-thoughts on anarchism-

I need to start by saying what I mean by the term 'anarchism', because it is most often misunderstood.

The concept of anarchism as a mode of social organization envisions the possibility that we humans are capable of organizing our lives with a minimum of coercive power, and that in such a social setting each individual will be able to develop and flourish to the greatest extent possible without others being deprived of the same opportunities.

An immediate consequence of this conception of society is that it [ the society ] must be without classes -- there can be no peon's to slave for a wealthy class -- no poor and no rich, no elite's. This of course is why the elite's of every nation-state are consumed by hatred of anarchists whenever they appear, why they use [ really misuse ] the term 'anarchism' as though it is loathsome.

For them law and order means the maintenance of social structures -- structures which invariably utilize coercive power structures that afford and guarantee them their special privileges, their elite status.

Another immediate consequence of the anarchist conception of society is that hierarchical power structures are inimical to our well-being, and ought to be eliminated, or at least reduced to the greatest extent possible. Such hierarchies are always established in order to maintain the privileges and power of those in control, and to keep the rest of us subservient.

Anarchism as a social philosophy rests fundamentally upon the belief -- and stress that this belief is a matter of faith the belief that human beings are not inherently bad, and that given the opportunity to act in reasonable ways that are helpful to themselves and others, they will generally do so spontaneously, and without the need for coercion.

Humans are social animals, not disposed to live in isolation from other people. We need to have a social fabric in which to live our lives, and that fabric needs, of course, to be ordered so that chaos does not prevail. Anarchism sees that fabric as arising from our natural needs for food, for warmth, for shelter, for love, for respect for our personal integrity, for compassionate understanding, for receiving help, for sharing our happiness and sorrow, for avoiding loneliness, for seeing our children and grandchildren thrive, for the beauty and grandeur of the natural world, for art, for music, for partisanship, for storytelling, and so on.