"Anarchy" arises from ancient Greek "An," meaning without and "Archos" meaning leader.
In modern political philosophy anarchy, or anarchism (the ideology which aims to create anarchy) is traced back, often, to Proudhon, and in particular his work "What is property?" - the origin of the still used anarchist slogan "Property is theft!"
Contrary to belief that "anarchy" is synomous with "Disorder," anarchists generally advocate non-hierarchical, horizontal organization, typically through directly democratic structures. As such, there is a degree of common ground between anarchists and libertarian Marxists. Many anarchists are highly supportive of the practice of the Zapatistas in Chiapas.
In modern political philosophy anarchy, or anarchism (the ideology which aims to create anarchy) is traced back, often, to Proudhon, and in particular his work "What is property?" - the origin of the still used anarchist slogan "Property is theft!"
Contrary to belief that "anarchy" is synomous with "Disorder," anarchists generally advocate non-hierarchical, horizontal organization, typically through directly democratic structures. As such, there is a degree of common ground between anarchists and libertarian Marxists. Many anarchists are highly supportive of the practice of the Zapatistas in Chiapas.
In 1936, anarchists in the Spanish provinces of Catalonia and Aragon collectivised industry and agriculture, and established a working example of anarchy.
by www.revleft.com February 10, 2005
1. Apparently an ideology Urban Dictionary has deemed to be appropriate to capitalize upon, by marketing "mugs, tshirts and magnets".
by S(A)VExcore April 5, 2010
A form of society based around the lack of a ruling class and an emphasis on individual freedom and equality. An ideal form of anarchy would involve a cooperative socialist gift economy, in which goods are freely produced and distributed according to need. Crime would not be the huge problem most people would imagine. Anyone with a basic knowledge of history knows that crime was never a huge problem until urbanization and then industrialization. A focus on community and civic responsibility would nearly eliminate violent crime (smaller, tightly knit communities have virtually no crime, even today). Property crime would be even a less of a problem, given that no one has more than anyone else and destruction of public property would be destruction of one's own property. In case a crime is committed, any and every member of the community is capable of either preventing the crime before hand or apprehending the criminal afterwards, a system which worked for thousands of years before police forces became common during the Industrial Revolution. A common argument against such a system is that "human nature" would eventually lead to a return of capitalism and the establishment of government. This is not a part of "human nature", however. Human beings have almost no instincts at birth. A tendency towards government and capitalism is a product of societal conditioning, not a natural inclination. There have been examples of similar systems working in the real world, including many in Spain during the Revolutions of the late 1930's. Living standards generally increased in these areas.
"I had dropped more or less by chance into the only community of any size in Western Europe where political consciousness and disbelief in capitalism were more normal than their opposites. Up here in Aragon one was among tens of thousands of people, mainly though not entirely of working-class origin, all living at the same level and mingling on terms of equality. In theory it was perfect equality, and even in practice it was not far from it. There is a sense in which it would be true to say that one was experiencing a foretaste of Socialism, by which I mean that the prevailing mental atmosphere was that of Socialism. Many of the normal motives of civilized life--snobbishness, money-grubbing, fear of the boss, etc.--had simply ceased to exist. The ordinary class-division of society had disappeared to an extent that is almost unthinkable in the money-tainted air of England; there was no one there except the peasants and ourselves, and no one owned anyone else as his master." -George Orwell, on an anarchist community in Spain during the Revolution
by ZX February 2, 2005
Opposition to all forms of authoritarian organisation and hierarchy. A society in which individuals cooperate as equels.
by Gyro June 9, 2002
Mostly seen now adays when posers write it on there bags or hands. They never have any idea what it means, and probably have no interest in politics whatsoever.
by egon October 25, 2004
Anarchism is possibly the most misunderstood political philosophy ever.
Anarchy can work, and HAS worked, but right now probably wouldn't work with the state the world is in right now (drugs, gangs, civil wars, etc.)
Anarchy is not chaos, as laws are uneccessary anyway, even when there is a government to enforce them. As Ammon Hennacy said, "Oh, judge, your damn laws, the good people don't need them and the bad people don't follow them, so what good are they?" Like I said before, if anarchy were to happen right now chaos would probably ensue, but this largely due to how fucked up our governments have let the world become.
Government is an unneccessary evil. The idea that people should be bound by agreements their ancestors made is absurd. I believe I am better fit to run my own life that George Bush is.
If you ever see anny dumbass in an anarchy shirt from hot topic, scribbling it in textbooks at school, I want you to ask them to explain anarchy to you. Chances are they have no fucking clue as to what they're talking about and will tell you that they want chaos so that they can blow things up and drink. Punch them in the face for me.
Anarchy would be a very bad idea to try right now. In times like these anarchism is better left as an ideal for people who do get it. It's not something worth arguing about over the internet, because anarchy is not going to happen on a large enough scale to matter in anyone's lifetime who is alive today, and if there was anarchy, there probably wouldn't be an internet for very long ;).
Anarchy can work, and HAS worked, but right now probably wouldn't work with the state the world is in right now (drugs, gangs, civil wars, etc.)
Anarchy is not chaos, as laws are uneccessary anyway, even when there is a government to enforce them. As Ammon Hennacy said, "Oh, judge, your damn laws, the good people don't need them and the bad people don't follow them, so what good are they?" Like I said before, if anarchy were to happen right now chaos would probably ensue, but this largely due to how fucked up our governments have let the world become.
Government is an unneccessary evil. The idea that people should be bound by agreements their ancestors made is absurd. I believe I am better fit to run my own life that George Bush is.
If you ever see anny dumbass in an anarchy shirt from hot topic, scribbling it in textbooks at school, I want you to ask them to explain anarchy to you. Chances are they have no fucking clue as to what they're talking about and will tell you that they want chaos so that they can blow things up and drink. Punch them in the face for me.
Anarchy would be a very bad idea to try right now. In times like these anarchism is better left as an ideal for people who do get it. It's not something worth arguing about over the internet, because anarchy is not going to happen on a large enough scale to matter in anyone's lifetime who is alive today, and if there was anarchy, there probably wouldn't be an internet for very long ;).
All my teachers want to tell me how bad an idea anarchy would be, when I already know that. They need to tell that to the idiots who listen to sexist and homophobic music such as Insane Clown Posse and wear anarchy shirts they bought from Hot Topic.
by borstalbreakout December 1, 2006
by 10yroldwithabadmic March 18, 2021