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Peter Kropotkin (1842-1921) rewrote the definition of Anarchy in < Encyclopedia Britannica in 1910>. This new definition was as long as 15 pages where it said Anarchy is an important theory in one’s life and it means all the people are harmonious and smoke the calumet together and never obey any law under any power.5
In 19th century, Anarchy reached the climax and the definition of Anarchy was confirmed by series of Anarchist movements and writers. Anarchy began its development in the United States in 1886. Then many activists such as Voltairine de Cleyre and Lucy Parsons appeared to the public. Lucy Parsons was a descendant of slaves and later became a crazy Anarchist and speechmaker. He put all his mind on Anarchist movements and interclass insurgences and the police in Chicago said he was more dangerous than a thousand insurrectionaries.6
Emma Alexander Berkman was also an important character in the development of Anarchy. He wrote a book named < ABC of anarchism>. This book says Anarchy means you must be free, and you will never be ordered or overmastered by anyone.7 “It means that you should be free to do the things you want to do; and that you should not be compelled to do what you don't want to do.”8
Here I try to present neutral definitions for Anarchy and Anarchism and their history and in the following chapters I will analyze it and please pay attention to those underlined words and sentences.
What is a government
Before explaining Anarchy let’s talk about government first.
Government is a national institution that is used for gerent to order and control people. And every government has a series of violent institutions like army, police, jails, courts… The gerent uses these institutions as tool to keep things going under the rules that is good for the gerent. In ancient time, a number of insurgences are caused by outrageous regimes. As the time passed, democracy appeared to benefit and satisfy people. However, democracy is only for making government firm and permanent and the freedom of people can never be too much to maintain the government.
It’s no doubt that a government represents for gerents’ benefits and ideas and I totally understand why Anarchy is so popular to many people. Everyone is born equally and nobody should be treated differently from anyone else but people will never gain entire freedom unless governments disappear. And democracy, this nice-sounded honey, is just a method used by gerents to settle down people. However, shouldn’t we think about why government exists though it is such an “evil” thing? Why the appearance of government can be called the dividing line of wild state and civilization? Anarchy means to push government away but I don’t think it is that simple that we just destroy government when we don’t like it any longer. There must be many important reasons for the appearance of governments and I believe it is very important to us or governments should not have existed for such a long time in human’s history.
Sometimes when we are complaining about governments, we forget what governments have done for us. Nowadays, A government have to take the duty of social service for its country, it need to adjust multiple of social relationships, manage public service undertakings, develop all kinds of social welfare; and with external fares, a government develops political, economical, and cultural communications, protects territory and dominion of its country, and keep the nation independent. Functions of a government are changing and being added by the development of society and the policies of governments are being improved.
I lived in China for 17 years and I saw how a government’s power results in the development of a country. Chinese communist government is far more politically centralized than the federal government of America but this kind of government shows what benefits it brings to the country and that means powerful authority has its distinct function which can not be brought by any form of organization of freedom. What I saw was that when I was just born, many of Chinese families don’t have a phone in their house. But now it’s not difficult for a family of three to earn 400 thousand yuan every year. Why has Chinese economy developed so much in the recent years? I think this is a typical example of benefits of government. Correct choices and rapid development was what a government brings to us. In a kind of centralized-government country, some policies can be placed without too many discussions or arguments. Governments can make a correct decision quickly instead of taking long time caused by dissensions even it does not entirely respect everyone’s wish or guarantee everyone’s benefit.
We can put it this way: government is not an evil thing; except it can never satisfy every person in the country but it helps gain collective benefits. However, Anarchy avoids the method of developing together and share together by a little expense of losing some freedom so that it may lead to chaos and poorness, at least, it can hardly make progress on social fares. Now what we want is not to let our government disappear but to gain more freedom from it and let it go on serving us and making our life better.
Anarchist Revolutions Harm Our Life
Berkman says, “It (Anarchy) is not bombs, disorder, or chaos.” 9 And he pulled out a whole chapter to explain his idea. That interested me a lot so I went on reading. It seems that he means all the violence caused by Anarchists happened in history have none connection to Anarchism, However, neither the way to avoid violence while obtaining freedom nor how an Anarchist system would run was mentioned in this chapter, nor in other chapters.Anarchists keep criticizing governments but Anarchy is not proved to be a better way. It is disorder. It is chaos.
Governments try to provide democracy but it is based on that their powers would not be overthrown. However Anarchy is defined as against any limit by the government (mentioned in “What Is Anarchy”) and that means Anarchy is overstepping this bottom line. Then Anarchists must have a hard way to go and violent revolutions can not be avoided while governments are trying to stop them with their entire attempt.
There are many violent insurgences in history of Anarchy and some Anarchists like Lucy Parsons are even regarded as mobs. One of the most famous Anarchist Mikhail Bakunin was a typical person who tried to realize Anarchy in a violent way. He joined many insurgences including Dresden Insurgence.10 Up to now, some violent movements caused by Anarchists are still happening. A conflict happened in Genoa, Italy on July 20, 2001 caused one death and 184 injuries. The decedent and 144 of the injuries are demonstrators who are Anarchists.11The reality tells us it is not that easy to avoid violence as what Berkman says. Violence seems the only way to realize Anarchy. Then when violence appears, people can not live a normal life. Schools can not open at the right time. People can not go to work as they used to. Violence makes people and countries poorer and poorer. Wars have already taught us a lesson. Fight for Anarchy seems not that worth.
Dissension Mess Up Our Life
Sometimes what Anarchists are talking about is contradictory by logic.
There are two piece of quote from Berkman. The first one is:
It is not bombs, disorder, or chaos.
