Anarchism has been called non-state Socialism. Despite the popular idea of anarchists as violent men, Anarchism is the ONE non-violent social philosophy. It is the very antithesis of Communism and Fascism which place the State as supreme. Anarchists will do away with the State entirely. The function of the Anarchist is twofold. By daily courage in non-cooperation with the tyrannical forces of the State and the Church, he helps to tear down present society; the anarchist by daily acts of cooperation with his fellows in overcoming evil with goodwill and solidarity, he builds toward the anarchistic cooperative commonwealth which is formed by voluntary action with the right of secession.
The basis of Anarchism is liberty with individual responsibility; its methods arc decentralization of activity and federation of local communes for national and international functions.
Simplicity is emphasized. Courage and freedom are its watch words. Anarchism, having faith in the innate goodness within everyone, seeks to establish the Golden Rule by working from within the consciousness of the individual while all other systems of society, working from without, depend upon manmade laws and the violence of the State to compel men to act justly. Anarchists seek to slowly change the forms of society but do not rely upon that change alone to make people better.
And now a definition from the Encyclopedia Britannica
ANARCHISM: 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 or professional, freely constituted for the sake of production and consumption, and also for the satisfaction of the infinite variety of needs and aspirations of a civilized being. In a society developed on these lines, the voluntary associations which already now begin to cover all the field of human activity would take a still greater extension so as to substitute themselves for the state in all the functions.
AMMON A. HENNACY
Comments