The Operating System: An Anarchist Theory of the Modern State
Written by Eric Laursen and Maia Ramnath
Narrated by Bea Flowers
()
About this audiobook
“By what cunning perversion of logic and history has the modern capitalist State persuaded us that it is the only possible form of polity? Why do we passively accept its claim to inevitability and its lame excuses for the increasingly invasive surveillance of our private lives? How do the already powerful hide short-cuts to even greater influence and wealth across a ruined environment and vast stretches of poverty? In thoughtful, provocative, and engaging reflections on the modern State, Eric Laursen seeks deliberate withdrawal from the self-fulfilling mechanism he so appropriately calls ‘the operating system.’” —Michael Herzfeld, Harvard University
“We hear from many quarters that social justice requires a strong and competent State to redress wrongs and advance the interests of oppressed minorities. We also hear it said that the State is dead or nearly so, that it is being drowned in the bathtub of neoliberal capitalism. Eric Laursen presents a sobering argument that the modern State has not said its last word, nor have we heard the final word about the oppressive character of the State and the urgent necessity of its abolition. The Operating System is a much-needed patch to the software of anti-authoritarian critique, particularly in its attention to the way that the State and identity-based forms of oppression work together.” —Jesse Cohn, author of Underground Passages
“Eric weaves together a rich history of the State, reminding us it is not inevitable and that it is not reformable. Learning to live together without the State is our best chance for the survival of humanity and the planet herself.” —Lisa Fithian, author of Shut It Down
"Anarchists have fought the State since its inception, but along the paths of liberation in the twenty-first century it’s been missing from the conversation. Laursen’s engaging exploration revisits ideas of the State, its apparatus of controls, and why we should openly oppose it.” —scott crow, author of Black Flags and Windmills
One of the most unique aspects of anarchism as a political philosophy is that it seeks to abolish the state. But what exactly is “the state”? The State is like a vast operating system for ordering and controlling relations among human society, the economy, and the natural world, analogous to a digital operating system like Windows or MacOS. Like a state, an operating system “governs” the programs and applications under it and networked with it, as well as, to some extent, the individuals who avail themselves of these tools and resources. No matter how different states seem on the surface they share core similarities, namely:
- The State is a relatively new thing in world history
- The State is European in origin and outlook
- States are “individuals” in the eyes of the law
- The State claims the right to determine who is a person
- The State is an instrument of violence and war
- The State is above the law
- The State is first and foremost an economic endeavor
Anyone concerned with entrenched power, income inequality, lack of digital privacy, climate change, the amateurish response to COVID-19, or military-style policing will find eye-opening insights into how states operate and build more power for themselves—at our expense. Read by Bea Flowers, this audiobook asks: If the state won’t solve our most pressing problems, why do we obey? It’s time to
Eric Laursen
Eric Laursen is an independent journalist, historian, and activist. He is the author of The People’s Pension, The Duty to Stand Aside, and The Operating System. His work has appeared in a wide variety of publications, including In These Times, The Nation, and The Arkansas Review. He lives in Buckland, Massachusetts.
Related to The Operating System
Related audiobooks
The Global Police State Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Democracy May Not Exist, but We'll Miss It When It's Gone Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5What is Property? Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Utopia of Rules: On Technology, Stupidity, and the Secret Joys of Bureaucracy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hidden History of American Oligarchy: Reclaiming Our Democracy from the Ruling Class Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Anarchy: Unabridged Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Why We Fight: Essays on Fascism, Resistance, and Surviving the Apocalypse Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Participatory Economy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNo More Heroes: Grassroots Challenges to the Savior Mentality Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Street Rebellion: Resistance Beyond Violence and Nonviolence Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Country of Ghosts Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Anarchism and Other Essays Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5No More Police: A Case for Abolition Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Anarchism and Other Essays (Version 2) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5God and the State Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Communism of Love: An Inquiry into the Poverty of Exchange Value Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Memoirs of a Revolutionist, Vol. 2 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Labor and Freedom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Anarchy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Wobblies: The History of the Industrial Workers of the World in the Early 20th Century Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Inventing the Future: Postcapitalism and a World Without Work Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMaking Spaces Safer: A Guide to Giving Harassment the Boot Wherever You Work, Play, and Gather Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Shut It Down: Stories from a Fierce, Loving Resistance Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsReform Or Revolution Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Mutual Aid: Building Solidarity During This Crisis (and the Next) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Conquest of Bread Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Emancipation of the Working Class Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Political Ideologies For You
Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Courage to Be Free: Florida’s Blueprint for America’s Revival Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Vision of the Anointed: Self-congratulation as a Basis for Social Policy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Blackout: How Black America Can Make Its Second Escape from the Democrat Plantation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5While Time Remains: A North Korean Girl's Search for Freedom in America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The MAGA Diaries: My Surreal Adventures Inside the Right-Wing (And How I Got Out) Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Trust the Plan: The Rise of QAnon and the Conspiracy That Unhinged America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Capitalist Punishment: How Wall Street Is Using Your Money to Create a Country You Didn't Vote For Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Is Reality Optional?: And Other Essays Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Jewish Space Lasers: The Rothschilds and 200 Years of Conspiracy Theories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Communist Manifesto (Unabridged) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Girl with Seven Names: A North Korean Defector’s Story Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5You Will Own Nothing: Your War with a New Financial World Order and How to Fight Back Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Emergent Strategy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fascism: A Warning Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Democrat Party Hates America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Marriage Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hate Inc.: Why Today's Media Makes Us Despise One Another Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5America's Cultural Revolution: How the Radical Left Conquered Everything Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Recessional: The Death of Free Speech and the Cost of a Free Lunch Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5American Marxism Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Love Your Enemies: How Decent People Can Save America from the Culture of Contempt Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5One Nation Under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5To Make Men Free: A History of the Republican Party Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Ship of Fools: How a Selfish Ruling Class Is Bringing America to the Brink of Revolution Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Anti-Communist Manifesto Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unwoke: How to Defeat Cultural Marxism in America Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for The Operating System
0 ratings0 reviews