Why Anarchy?

The are many things that need to be discussed about anarchy.  Such as what strategies can promote anarchy in a constructive manner.  Or more directly what strategies can erode the powers that be.  Or pragmatically what role does anarchic communities and leadership organization play in lessening poverty, suffering, and war.  But first I have got to address that most people have negative views of anarchy and that there are simple and powerful reasons why they should reconsider those views.

I am not so interested in addressing the question 'What is anarchy?', which is easily over analyzed.  Anarchy represents the power that is in the absence of authority.  A reflection in human society of entropy that can cause either destructive chaos or creative revolution.    It is a mistake to think that entropy cannot be harnessed (in this metaphor understanding physical entropy has led to many imprortant technological advances), it is a bigger mistake to ignore it.  And ignoring it is the prevalent mindset of political and economic thought.

In the US, the political economy is dominated by the forces of the government and market.  It is often the case that a balance is required such that neither of these become too powerful and corrupt.  This balance began to be understood in the time after the second world war, but by the 1970's it was clear that the issue was not entirely settled.  The welfare state had become entrenched, draining money and stalling the economy.  So began a violent swing towards neo-liberalism where the powers of the market were unleashed again causing many communities to once again be "ravaged by the satanic mill,"  in the words of Karl Polanyi (hopefully I remember to talk about him more and his great book, The Great Transformation.)  I think that history and also the recent economic landscape shows whatever balance that was thought to have been established is not stable.  And back to my point this cannot be fixed unless a little bit of anarchy is brought back to the discussion. 

Another perspective is provided by Vandana Shiva in her book Earth Democracy.  (I especially recommend her book Water Wars, which is a very mind opening discussion on an absolutely crucial subject.)  In Earth Democracy she lays some fundamental framework for a sustainable democracy.  I can't find the book right now or remember her exact wordings so let me paraphrase.  She builds a pyramid where the nurture economy is on the bottom, with a social economy (can't remember her words but think public works and commons) in the middle, and on top a market economy.  The nurture economy, being the most important one, is comprised of the work that goes on in the household and that supports the community.  The very backbone of life and raising a family.  Who wants to claim that money is more important then family?  Yet what serious discussion does the economy of family and community have in our political culture?

Maybe you think I still have not made any point about anarchy, but the point is simple.  The fundamental aspects of life are controlled by neither the market or politics.  The more that these forces attempt to determine our everyday lives and control our communities, the less room there is to find a comfortable balance, and the more entropy will resist the unnatural confines and create violence.  Problems of poverty and environmental degradation don't have a solution that can just be implemented by the government or by market manipulations so I turn to anarchy as a symbol of everything that is left after these artificial power structures.