The State of Anarchism

The continuing ideological battle that has been ongoing for the past century or so has led to the creation of many different ideas of how society should run. Capitalism, Communism, Socialism, Fascism, Democracy, Dictatorship, Monarchy and so on. A particular group of people decided that society would be best governed by itself, meaning no government at all. This ideology is also known as Anarchism.

What is Anarchism?

Defintion: Anarchism is a political philosophy that advocates self-governed societies based on voluntary institutions.

Where Did Anarchism Come From?

Technically, Anarchism has been around since the beginning of Humankind, however it was first given named as an ideology by Frenchman, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon in 1840. Most people don't look at Anarchism as a system that works, but you only need to look back through history to see that Anarchism was in fact the basis of all modern civilizations. Before anyone took control of a society, such as a Monarch or a Government, the society was already built, and it was built without any means of political control, therefore being Anarchist. The Capitalist theory of the "invisible hand" is a good way of explaining this. The social order that occurred in these Ancient Anarchist society's was there because of the people's habit of trading with one another, therefore creating an economy which, with no government restrictions, was able to grow, quickly.

The Invisible Hand: an economy can work well in a free market scenario where everyone will work for his/her own interest.

The Different Types of Anarchism

There are many different types of Anarchism around, some don't make any sense whatsoever, and some seem to be sensible. Here they are:

Anarcho-Communism, Anarcho-Collectivism, Anarcho-Syndicalism, Social-Anarchism:

Anarcho-communism (also known as anarchist communism, free communism, libertarian communism and communist anarchism, is a theory of anarchism which advocates the abolition of the state, capitalism, wage labour and private property (while retaining respect for personal property) in favor of common ownership of the means of production, direct democracy and a horizontal network of workers' councils with production and consumption based on the guiding principle: "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs".

These forms of Anarchism, I don't really see as Anarchism. It's principals are that of a Communist, an ideology which promotes a massive government, and no private business or work. While Anarcho-Communism says that it will abolish the state, the end result of any Collectivist ideal is a big central power, and we can't have that now can we?

This ideology is most notably supported by radical leftist groups such as Anti-fa, who use the Anarcho-Communist flag as their representing symbol.

Anarcho-Capitalism, Crypto-Anarchism:

advocates the elimination of the state in favor of self-ownership, private property, and free markets. Anarcho-capitalists hold that, in the absence of statute (law by centralized decrees and legislation), society tends to contractually self-regulate and civilize through the discipline of the free market (in what its proponents describe as a "voluntary society").

True Anarchism? I think so! These two ideologies promote the complete abolition of the state and the promotion of free-trade and open-markets. Many people believe that these forms of Anarchism also represent the true meaning of Capitalism, with their being no government regulation's that may hinder the growth of an economy (regulations: minimum wage, taxes, tariffs etc). This Anarchism also represents complete decentralization of all things, something that is strongly represented in steemit.

This ideology is strongly supported by many libertarian's. Someone who explains it really well is Youtuber Stefan Molyneux.

Meme Ideologies?

There are many other forms of Anarchism, many of which seem to be a joke so I will not go into them, however I will list them below if you are curious:

What Do You Think?

Reply to this article to let me know about your thoughts on Anarchism!

Sources:

Anarchist ideology table: https://www.crowdfreedom.com/different-types-anarchism
Stefan Molyneux Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCC3L8QaxqEGUiBC252GHy3w
Some basic definitions from wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarcho-capitalism , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarcho-communism