#like with og L'manburg and the themes of pushing against people like Techno

[thespoonisvictory]

Alright- this has been bugging me for a while. Sometimes, the way this fandom talks about “government” and “anarchy” drives me up a wall.

Stop Portraying The Way Techno uses Anarchy on the Dream SMP as Inherently Pro-Freedom or Individual Autonomy

*A quick note: this post does not reflect anarchy or my politics irl. I am not taking from anarchist source material outside of what Techno himself has said and acted on, because this is about a minecraft server and anarchist theory obviously won’t perfectly translate. I’ll use a few terms to help clarify but that’s not meant to be a perfect comparison.*

Techno’s an anarchist; the syndicate is not a government. This is a well established fact, and I’m not gonna try and contest that. However, people have used the fact that he’s an anarchist to say “oh, that must mean he’s against all hierarchies and supports free will and autonomy for everyone.” But what’s reflected by Techno’s actions that his anarchism is more based in something like Social Darwinism/”survival of the fittest”: he doesn’t believe in lack of hierarchies in general, he wants a lack of hierarchies as created by government bodies.

But what makes me say this?

Well, Techno siding with Dream and not appearing to have a moral quandary about it is a starter. Dream has made it very clear that he wants complete control over the Dream SMP and it’s inhabitants, since the first L’manburg war where he didn’t want an independent nation forming. He’s the one very obviously pulling the strings behind Tommy’s exile, not Tubbo (you could make the argument that Techno doesn’t actually Know any of this, but it’s relatively common knowledge and the idea that Techno “I grinded 200 wither skulls as a safe guard” Blade didn’t do any research on his allies is a healthy stretch). If Techno’s anarchism was actually based in autonomy and free choice for citizens, Dream should be his number one enemy.

“But Dream isn’t a government!”

I never said he was. Techno isn’t against anarchism for siding with him. What he is denouncing is the idea that his anarchism is about anything more than trying to remove literal government structures. It doesn’t matter whether Dream is a government, he still exercised physical power over dsmp citizens and inhibited their personal autonomy and freedom with his actions far more than the likes of Tubbo ever has.

Furthermore, Techno’s determination to destroy any government (not just corrupt ones, he clearly stated he was gonna destroy Snowchester if he thought it was a government, regardless of whether it was oppressive or not), is not an act of disassembling all hierarchies or promoting free choice, because here’s the thing:

People who participate in a government on the dsmp are doing so of their own free will and autonomy.

No one, at any point, was forced to be part of L’manburg, or any government on the SMP. They joined because they believed it was better than going solo. They willingly gave up a certain amount of authority for the protection of a government, and that was Their Choice. This is known as the social contract, and it’s kind of crucial to the dsmp’s lore. The fact that Fundy could just leave and start Drywaters or Jack could just start Manifoldland when they didn’t want to be part of L’manburg is proof of this. The social contract essentially proves that any government on the smp can only be as powerful as people allow it to be. Manburg was easily taken because of this very idea: Schlatt’s bad governing eventually led nearly every member of Manburg to switch to Pogtopia, until he was just a shell with no power, easily toppled. 

Dream did, at one point, try to force people to be part of the Dream SMP (1st war), or no longer part of L’manburg (exile arc), via violence.

Techno did, at one point, try to force people to no longer be part of a government, via violence. He seems to believe that because he can physically overpower people, that makes it his burden to spread his ideology of anarachy (where the “survival of the fittest” idea comes in)

The only actual threats to free will and choice (in the long term, not singular acts committed by people) on the dsmp have been orchestrated by people with immense physical power.

“But Tubbo exiled Tommy. Doesn’t that count as an obstruction of free will?”

Nope! Tubbo had his hand forced by Dream to exile Tommy as means of appeasement. Plus, Tubbo wouldn’t have been able to actually enforce this without Dream’s power.

“But Tubbo made the Butcher Army. Doesn’t that count?”

Not really? I mean, you could call it a bad decision, but Techno isn’t actually a citizen of New L’manburg. Tubbo wasn’t acting as an oppressive figure to his citizens, he was fighting with a body outside of his country. You can say he was wrong for doing so, but then it wasn’t wrong because he was a government figure, it was bad because he wrongfully tried to kill Techno. Techno destroying L’manburg wasn’t based on trying to protect it’s citizens, it was a personal revenge against an attempt on his life (which is arguably valid but not based in moral values lol).

“But Tubbo wasn’t voted in!”

Ignoring the obvious fact that Tubbo was clearly supported and accepted as president with no challengers, This. Does. Not. Mean. Tubbo. Is. Obstructing. Free. Will. So long as people in L’manburg were fine with living under whatever you would call Tubbo’s government (I wanna say enlightened despot but those didn’t really have cabinets so who knows), Techno taking Tubbo down is not an act of supporting autonomy or free choice.

Techno nevers asks citizens of L’manburg whether they want to have their government destroyed. He wasn’t planning on asking Snowchester’s citizens before destroying their home if he deemed it a government.

He destroys Ghostbur’s home (and everyone else’s) with little regard for his say in the matter. That is not a lack of hierarchy or supportive of personal autonomy. Techno is the authority in this situation, he’s just not a government figure.

That doesn’t make controlling people’s lives and destroying their property any less morally questionable

Techno doesn’t have the right to decide for people whether or not they want a government. Neither does the Syndicate. If he wants to make a funky little anarchist book club, I support him, but using it like a police force is Questionable.

(this doesn’t mean Techno is Wrong, per say, for thinking government is bad, just that his ideology does not support individual choice as much as some people believe. If Niki is an anarchist because she believes governments have hurt her too much, that’s perfectly fine, but if Karl wants a government, that’s fine too)

So yeah.

Can we please stop acting like anarchy on the dsmp is any more valid of an ideology to force on people than any other.