Anarchism
From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Anarchism is the belief that people can work together without any form of government control. It is a philosophy and the goal of some social groups. There is anarchy in a country when there is no government. In general, anarchy means that no person needs to do what any other person says. The word used to describe people telling other people what to do is authority. Anarchists want to get rid of authority.
Authority includes social hierarchy, government and power supported by force. Anarchist movements want to replace this. They want people who willingly help one another. They hope this would lead to a society where everyone has a say in outcomes just as much as he or she is affected by it. They describe anarchy as a society based on free persons who cooperate out of their own free will.
In the English language, the word anarchy is often used to describe chaos. However, most anarchist philosophies do not promote chaos or anomie. Rather, they define "anarchy" as a way of relations between people. Once put into place these relations work on their own.
Individual freedom and opposition to the state are important beliefs of anarchism. There are also big differences between anarchist political philosophies on things like using violence to bring anarchy; the best type of economy; the relationship between technology and hierarchy; the idea of equality; and the usefulness of some organization. Anarchists do not like capitalism and many are socialists or communists. There are people called anarcho-capitalists who oppose governments, but support capitalism. These people are closer to modern libertarianism than to anarchism.
[edit] See also
- Buddhist anarchism