On Anarchy: An Introduction

Anarchy as a word

"Wisdom is knowing the proper meanings of words" ~ Confucius

Anarchy is a word which has multiple meanings and when mentioned, implicit visions of violence and chaos spring to mind. But does anarchy really mean this? In this article, I want to recover the word anarchy to its true meaning and show that it is not some crackpot idea, but rather, an idea worth pursuing.

But why, why flog this seemingly dead horse? I do this because I believe in the idea that without 'rulers', society would be a much better place. I believe that in order to save our world from the brink of social, environmental and economic collapse we need to remove all forms of governance. Ultimately, I believe that anarchy is hope, the only hope we have for our civilisation.

Anarchy as a meaning

Anarchy is a Greek term which translates to 'without rulers' or 'no governance' and perhaps the best way to show what anarchy is, is to show what it is not.

What anarchy is not

Governance is an institution which raises revenue through 'compulsive taxation' which is the forcible confiscation of wealth or, put simply, theft. Governments use force as a means to an end. Thus, when we place the government at the centre of our society, we're really placing the use of force and violence at the centre of our society. Violence begets violence and governance by nature tears at the fabric of society and civilisation over time.

What anarchy is

Conceptually, anarchy on the other hand, removes this violent institution from society. Anarchists believe that no one has the right to wield violence as a means to an end. In this sense, anarchy is the opposite of violence (at least conceptually) and is also called voluntarism. Anarchy is voluntary in the sense that one only participates in an activity if one chooses to do so. 

Sure, a nice concept but does this ideal marry up with reality? Or am I just another snake-oil peddler on the streets of Babylon. To test reality, let's look at reality.

Testing reality

Anarchy in our lives, anarchy in reality

"We love the anarchy we live, but hate the anarchy we imagine -- the anarchy we are taught to fear" ~ Stefan Molyneux

Little do we realise it, but anarchy and voluntarism is everywhere in our daily lives. Look around you, I know of no successful adult who uses violence as a means to get what they want successfully, and if I did, I wouldn't want to know them and nor would you. For voluntary interactions are interactions we conduct by choice. From the lovers and friends we choose, to the groceries at the grocery store, to the computers and smart phones we buy, the voluntary interactions we seek, we seek for our own value and pleasure. If they do not fulfil our desire or if we find better, we move on by choice.

The depth of our modern society where voluntary is immensely and impenetrably complex, co-operatively organising itself not from some top-down authoritarian dictat, but voluntarily from the ground up. In reality anarchy is non-violent and organised.

Governance in our lives, governance in reality

Contrarily, a quick scan of 'failing markets' and you will note that these are where government intervention is highest. Government controlled central banks and their associated 'banksters' (e.g. Goldman Sachs) created the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) by supporting the fraud that is fractional reserve lending and printing of money, thus massively inflating the money supply and fuelling unsustainable debt, destroying savings, and creating a boom-bust economy. Meanwhile, when this system finally collapses (as it always would), justice itself is perverted when these businesses are then bailed out and the bankers, not only remain free but walk away with record bonuses of taxpayer money. 

The list of 'government failure' is all most endless: justice, social welfare, education, public health, transportation, environment (e.g. rivers, oceans, climate change). Wherever we look, we see that the violent 'solutions' undertaken by government merely create more problems rather than solving them. In reality, governance is violent chaos and as seen time and time again, politics is a game in which the most powerful and violent win.

Anarchy is a word worth reclaiming

Despite our initial reaction to the term 'anarchy', reality proves otherwise. Reality proves that whenever we look at anarchy it is a) peaceful and b) organised. Reality proves that whenever we look at governance it is a) violent and b) chaotic. Fundamentally, anarchy works because it is voluntary, government fails because it is coercive in nature.

In this article I attempted to show what anarchy really means by quickly distinguishing it from governance and looking over our day-to-day lives to see what works. I know you will still have many more questions, such as: How will justice be delivered in anarchic society? Or who will build the roads? These will the be subject of further posts, but for now I hope I have opened up your mind to idea of anarchy. Now please, please let me elaborate!