Its funny that I could attend high school and college government classes and never be taught a thing about anarchy. It took a lot of independent research to really learn about this ideal. I started learning about anarchy when I was a freshmen in high school, and while I have never considered myself to be an anarchist, I do hold on to a lot of anarchist ideals.

First I will start off with a few misconceptions about anarchy. It seems to be that people hold an illusion and a fear about anarchy. Why shouldn't they? They have been brought up to believe that anarchy is synonymous with chaos. People have argued with me about things like this since I was a kid, yes that same freshmen in high school. They told me everyone would steal everything and murder each other without laws. My response? Well what does that say about you as a person? Are laws the only thing keeping you from killing people and stealing from them? Interesting when we think about it like that huh? In this essay I will describe what anarchy really is and I will try to open your mind to a different type of world. Please give me some feedback.

People have a right to fear violence and disorder, after all, look how long we have lived with these things. Not in a society that practices anarchy (there has never been a real one), but in the nations of modern times. Yes, our oppressive government is the one that causes fear, violence, and disorder. As a matter of fact, if you look at the numbers you will see that government caused more social chaos then any anarchist could stomach. Fifty million dead in world war II. Over one million in Korea. One million in Vietnam. Half a million in Indonesia. Hundreds of thousands in Nigeria. The numbers still growing in the middle east. I will touch on "just and unjust" wars in another article. For now, just let that body count sink in. These are people, just like you and me. They had families and friends. They lived lives. Most of these deaths are civilian. Not that it really matters since "enemy combatants" are the same as our own. Young poor people sent to die for the rich.

Countries around the globe are storing nuclear and chemical weapons. The united states has enough to destroy the whole world 30 times over and we continue to produce more for "national defense". Our military budget is enormous while kids at school get a very poor education, people are going hungry, and families are losing their jobs and homes in record numbers. Isn't "democracy" great? Yes, never in history have we seen such social chaos.

The above mentioned are things that all anarchist want to bring to an end. We have never listened to their ideas because both capitalist and socialists have put a dark cloud over the ideals. They are afraid of them because it would remove them from power. Anarchist thrive on order, not on chaos. It is just a different type of order then national governments are used to. Anarchists want a voluntary forming of human relations rising out of the needs of people. Such an order is natural. People flow into natural arrangements instead of being pushed or forced.

Herbert Read said "The order of politics, as we have known it in the world, is an order imposed on society, neither desired by most people, nor directed to their needs. It is therefor chaotic and destructive. Politics grates on our sensibilities. It violates the elementary requirement of aesthetics-it is devoid of beauty. It is coercive, as if sound were forced into our ears at a decibel level such as to make us scream, and those responsible called this music. The "order" of modern life is a cacophony which has made us almost deaf to the gentler sounds of the universe."

Anarchism arose in the beginning of the French and American revolutions. It arose at this time period because the promises of the "new" civilization and freedom were almost immediately broken. Nationalism, which promised freedom from outside tyranny, and security from internal disorder, increased the stimulus and the possibility of worldwide empires over subjected people, and huge wars with different empires. Democracy and other forms of parliamentary governments promised popular participation in important decisions was a fraud. The government is still ran by the wealthy. The candidates and representatives that "the majority elect" do not represent the interests of the majority of a countries population. The government hangs that over the populations head. They are the ones with a voice because that put those people in power. People are given a choice between a select few representatives and are tricked into thinking their vote makes a difference. These representatives only represent the wealthy. We also have a corrupt justice system. I will touch more on both these in "voting for nothing" and "Unjustice system".

Anarchist believe capitalism to be destructive, inhumane, and irrational. Capitalism takes the resources of the earth and makes huge quantities of products. These products are only a close relationship to what people need because the capitalist are driven by profit and not be human need. Therefor bombs and guns take precedent over education, food, and housing. Is there anything closer to "anarchy" (using the misconception of the word, to confusion and chaos), than the incredibly wasteful economic system in America? Anarchist believe the riches of the earth belong to everyone. Just people someone is born on one side of an imaginary line on a mad (a border) or another side of it, does not mean they are entitled to less food, shelter, and clothing then someone else. We are all human beings. Anarchist believe these riches should be distributed by need and not by money and contracts which have taken the majority of the wealth into the hands of a small percentage of the population.

In an anarchist society there would be no need for "property". If you were hungry then you eat. If you needed shelter then you take up shelter. Everyone works together and makes sure that there is enough for everyone. This results in shorter work days and weeks. This also means there would not be anyone hungry or homeless. I know the idea of not having property seems radical to you, but anarchism in itself is a radical idea. Bare with me as I take you down the road of this idealist approach.

Think about the things you "own" now. The majority of Americans are drowning in debt. People are sent into an out of control spiral of debt while 6% of the population increases its wealth. They use fear to keep you compliant at work. How many times have you heard that you better not step out of line and lose your job because the economy is bad? Well the truth is the economy is bad, for you! These rich fuckers are laughing their way to the bank as they foreclose on your house. Life is pretty depressing when you "own" so much stuff. Think how enjoyable life would be if you didn't have to worry about making that next mortgage payment. Wouldn't it be nice if you could work a 20 hour work week and have as much food as you needed? These are all anarchist ideals. In an anarchist society there would be virtually no crime. There would be no wars. There would be no borders and there would be no nations. Like I have said, I know these are radical ideals but to make this world a better place we need a little radicalism.

Still to this day I am trying to get my hands on "Rebel in Paradise" by Richard Drinnon which is a biography about Emma Goldman. I am also trying to get a copy of her autobiography "Living My life". Emma Goldman was a feminist and an anarchist. If you know how to get these please let me know. Also if you have anymore questions about anarchy I will try to help you the best I can, but as I have stated I am not an anarchist.