"The most absurd apology for authority and law is that they serve to

diminish crime. Aside from the fact that the State is itself the
greatest criminal, breaking every written and natural law, stealing in
the form of taxes, killing in the form of war and capital punishment,
it has come to an absolute standstill in coping with crime. It has
failed utterly to destroy or even minimize the horrible scourge of its
own creation."

- Emma Goldman

this emma goldman quote explains perfectly the anarchist motive, to fight
what they consider the worst of the worst criminal, The Government.
 Anarchism
Anarchy is defined by dictionary.com to be

1. a state of society without government or law.

2. political and social disorder due to the absence of governmental control: The death of
the king was followed by a year of anarchy.

3. a theory that regards the absence of all direct or coercive government as a political
ideal and that proposes the cooperative and voluntary association of individuals and
groups as the principal mode of organized society.

4. confusion; chaos; disorder: Intellectual and moral anarchy followed his loss of faith.

Anarchism is defined by dictionary.com to be

1. a doctrine urging the abolition of government or governmental restraint as the

indispensable condition for full social and political liberty.

2. the methods or practices of anarchists, as the use of violence to undermine

government.
 Anarchism

"While the popular understanding of anarchism is of a violent, anti-State

movement, anarchism is a much more subtle and nuanced tradition then a
simple opposition to government power. Anarchists oppose the idea that power
and domination are necessary for society, and instead advocate more co-
operative, anti-hierarchical forms of social, political and economic organisation."
[The Politics of Individualism, p. 106]

ttttt

This kind of summarizes the whole anarchist philosophy, because

anarchism according to most anarchist beliefs and the beginning theories
isn't about chaos and violence.

The main theory behind anarchism is that a society without a centralized

government will not lead to disorder but to absoulute liberty and absoulute
individual rights

The philosophy goes on to say that humans are social beings and as social
beings they will gather into societies that share their views, and even
though they have no government the people will live by a moral and ethical
code that will allow them to stay in that society. thus creating order
 The Origin of Anarchism

Anarchism emerged during the enlightenment era

William Godwin

Edmund Burke

A Vindication of Natural Society

centered particularly around the ideals of William Godwin although William Godwin was inspired by some of
the ideas Voiced by Edmund Burke in his essay A Vindication of Natural Society

In Which, Edmund Burke asserts that the rise of civil society is often accompanied by misery and suffering he
upholds his opinions by contrasting it to the enlightenment notion of a natural society. a natural society by
enlightenment views was basically the romantic view of nature made to fit humans

Godwin's focus unlike Burke's was on creating a doctrine which outlined a

social structure unlike anything else, his doctrine which would later become
known as anarchist philosophy was to outline the creation of a society that
was run without government structure or any kind of formal authority.
 Edmund Burke (Jan,12,1729-July,9,1797)
-Edmund Burke was born in Dublin (Ire)

-He was philosopher, political theorist,

and author

-After relocating to England, he became a

member of the Whig party and served in the
House of Commons where he came to be the
leading figure in the conservative section of
the Whig party
-He opposed the French revolution
-Praised by both Conservatives and Liberals
-Said to have written the first anarchist
essay called A Vindication of Natural Society

In truth the only reason he is important at all is because of his essay.

 William Godwin (March,3,1756 - April,7,1836)

-English journalist and political philosopher

-He is considered the one of the founders
of philosophical anarchism for his books:

An Inquiry Concerning Political Justice which

attacked political institutions
Things as They Are or The Adventures of
Caleb Williams which attacked the
aristocracy and aristocratic privilege
-Because of the success of hist two books he
was praised in the more radical sections of
London
-Married feminist Mary Wollstonecraft in 1779

i n An Inquiry concerning Politcal Justice he argued that government is a corrupting force in society, perpetuating
dependence and ignorance, but that it will be rendered increasingly unnecessary and powerless by the gradual spread
of knowledge.

and in
He might sound familiar, because his daughter was mary Godwin later to
become mary shelley
Pierre Proudhon (Jan,15,1809 - Jan,19,1865)

-Was a French politician, and philosopher

-Was the first person to call himself an
anarchist
-He is considered one of the
most influential theorists and organizers of
anarchism

-He is most well known for his writings What

is Property? Or, an Inquiry into the Principle
of Right and Government in which he asserts
that Property is theft, and that anarchy is order
 Peter Kropotkin (Dec,9,1842 - Feb,8,1921)

-One of Russia's foremost anarchists

-Born into a royal family, known as the
anarchist prince because of his title
-Was a supporter of anarcho-communism

-He was described by Oscar Wilde as "a man

with a soul of that beautiful white Christ
which seems coming out of Russia."

-He was arrested and imprisoned in Russia for

handing out revolutionary propaganda.

he escaped from prison and went to live in switzerland

before going on to England then France were he was arrested and sent to
prison for being a socialist, he was later released
Emma Goldman (June,27,1869 - May,14,1940)
-Born in Russia but immigrated to America

-Was a leading Anarchist in the anarchist movement of the

early 20th century

-Was also a leading Feminist during the same time

-She was a well known lecturer on anarchist philosophy and

womans rights, her lectures attracted crowds in the thousands

-She and Alexander Berkman tried to assassinate Henry

Flick who was named one of Americas most hated CEO's

-Her writing and lectures spanned a wide variety of issues,

including prisons, atheism, freedom of speech, militarism,
capitalism, marriage, free love, and homosexuality.

-she died in Toronto on may 14 194

George Woodcock (May,8,1912 - January,28,1995)

-Was a Canadian Writer and founder of the

journal of Canadian literature
-He wrote many books on the subject of
anarchism
-As an anarchist he went about
creating charities and in Tibet, India, and
Canada
-He was granted many awards for his efforts
but he only accepted those from his peers
even going so far as to turn down the order
of Canada when it was offered to him.
 Parallels In Time
already written [Anarchy for the most part is something a country falls into and not
necessarily something that a country does on purpose as such many countries have
experienced a form of anarchy at one point in their history (When there is no real
government order because the past government was overrun or the last leader killed). For
instance this happened in France after the French revolution, in Russia after the massacre
of the Czar. and in the Spain during the civil war.]

Although Anarchy has mostly been experienced when a country falls into a leaderless
state there have been a very few times that countries and societies have been made into
or have just developed into a anarchistic society. For instance most tribal hunter gatherer
societies are or were anarchistic in nature because they had no formal leadership.

Closer to modern world there was:

Libertatia (late 1600s)

Libertatia is pirates isle

[The] pirates were anti-capitalist, opposed to the dispossession that necessarily

accompanied the historic ascent of wage labor and capitalism. They insisted that
"every Man was born free, and had as much Right to what would support him, as
to the Air he respired." They resented the "encroachments" by which "Villains"
and "unmerciful Creditors" grew "immensely rich" as others became "wretchedly
miserable." They spoke of the "Natural right" to "a Share of the Earth as is
necessary for our Support." They saw piracy as a war of self-preservation. [They
redefined the] fundamental relations of property and power. They had no need for
money "where every Thing was in common, and no Hedge bounded any particular
Man's Property," and they decreed that "the Treasure and Cattle they were Masters
of should be equally divided."

Rhode Island
 Links To Today
Today anarchists are active at almost every political protest and
at human rights rallies.

and In recent history Afghanistan fell into a form of anarchy

when the Taliban was thrown out by the US

any others that you can think of?

Tutorial Questions

1. Do you think there is ever a chance of an anarchist society

actually working in the modern age?

2. Do you think there will ever be a time when humanity doesn't

need a centralized government infrastructure?