Anarchy is frequently portrayed as chaos and anarchists as terrorists. Proponents of any extent system equate its abolition with the abolition of all social order. In their time, Monarchists accused Republicans of seeking the destruction of all social order. Very few anarchists are nihilists. Anarchism is a movement dedicated to the abolition of illegitimate authority and the establishment of a social order without hierarchy.
Anarchism has a long and rich tradition. Its philosophy and history begin with rejection of capitalism and its hierarchical structure. Anarchists reject the claims of the property owner and the landlord. Having rejected private property, they reject the political machinery (the State)which defends and supports private property. In place of private property, anarchism is based on personal possessions and democratically controlled communal property.
The anarchist rejection of government is derivative and entails the rejection of electioneering. Insofar as politics refers to the actions of power structures then anarchism seeks the abolition of politics itself. Anarchism is a social and economic movement with ramifications in the political sphere. To regard anarchism as a political ideology is an error. In place of political maneuvering, anarchists champion the use of direct action of which the general strike, occupation of workplaces and sabotage are prime examples. The purpose of sabotage is to impair or destroy the machinery of capitalism and not the propagation of terror.
Through most of its history, libertarianism and anarchism have been synonymous. Recently, some proponents of laissez faire economics have taken to calling themselves AnarchoCapitalists and libertarians. This usage is geographically limited to Austria and the Anglo-American countries. Since the beliefs and actions of AnarchoCapitalists are rarely compatible with those of anarchists, the AnarchoCapitalists are not regarded as anarchists.
Traditional anarchism is a poor choice of words since anarchists usually find themselves working against tradition. One might be forced to say that "traditional anarchism eschews tradition, including its own" .... Unreformed anarchism would be better since anarchists reject the notion of political reform. It would also be funny though I find I cannot explain the humour in it. Probably just the meta-syntactic thing. -- RichardKulisz
![[Home]](wikipedia.png)