Anarchists?

Question

Will you please explain your views simply for me. I am intrigued by this innovative concept but can not discern the true purpose. Thanks!

Answer 1

Anarchists actually come in two types: leftists/socialist anarchists, and libertarian anarchists. While both share the belief and desire than men should be free to live without the tyranny of a gov't, they come at it from opposite viewpoints.

Leftist anarchism is usually a reactionary doctrine, rooted in the emotion of rebellion and fed by anti-capitalist dogma. This is, perhaps unfortunately, the view most non-anarchists get of anarchism: chaos, clashes with police, rioting, squatting, breaking into storefronts, etc. Leftist anarchists as a rule do not believe in personal property, at least not in property owned by companies. Many leftist anarchists strive for a society ruled by socialist principles, though how such a socialist economy would work without a huge gov't to redistribute wealth and enforce labor & fair wage laws is something no one can seem to be able to explain.

Libertarian anarchists tend to be the more scholarly type, and (try to) base their anarchism on more solid political theory. They proceed from the initial premise that all humans own both themselves and the products of their labor. Thus, gov't laws are a restriction on their freedom, and taxation (and wealth redistribution) are just legalized theft and slavery. Libertarian anarchists believe that gov't should be abolished, but unlike leftist anarchists they recognize that some functions of gov't such as protection will still need to be provided. They simply believe that the police should be privatized and made to compete with each other for your business the same as, say, restaurants or insurance companies do.

Of the two, libertarian anarchism is definitely the more theoretically developed, but leftist anarchists are the more numerous, by at least 2 to 1.

I myself am closer to the libertarian anarchist side, though I would actually call myself a minarchist (not to be confused with monarchist!). While an ANarchist is one who believes in no gov't, a MINarchist is one who still sees gov't as a (mostly) necessary evil but believes it should be as absolutely minimal as possible. I think (libertarian) anarchy could work in theory, but that unfortunately too many people are simply not ready for that amount of both freedom and personal responsibility. An anarchistic society of either stripe would necessarily have a different set of morals and need to be much better educated than our current society.

Answer 2

Imagine writing the Declaration of Independence, but instead of declaring independence from the the King of England, the employees of your company are declaring independence from the CEO and board of directors.

When the 13 colonies declared independence from the king, they replaced the decision making with decisions made by democratic assemblies of the people. This is, in essence, what anarchists are calling for in the running of corporations.

It is simple civil disobedience, with a little more bite than usual. There is no seizure of property at gunpoint, because the equipment employees use is already in their possession every day. They simply stop handing over profits to the unelected heads of the corporations.

For an example of this already happening, see this recent news article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/argentina/story/0,,2077140,00.html

Answer 3

if everyone was truely moral than their would be no need for law. Anarchists is the final stage of social evolution. WHen peopel will be able to govern theirsevles. When poepel will choice not to murder, cheat or rob and they will do so not because they are afraid of the consquence of the law but instead we will do whats best for humans in general not just whats best for oursevles. Does that make sense?

Answer 4

Anarchists oppose hierarchy and illegitimate power, and thus oppose things like capitalism and the state. Anarchists do not oppose organization; they favor voluntary, non-hierarchical self-organization.

News & Views for Anarchists & Activists:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo