"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
 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
 The Origin of Anarchism

     Anarchism emerged during the enlightenment era

                             William Godwin

                                          Edmund Burke 

                                                     A Vindication of Natural Society

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
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
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. 
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)
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 
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?