Issue 34.16
There are two general definitions of anarchy or anarchism and it is important to understand both when we consider the future and our role in society.
In our day, anarchy is generally considered an undesirable and dangerous lack of government or order leading to violence, abuse of the weak by the strong and individual license to do what you please regardless of the consequences to yourself or others. Visions of Animal Farm and other dystopian writings come to mind along with fears of Survival of the Fittest scenarios where gangs and evil doers prey upon the weak and downtrodden.
Historically though, anarchism simply meant the lack of imposed government, leaving people and communities to group together in voluntary self-government. Individuals could leave such communities if disagreements continued for long and create or find other self-governing communities as needed.
The biggest weakness of such systems is the inability to respond effectively to outside groups or forces that might be predatory or desiring to dominate or enslave smaller, less powerful groups. A couple of historical examples are instructive.
Genghis Khan bulldozed his way through Asia, assimilating or destroying all of the small tribes he could find. He enlisted those he conquered in his massive army in order to continue his quest for domination of all the known world.
In the United States, the government systematically conquered and either killed or imprisoned the indigenous peoples we call “Indian” tribes on reservations to clear them out of the way so the immigrants from Europe and Asia could claim the land and use it as they saw fit.
Theoretically, the historical concept of anarchism is the most conducive to individual liberty and freedom of choice. The reality is that we need a balance between freedom and structure to, as the Constitution states, “…form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.” These concepts state the reasons that we band together and allow a certain amount of government control in our lives.
Because of recent events, riots and calamities, many people feel we may see a breakdown of society or government in our own future. I hope that never happens, but if it does, we need to consider what our responsibility will be to ourselves, our families and our communities. How do we handle anarchy if it ever comes?
Hopefully, there will be enough people in each community that understand the principles of freedom that they will voluntarily band together for those purposes mentioned in the Preamble – defense, tranquility, Liberty and Justice. As communities do this with appreciation and honor for the founding principles and for individual liberty, they will hopefully find and ally with other similar communities to build a way to protect themselves while sustaining freedom and hope for the future.
It is one of the hopes of this author that the things we share in these articles will help people understand those principles, not only to affect the political debates and elections today, but to gear for the future – whatever it brings.
Lynn West is a thinker, a teacher and a patriot. You can reach him through email at forgingthefuture2021@gmail.com or through this newspaper. Liberty is a state of being which must be continually created. These articles can help all of us discover the ways we can contribute to that outcome.