the idea is basically that people can suggest certain authoritative actions

but no one is obligated to follow it

people *do* follow it willingly, if they believe that it's a good idea and respect the judgement of the person

think about how your own social groups work

do you just go "one person decides everything that happens and if you don't listen to them, well we'll beat the shit out of you"

or do you take it more fluidly and people suggest things, and naturally someone may become a sort of social leader that suggests good ideas that are followed

No but if most agree with them everyone follows

sure

but you're free to not follow

and just go do your own thing

or split up into two groups

they aren't *forcing* you to follow

even if you just naturally do because you go with the group

Alright, @April has been warned for '**Bad word usage**'.

take the leader and assume he has the minority of the group following him

yes

this group doesn't then force everyone else to follow

they can split up, or the larger group support takes dominance and the minority group follows along

so the leadership can change depending on what the group decides is best

with traditional structures, that minority group would simply use violence to enforce their will on the larger group

this is what happens today with the government and police/military

a small minority decide what goes, their enforcers inflict violence on those who disagree

I see

and of course the majority go along with it due to the threat of violence, which then further reinforces the minority rule

either due to "well they're in charge"

or just due to "I don't want to upset the norm"

but imagine if the majority of the US just said "fuck the police and govenrment, we're gonna live how we want"

the first thing that would happen is that there'd be a lot of violence by the government/police/military

It wouldnt work imo

such as what happens in a protest

the majority would outnumber, but have to self defend

now, I'm not *quite* sure how that would play out

since the majority has always gone along with those in power

and it's only the minority who struggle to free themselves

rather than enforce their will

or rather

a majority follows one minority that wants power

while another minority tries to free itself from that power

i see

it's an absolute mess tbh

anyway that's the anarchist struggle and the problems we face