Thought this was interesting..........

[Skippy1]

Anarchism in the Late Nineteenth Century







The stereotype of American anarchism was, and still is, portrayed as "a doctrine of willful destruction and blind violence." (Riechart,1976) They were thought of as enemies of anything good to society. "Of all moments of social form, anarchism has been subject to the grossest distortions of its nature and objectives." (Avrich,1984) Newspapers and cartoonists seemed to feed on the idea that anarchism was "wild revolutionary frantic, bent of chaos and destruction." (Aurich,1984)Despite this stereotype, anarchism played a very important and practical role in the late nineteenth century culture.

This stereotype, like all stereotypes, was entirely incorrect and blown apart by the press and ignorance. In the late nineteenth century there were two excellent reasons as to why anarchism had good reason to be a very popular, serious, nonviolent idea of how early civilization could have been better. Freedom was important to these people, and for the most part, a person who was an anarchist was not an enemy to the human race; on the contrary, they wanted to enhance it by promoting individual freedom. The idea of anarchism had much deeper roots in the early culture of America than most people realize.

The idea of anarchy was a form of a libertarian government. Libertarian government referring to radical ideas to make a culture more individualized instead of the government being the central focus. Anarchists simply believed that the central focus of social life should be focused around individuals. Freedom is what America is based upon. The anarchist of the late nineteenth century believed that the only was to achieve full freedom was to do it with out a central government. Their belief was "The state to the man, not the man to the state. . ." (Reichart,1976) The idea was that a person should live life according to their own beliefs and morals, they should not have to adjust to the norm of set ideas made by some higher power. When people had to adjust to the government, their freedoms were being deprived.


One group that the anarchism belief was held dear to was women. "Nineteenth Century America was actually conscious of gender. Anarchism, at least as it came to be interpreted by many women with in the feminist movement, offered them a way out of the gender tap."(Marsh,1981) This belief of anarchism was a way for the women of the American society to become free individuals and to live meaningful lives. Anarchism accomplishes this because it would break the traditional roles of women at that time by giving a woman a right, and even a duty to stand up for her own beliefs and ideas. Women were still considered property of the man. With the very few rights that were granted to them they were hardly considered human. These type of habits that society became accustomed to would be broken within a form of anarchy.

Another big group in which anarchism thrived in the late nineteenth century was with the work force. "Anarchism became a distinct power within American labor because of the depression of 1883-1886." (Avrich,1984) The depression of this time caused many people in the booming cities, like Chicago and many others, to be thrown out of work. It was a time of suffering and misery including homelessness and starvation for some. These unemployed citizens ended up resenting the government because there was something very wrong with their country. "The industrial power was crashing the workers into poverty and depriving them of freedom." (Avrich,1984) Certainly with this tragedy happening to more and more citizens each year, something had to be done, and done for the individual, not for the government. This was where such a radical belief, like anarchism, arose. The anarchy idea was a way for individuals to be successful without interference from the government. This radical form of government, they believed, would break the mold of "the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer" philosophy, and create more opportunity and more freedom for the individual.



Anarchism, although portrayed wrongfully as barbaric and brutal to society, was common ground for many Americans in the late nineteenth century. The people who believed in the idea of anarchy simply believed in an individual focus of society, which allowed for the absence of government interference. Furthermore, freedom was suppose to be why America even came to be, and a anarchist just wanted that to be the case. Women believed in the anarchy idea to change the roles society and government set them in. being separate from men was becoming more and more popular and this radical belief of anarchism was their chance to be individuals. The workers who lost their jobs in the 1883-1886 depression were ruined by their own government. Workers were forced to poverty by the industrial power the government was striving for. These American workers were denied their freedom by there own government. Individual freedom is why America even came to be, and anarchist of the late nineteenth century were determined to enhance America by enhancing its greatest quality.

[Stratos]

Yes, anarcism is a misunderstood conception and is sometimes confused with nihilism.

BTW wasn't the Una-bomber pro the entire 'early civilization' idea?

One entry found for anarchism.


Main Entry: an·ar·chism
Pronunciation: 'a-n&r-"ki-z&m, -"när-
Function: noun
Date: 1642
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


Sounds a lot like utopian socialism to me. Of course this "political theory" completely neglects to take into account human nature and is based upon a myth that all people are basicly good at heart.

That is just my opinion.

[Spelca]

Originally posted by MagiK: Of course this "political theory" completely neglects to take into account human nature and is based upon a myth that all people are basicly good at heart.

No, it just starts from a different view. All ideologies start with the theory of human nature. Some see it as selfish, others as cooperative. And anarchism does take human nature into account, they just see it differently than you do. [img]smile.gif[/img] They believe that people have been corrupted because of all control by the state, and that if left by themselves they would cooperate.

[ 01-16-2004, 04:09 PM: Message edited by: Spelca ]

[khazadman]

So the anarchists live in a fantasy world then Spelca?

[Spelca]

Originally posted by khazadman: So the anarchists live in a fantasy world then Spelca?

It is a theory. [img]tongue.gif[/img] You could say people who believe that people are only selfish and can never do anything good, or cooperate, or do anything selfless live in a fantasy world too, coudn't you? [img]smile.gif[/img] But you also missed a point in my argument. Anarchists don't say people aren't selfish. They say they are, but that the cause of it isn't human nature but the state (as it is today) and its controls. The problem in that though is how do we know what human nature without the state is when the state is everywhere? There has always been some kind of a form of a state or control as long as political scientists have been discussing this. So it's almost impossible to really reject the anarchist theory (as well as others), as well as completely support it, because we can't know how it would be like.

But, anyway, if I go by your argument, all political ideologies are about "fantasy worlds" because you can't say that people are only selfish or that people are only cooperative. Human nature isn't only "black or white". [img]smile.gif[/img]

[The Hierophant]

human nature? what's that?
Does the Dalai Lama have the same nature that Adolf Hitler had?
Does a universal factor of human nature actually exist? Or is it just a catch-phrase used to justify taking the easy, greedy path?

I would say that here is no human nature save the way of life that the individual forges for themself. Every second of every day you make choices on how your life will be spent. Nothing is out of your control.

If you choose the 'survival of the fittest' mentality and choose to see greed and conflict in all aspects of life on Earth, fine. But you choose to interpret data that way. There is no universal truth. Just as this is merely my life interpretation, nothing more. People are not fundamentally 'good' or 'evil'. People are not fundamentally anything, save living organisms with the mental capacity to rationalise the world around them.

It's easy and safe to follow what the majority of your fellows believe (or pretend they believe for fear of social/political isolation). But you will never be free unless you follow your own code, forged by you, to serve whatever ends it may.

So bring on the anarchy!

[ 01-18-2004, 01:59 AM: Message edited by: The Hierophant ]