It is not robbery and murder.
It is not a war of each against all.
It is not a return to barbarism or to the wild state of man.
Anarchism is the very opposite of all that.12
Here is the other one:
It (Anarchy) means that you should be free to do the things you want to do; and that you should not be compelled to do what you don't want to do.13
First I would not like to talk the first piece; let’s see what the second one tells us.
Try to imagine the state of Anarchy, you do whatever you want to and you don’t do anything you don’t but what if you want to park your car in your neighbor’s parking place while he doesn’t agree? What if you want to sing in the classroom when others want to do text assessment in a quiet surrounding? What if you don’t want to work but to get salary and meanwhile your company needs your work to run? If everyone just does things in the way they like how can this society run? There must be something like laws or rules. However, remember what Peter Kropotkin wrote? All the people are harmonious and smoke the calumet together and never obey any law under any power.14It is very obvious a peaceful condition of Anarchy is not realistic.
If that sounds a little absurd, let me think of an ideal condition. Suppose that everyone do right things, they still can not avoid a condition that everyone thinks he is right. For example, Mrs. Oaks says we should not have repeat period everyday because that will affect some senior students. Some of them are taking classes in DVC but most of those who are so advanced have to drop it and wait for their repeat period in the school. But the president of student government says if we do not add repeat period, some students play truant on classes which is not regarded as an important one. Repeat period can avoid “selective truant”. Both opinions seem reasonable. If the president’s opinion is only regarded as a suggestion and it need to be approved by the principal, you should realize those two guys are equality in Anarchist society. Neither of them can decide it! If only one of the two ideas can be put in practice, the one whose idea is dropped has to follow the other one. That’s not absolute freedom. That is not what Berkman tells us, “You should be free to do the things you want to do; and that you should not be compelled to do what you don't want to do.” 15
So it is not difficult to imagine what is going to happen when people do not agree with others. College Park can’t run any longer because the time of starting school can’t be decided; patients in the medical center can not get treatments on time because doctors are still arguing about whether to inject aspirin for releasing pain. If here must be someone’s idea being followed someone else’s he is not doing what he want to do. That’s the thing. No one is always involved in things about himself. If you do not want anyone to be anyone’s authority, that’s what will happen.
So some governmental systems are really necessary. How can we just say, “Break it!” when we are not satisfied? A society lack of government may be a terrible mess. Then how can you believe what the first piece of quote says?
Desire Of Authority Leads to Violence
McClenaghan said,” Human beings desire both liberty and authority.”16In my opinion, this statement is an excellent analysis about human nature. It is absolutely true that the desire of authority exists all the time and will last forever.
The desire of authority represent the will of controlling, in the social life, this kind of desire has a phenomenon of trying hard to gain rights and powers such as presidential races and scientific or military competition between among nations.
Why does the desire of authority exist? First, everyone wants to control. In such a community, everyone has different ideas about things going on around them. However, these things usually are not about someone himself, many people might get involved in it. What should be done under this condition? There must be one of those ideas being put in practice. But whose idea would be put in practice? Everyone wants his idea to be practiced of course. Then here it is: the authority is a good thing for everyone. For example, a teacher can introduce all his ideas to the students in his classes. Mrs. Amy Bush is able to get involved in all senior stuffs. Mrs. Oaks surely has more authoritative comments and decisions on anything in this school than anyone else do. And in last section we have an example about the principal and the president of student government. Though to let the principal approve something is not hard if reasonable but I think when the president tried to add repeat period, I guess, he still hoped to be the principal. Sometimes this is not only the desire to control something but that everyone thinks he is right and would like to have things go in the way he suppose to.
Then there is another reason. That is desire of authority can be regarded as the desire of success. Everyone wants to be successful. The authority is a common way for someone to show his worthiness or importance. Try to imagine: if you are a student, don’t you want to be an outstanding one like the president of student government in you school? If you are an employee in a school, don't you want to be the principal so that you have more power? It’s not necessary for you to show your power on deciding something. The power itself means you are more successful than others.
So will people settle down if they are troubled with the desire? I think they will fight for power even though it seems that there is no power upon them. This will not be a fired war; everyone just tries to get more power than others do, secretly. That is still a society with authority. We can not imagine what comes next. It may be another period of violent revolution and the world may be like the clock on the wall, go around and around along the same way.
Revolutions May Last For Long Time Because Authorities Never Go
There is a ubiquitous misunderstanding. Despite of the absence of government, the authority never leaves. Every institution in this society need to run in an organized condition. For example, a school need a principal to watch and order the students so that they will go to their classes on time; (The problem of absent and late truly exists.)A company needs one or more managers to manage it so that staff can work well. If we pull the president, the federal government, or even all the local governments out of this society, that don’t mean people get rid of limits. New authorities, maybe extremely tiny and local, form automatically. Or we can say these authorities appear all time. They never go. Some Anarchist Essays say there will be organization of different functions to guarantee thing worked out in order. However, can’t we say that is another form of government or as long as there are organizations, authority has its soil to grow up.
Have you ever heard of the story of animal farm? That’s a famous story about Stalin’s Communism. Communism is also a theory against governments, but it is only against capitalistic governments and its idea is about letting workers be the gerents. In the story, it says there used to be a farm and many pigs and birds were living there ruled by people. Someday pigs and birds said they should fight people and get freedom and after many revolutions they did it. Guess what? Days later a out standing pig said they need an organization and pigs should follow rules and he became the pig king and other became pig slaves. More days later a bird said we need a church and all those who believe and follow me will go to the heaven after death. 17 How ironic!
It is similar to Stalin’s Communism. Again, like the clock, our life are pushed to chaos.
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