Anarchism Can Help Us

Chaos, Looters, and Destruction are a few things that comes to the mind of the average American

when the word Anarchy is murmured. How does society find Anarchy to be such a terrible taboo of

political ideology? Perhaps this is because it is a school of political thought conscious of the power of

of the masses. Perhaps because Anarchism truly promotes having a strong society in which the people

support one another. While on the contrary with our “have and have nots” political structure; Anarchism

goes against the agenda of the ruling capitalist class. Piotr Kropotkin defined Anarchism as

“The name given to a principle or theory of life and conduct under which society is conceived without

government— harmony in such a society being obtained, not by submission to law, or by obedience to any

authority, but by free agreements concluded between the various groups, territorial and professional, freely

constituted for the sake of production and consumption, as also for the satisfaction of the infinite variety

of needs and aspirations of a civilized being.” (Anarchism.net) Mislead the masses are to the true depth of

Anarchism. Thought to be total misconstruction; Anarchism is highly structured and organized. If only our

communities could open their minds and take the time they would usually invest into putting their rear ends to

sleep on the sofa, we could learn something from Anarchist thought. If society considered what Anarchism had

to offer; we could end the privatization of all aspects of human life, end poverty, feed the starving, and restore

the dilapidated homes of the powerless lower class.

In society today, we are raised up to look out for ourselves. We are taught that it’s the old woman across

the street’s problem that she has arthritis, or Alzheimer’s. We’re taught that pills cure our mental illnesses and that

we should call the police instead of being civil with one another. If only we could realize that all it takes to get

past the road blocks of communication is to simply hear one another out, and to look at the dispute from the

opposite perspective. Autonomy is what society needs, not anxiety medicine, not police, not deadbolt locks on

our doors, not fear in each other. Albert Einstein once said “The illusion that we are separate from one another is

an optical delusion of our consciousness.” (Autonomism.com) If you teach a child to call a cat it’s enemy it will

call it it’s enemy. If you teach a child to call a stranger an enemy, it will call it an enemy. Our perspectives have

been molded since birth to not trust and to not care about the bum on the sidewalk. If we collectively considered

one another’s needs to live a happy, desirable, and healthy life; there would be no crimes of desperation. If we

opened our hearts to our neighbors and destroyed race, and class barriers; there would be no acts of hate crime. It

is the privatized society that our government has made for us that rapes the people of it’s dignity, robs us of what

we truly desire, and impoverishes it’s own children. Autonomy is what is desired but never enacted. Anarchism is

the father of such ideas of today’s Autonomist. While on the contrary capitalism is the father of such ideas of the

greedy individuals who created the society that we live in.

Does one bring poverty upon it’s self? Or is poverty inflicted upon the individual? Some bipartisan

politicians would like to argue that those impoverished have brought themselves to their knees, but in actuality;

it was the factory closing to move to China. Too many lives and stomachs rely on the decisions of the select few

of our country. When thousands of workers can be put out of a job because the same job can be done cheaper

over seas where more impoverished people can work for an even smaller living. The ruling capitalist class advise

that one should be their own boss, form their own monopoly, and to stop expecting hand outs. How can one be

their own boss when it’s hard enough to even live on your own. But one can’t expect the Right wing to

understand. The majority of them are born with an inheritance, and a father in the FBI. Anarchism calls for the

the working class to band together and to produce goods for their own people, to be respected as crafters of the

gears in the machine that is our country; making life more accessible day by day. Farmers ands food industry

working to feed their families and the families of their community. Taking away the pain of not being able to put

food on the table for one’s family. While our capitalist government endorses Self-seeking, and ruthless,

entrepreneurs. Anarchism promotes community working as a force to maintain it’s own survival and to supply

it’s people with it’s own natural resources.

One can take a drive through big cities like Detroit, Chicago, or Columbus and notice the difference in

the upper class and lower class neighborhoods. Such as in Los Angeles, California, home of the Crips and the

Bloods; where they dwell in the dilapidated sides of the city. Police claim to be fighting the gang war and drug

trafficking within the city. But what most people don’t know is that the two gangs are remnants of civil rights

activists from the 1960’s and that the FBI sabotaged and crushed their leaders and left their youth to their own

destruction. The Police just make sure that the two gangs continue to kill one another. If only they could open

their eyes and see that if they just stopped fighting and worked together, they could restore their homes. Start

a community garden in each neighborhood, and start their own workers unions. Anarchism calls for such a

collaboration of the masses. To bond together, and to work with one another as brothers, to restore the filth they

have been confined to by the ruling class.

Human beings are a species that is very talented at adapting to their environment. Go out and work at the

local soup kitchen, go and support your local community centers, socialize at neighborhood potlucks; rather

social networking sites. Sit down and read the works of Emma Goldman, Piotr Kropotkin or Karl Marx. Remain

conscious of your community, and allow yourself to feel compassion for the old woman across the street. One of

our most prominent found fathers, Thomas Jefferson said “I know no safe depository of the ultimate powers of

the society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control

with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion.” (Autonomi-

sm.com) If only Jefferson was alive today to witness the corruption that has taken our society piling into the

ground. In end thought; if Anarchist thought was practiced within our communities, we could finally escape the

hold of the ruling capitalist class, live happy, desirable lives, and rid our cities of crime. We can cure our homes

and make a difference. We just have to open up our hearts and remember that we all inhabit this earth.

Citations

Kropotkin, Piotr. “Anarcho.” http://anarchism.net Ed. Per Bylund. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Nov. 2009 <http://anarchism.net>.

Einstein, Albert. http://autonomism.com N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Nov. 2009 <http://autonomism.com>.

Jefferson, Thomas. http://autonomism.com N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Nov. 2009 <http://autonomism.com>.

I have amazing photos to share with you guys.

I’ll have them up soon. (: