Argument: Anarchist Communities have a very poor track record.

Without the state there is very little in the way of protection against immorality, if one looks at Freetown Christiana, supposedly an anarchist utopia, it has actually been a blight on Copenhagen society; it has only thrived because of the cannabis trade, and is a haven for biker gangs [1] where the police have been attacked with petrol bombs [2] . If a small community like Christiana cannot survive without becoming a hotbed of immorality then what hope is there for a totally stateless world?

[1] http://www.cphpost.dk/news/local/87-local/51345-fears-of-christiania-becoming-a-biker-gang-haven.html

[2] http://www.cphpost.dk/component/content/51421.html?task=view

Candidate 1: "States may not be perfect but they are better than a stateless society.

Whilst states do not have a perfect track record a stateless society would have all sorts of negative consequences. The laws in modern countries are designed to protect the weak from theft and harm. Property laws protect people's property that, in the case of houses they may have worked for 20 years or more to acquire. A stateless society is one that cannot enforce these laws and must always be more unjust than a society with a state."
Candidate 2: "This is an unfair portrayal of Freetown Christiana. Soft drug use is something that the people of Christiana have decided is not immoral or illegal and is something that they tolerate in their society. They should not be criticised for people who do things which are totally within the rules of Freetown Christiana society."
Candidate 3: "Democracies are not perfect but they are better than the other options.

Whilst democracies are not perfect they are the best way we have of aggregating the interests of society. People might not always get what they want but this is inevitable where there are differences in opinion and one course of action must be taken.

Heads of state may not be demographically representative at the moment but we are seeing an increase in the numbers of minority groups in positions of power in many countries. Removing the state to solve this problem is using a sledgehammer to crack a n"
Candidate 4: "Violence is not intrinsic to Anarchy Whilst there are many violent anarchists there is nothing about anarchy that means that violence need be a part of it. Many anarchists identify themselves as Anarchist-Pacifists and are against any and all violence."
Candidate 5: "Community action is good, but the state is always necessary. Community can make a big difference but it can make a bigger difference with state help, states fund many organisations which would not be able to operate.

Organisations like state health services would not be able to function as community projects; they require a huge amount of funding, specialist training and facilities and organisation that would simply not be available without the state."
Candidate 6: "COUNTERPOINT

These could still be provided in a different way. These issues can be dealt with quite sufficiently within small communities, in the case of a fire people the whole community would likely assist in fire-fighting duties whilst equipment could be owned communally.

Anarchist communities do not necessarily have no rules, these rules can be adequately enforced by the community and the community can collectively decide what to do about rule breakers."
Candidate 7: "Anarchists in fact often have a negative effect on protests, they regularly use far more extreme measures than any other protester at the demonstration and this can often distract from and distort the message behind the protests. Anarchist groups are infamous for trying to hijack protests that were not about anarchism; trying to use extreme and often violent measures to get an anarchist message across when the original protesters have no interest in anarchism whatsoever. Even Christiana cited by the proposition has seen violence in 2009 when 1500 people were arrested after setting fire to barricades and throwing fire bombs at police. [1] Anarchist groups have their own ideology, not the interests of oppressed groups at heart.

[1] http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/apr/28/christiania-copenhagen-squat-last-stand"
Candidate 8: "States have done much good as well; World War Two was fought because states wanted to prevent Nazi conquest; states intervened in the Kosovo war to prevent ethnic cleansing; and the American Civil War was fought to stop slavery, it is clear that states use their military power for good as well as bad, in a stateless world there would be no actors who would be there to prevent people from taking advantage of their fellow man.

While states can do bad things the solution is not to dismantle states, we need a better international court system to help prevent atrocities and hold those responsible accountable for their actions."

This is an unfair portrayal of Freetown Christiana. Soft drug use is something that the people of Christiana have decided is not immoral or illegal and is something that they tolerate in their society. They should not be criticised for people who do things which are totally within the rules of Freetown Christiana society.
