How would anarchist societies protect themselves?

ast year, I asked Peter Clayborne, author of Anarchy Unfolds, to explain anarchism to me. We spent the past year writing back and forth and are now publishing our letters as a series called “Letters to an Anarchist.” You can catch up here:

• Part one by Elle Griffin

• Part two by Peter Clayborne

This is part three 👇🏻

Dear Peter,

Thank you so much for this detailed response. I have officially read through many of the resources you sent me!

I will admit I'm not sure how to navigate these ideas because it feels like we're looking at completely different versions of history. For example, of the idea to remove the police force, you say, "whenever spaces are wrested from the rule of law, many conflicts cease to exist and many of those that remain tend to be solved much more peacefully." 

I'm not sure where that idea is coming from? Because for most of human history we didn't have police forces. Tribal communities didn't have police forces and those societies were rife with conflict and very violent means of resolution. Often they just killed people who committed crimes against another person. Or else they just got away with it. 

Speaking just of the island of Maui, in the 1500s any crimes committed against another person meant death, unless that person could outrun those who hunted him and make it to sanctuary. Women were killed for just eating a banana. And sure, maybe that removes the need for a police force if you can just kill the people who wrong others, but it doesn't seem like a better way to do things?