It's Anarchy!

Reading Emma Goldman’s essay “Anarchism: What it Really Stands For,” truly intrigued me. I had never really thought of Anarchism as an actual ideology or school of thought, I only associated it with a complete lack of authority. The kids in my town who called themselves “Anarchists” are certainly not people with strong political views; they were just kids who hated being told what to do. Goldman’s essay called out the public for just that reason: she dispelled the notion that Anarchy is nothing but an ideology of rule-breakers. After reading the essay, though, I was still not completely sure about what exactly Anarchy does stand for. I was interested in the “three evils” that Goldman listed (religion, property and state), and actually agreed with some of her arguments about these evils. As a matter of fact, I found myself excited as I read through the essay, and felt a sense of pride and respect for the Anarchists’ theories on the individual. In my “teen” years, I was aways interested in anything that went against the grain or against peoples’ expectations, and I still have serious problems with religion and property because of the way it belittles the power and importance of individuals. At the same time, Anarchism is based on the theory that a person can only be free when that person is completely free from all constraints of a society. I completely disagree. In fact, this is the basis for my problem with Anarchism: humans are social creatures. I think it is our natural inclination to organize ourselves and form societies. This is one of the great strengths of humanity, that we naturally strive to work together. Individuality is key, yet I don’t think that individuality and society are mutually exclusive. I think a successful society is one that allows humans to work together for the benefit of everyone involved while maintaing their individuality. I think Anarchism offers an unrealistic and undesirable approach to preserving the individual; it maintains that any “state” whatsoever makes this preservation impossible. It is on this basis that I have such a huge problem with the idea of Anarchism. Anarchists do not seek a balance of individualism and society, they seek an abolition of one in order to promote the other.