Anarchists

[sauergeek]

This is an honest question, about something I don't understand.

How is anarchy* a good thing? I've seen any number of people claiming to be anarchists, and they seem to think that anarchy would be an improvement. Real-world near-anarchies include Lebanon during its civil war (1975-1990), Afghanistan between the departure of the USSR and the US invasion (1989-2001), and Somalia (1977-present). All have been characterized by armed gangs trying to control as much of the nation as possible, with no security or safety guaranteed to anyone. How does this equate to the nominal utopia that anarchy is supposed to bring about? If there was no government, I would expect nothing other than local gangs controlling as much territory as they could, making treaties with neighboring gangs, and alliances assembling into progressively larger gangs to better beat up on opposing gangs. EDIT: Given the power of modern corporations, I would expect any nominal anarchy in a developed country to end up with some form of corporatism, if not outright fascism. /EDIT

Given all this, any time I see anyone espousing anarchism, I have a strong desire to see them get the snot beaten out of them by random passerby. This would likely provide the person with a representative taste of the early stages of anarchy. The police, as government employees, would turn a blind eye and do nothing; far be it for them to interfere with the anarchist's beliefs.

I'd like to be shown wrong here, but I can't offhand see how. If you do reply, please try to avoid diatribes about the evils of government; what I want to see is how having no government would work in any way other than what I described above.

* All definitions from Merriam-Webster Online

Main Entry: an·ar·chist
Pronunciation: 'a-n&r-kist, -"när-
Function: noun
1 : one who rebels against any authority, established order, or ruling power
2 : one who believes in, advocates, or promotes anarchism or anarchy; especially : one who uses violent means to overthrow the established order
- anarchist or an·ar·chis·tic /"a-n&r-'kis-tik, -(")när-/ adjective

Main Entry: an·ar·chism
Pronunciation: 'a-n&r-"ki-z&m, -"när-
Function: noun
1 : a political theory holding all forms of governmental authority to be unnecessary and undesirable and advocating a society based on voluntary cooperation and free association of individuals and groups
2 : the advocacy or practice of anarchistic principles

Main Entry: an·ar·chy
Pronunciation: 'a-n&r-kE, -"när-
Function: noun
Etymology: Medieval Latin anarchia, from Greek, from anarchos having no ruler, from an- + archos ruler -- more at ARCH-
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
3 : ANARCHISM

Comments

Re: my 2 cents

[sauergeek.livejournal.com]

the simpliest deffinition of anarchy is "everyone for themselves, no concern for anyone else"

That'd be nice if everybody played along. Given the real-world near-anarchies I mentioned above, I seriously doubt it would happen. Someone would always want control, and would be willing to use violence, bribery, etc. to get it.