions - be it a king, a president or an elected official - the experiences at the bottom end are roughly the same. Laws, bureaucracy and police existed before democracy; they work in a democracy just as they do in a dictatorship. The only difference is that because we get to vote on how they should be applied, we are expected to consider them _ours_ even if they are used against us.

[[ http://crimethinc.blogsport.de/images/CT_Demokratieheisst_PosterA32_thumb.jpg ]]

Democracy means prisons

Those who do not accept the authority of the state must be isolated, otherwise their disobedience would spread to the rest of the population. We are told that prisons protect us, but the only constant since they were invented is that they protect the state from those who might threaten it. Practically speaking, they destroy communities and encourage anti-social tendencies; they just endanger us - even those of us who aren't behind bars.

Without prisons there would be _anarchy_: people would have to resolve their conflicts directly instead of calling out to authorities, and it would no longer be possible to sweep the inequalities of this society under the rug

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[[ http://crimethinc.blogsport.de/images/CT_Demokratieheisst_PosterA31_thumb.jpg ]]

Democracy means police

Democracy does not just mean public participation in decisions. It assumes that all power and legitimacy is consolidated into a decision-making structure and requires a way to enforce these decisions. As long as anyone resists, there must be armed personnel to _regulate_, _discipline_, _control_.

Without police there would be _anarchy_: people would act based on their own needs, only implementing decisions that correspond to their wishes. Conflicts would then have to be resolved to the mutual satisfaction of everyone involved, and not suppressed by a gang with a monopoly on violence.

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[[ http://crimethinc.blogsport.de/images/CT_Demokratieheisst_PosterA33_thumb.jpg ]]

Democracy means borders

Democracy draws boundaries between participants and those excluded, between legitimate and illegitimate. Only one group of men were allowed to vote in ancient Athens; the founding fathers owned slaves. Citizenship implies a boundary between included and excluded, preventing many undocumented people from participating in the decisions that determine their lives.

The liberal answer is to expand the lines of inclusion, strengthening rights and privileges until everyone is integrated into one vast democratic project. But as long as all power flows through a bottleneck, there will inevitably be inequalities and exclusions. The alternative would be _anarchy_: the abolition of all central power structures and all implied boundaries. Without borders, people would live and work together of their own free will, moving freely between communities without top-down control.

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[[ http://crimethinc.blogsport.de/images/CT_Demokratieheisst_PosterA34_thumb.jpg ]]

Democracy means surveillance

Democracy requires transparency: a marketplace of ideas where decisions are made publicly. Of course, in an unfair society, transparency puts people at risk - the employee who gets fired for expressing the wrong opinion; the immigrant fears deportation - while those in power claim transparency when making deals behind closed doors. In practice, political transparency simply empowers intelligence agencies to spy on the population and prepare for repression when dissidents get out of control - and what government can maintain its authority without intelligence agencies?

Without surveillance there would be _anarchy_: people would say and do what they really believe. The defenders of centralized power fear nothing more than privacy - the protection of secrets - what they call _conspiracy_.

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[[ http://crimethinc.blogsport.de/images/CT_Demokratieheisst_PosterA35_thumb.jpg ]]

Democracy means war

Democracy means ceaseless competition. Just as companies compete for resources in the market, governments and politicians compete for power. When power is centralized, people must dominate others to achieve their own goals. Those at the top of power can only maintain it by waging constant wars, against their own people or those of other countries: the National Guard was brought back from Iraq according to this scheme to suppress domestic protests.

As long as we are removed from our own potential, governed rather than acting freely, represented rather than acting on our own needs, we seek to dominate each other as a substitute for self-actualization. The alternative would be _anarchy_: a world in which people fight for themselves - not for kingdoms, flags or gods - and in which conflict does not mean oppression.

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(Translated by Arsen 13)