My Position:
In theory anarchy would be the best way for a civilization to comportment itself. In an anarchical society every person would be responsible for themselves and the ones they choose to take care of. This is a better way of living because the pugnaciousness of others would have little to no effect on your own life. While as a civilization we are nowhere close to being intellectually capable of living this way, that fact is irrelevant to the fact that in an anarchical society everyone would have complete freedom over their lives. The best way describe why an anarchical society is sought by so many is in the words of Proudhon: As for those who, after the departure of kings, still dream of consulates, of presidencies, of dictatorships, of marshalships, of admiralties, and of ambassadorships, they also will do well to retire… .The people no longer want this coin of monarchy; they understand that whatever phraseology is used, feudal system, governmental system, military system, parliamentary system, system of police, laws and tribunals, and system of exploitation, corruption, lying and poverty, are all synonymous.
Opposing Viewpoint: In the article “The Return of Anarchism” Abe Greenwald speaks about the acts of multiple anarchy groups in late 2010. He describes how anarchist groups are bombing buildings and conducting crippling cyber-attacks on major companies’ websites. In this article there is a quote from the former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton denouncing these groups as terrorists “whether it comes from the right, the left, from al-Qaeda, from anarchists, whoever it is.” Some examples of the atrocities committed by these groups were the two mail bombs sent to the Swiss and Chilean embassies in Rome by a group calling themselves The Informal Federation of Anarchists. In December of 2010 attacks were conducted of the websites of companies that stopped giving donations to the group WikiLeaks, the group Anonymous took responsibility for those attacks. In no way has this article changed my view on whether or not anarchy is good. All this paper does is further proving how ignorant and credulous people can be. If people took the time to learn the actual meaning of the word anarchy they would know that by definition none of these groups could be anarchists, and that the companies printing these articles have no interest in fact but just selling papers and gaining subscriptions.
Anarchy as defined by the Merriam Webster Dictionary:
1 a : absence of government b : a state of lawlessness or political disorder due to the absence of governmental authority c : a utopian society of individuals who enjoy complete freedom without government
2 a : absence or denial of any authority or established order b : absence of order : disorder <not manicured plots but a wild anarchy of nature — Israel Shenker>
3: anarchism
(Merriam-Webster, 2011)
Reference
Greenwald, A. (2011). The Return of Anarchism. Commentary, 131(3), 32-36.
Merriam-Webster. (2011, 02 21). Merriam-webster.
Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/anarchy
