The Nature of Anarchism
by Dan Clore
(The following is a bit of "boilerplate" that I use to answer questions about anarchism. It is intended to provide a concise explanation of anarchism. Any suggestions as to how to improve it would be welcome.)
There is a great deal of misunderstanding of the nature of anarchism.
Anarchists (also known as libertarians or libertarian socialists, in the original sense of socialism as worker-ownership-and-control of the means of production) oppose illegitimate authority and hierarchy, and therefore oppose capitalism and the state; anarchists do not oppose all organization: anarchists favor voluntary, non-hierarchical, self-organization. Anarchists do not oppose all rules and laws; anarchists oppose rules and laws imposed involuntarily by illegitimate authorities, such as the state, and favor voluntarily-agreed upon rules and laws.
"Anarchy 101", an excellent introduction to anarchism, can be found here:
http://tinyurl.com/2fq4d2
"An Anarchist FAQ", giving an in-depth treatment of anarchism, can be found here:
http://www.anarchistfaq.org/
*****
News & Views for Anarchists & Activists:
[link edited for length]
©2008 Dan Clore, all rights reserved. You must have written permission from the author in order to republish this work.
Published: Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Last modified: Wednesday, July 2, 2008
The views expressed in this article are those of Dan Clore only and do not represent the views of Nolan Chart, LLC or its affiliates. Dan Clore is solely responsible for the contents of this article and is not an employee or otherwise affiliated with Nolan Chart, LLC in his/her role as a columnist.
Report violation by Dan Clore of Nolan Chart LLC's terms of use policy.
| More Articles By Dan Clore |
Reader Comments:
Posted By: Doug Eberhardt
Date: 2008-07-03 02:23:11
I view myselef as more of an anarcho-capitalist paleolibertarian.
The major problem I have with anarchy is where you have a neighborhood of folks and some don't like what the majority like. It's not a perfect system by any means...and of course neither is the one we have....or any other.
Contracts are much preferable to most state or federal laws IMO. But that still doesn't solve the issue of say some wanting others to pick up the garbage from the neighborhood and others not wanting such a service.
Imagine the disagreements in a 50 unit condominium.