Sujal Thapa

How could anything originate out of its opposite? For example, truth out of error? Or the will to truth out of the will to deception? Or the generous deed out of selfishness? Or the pure vision of the wise man out of covetousness?” Sarcastically remarked the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche in his book ‘Beyond Good and Evil’, mocking the prejudices he saw within the thinkers of his time. Finding true order by embracing anarchy might seem like a fool’s errand until it is apparent that an order that does not incorporate chaos into itself is nothing more than a constraint.
Just like Communism or Capitalism are socio-political ideologies that aim to provide ways in which our world should be governed and facilitate unique lenses through which we can view the world similarly, Anarchism is another such socio-political ideology and can be loosely defined as “A political ideal that advocates for the abolishment of all unjustified systems and hierarchies in favour of self-managed, self-governed societies based on voluntary, cooperative institutions”.
Any system that does not contribute to the lives of every individual in a society is seen as ‘unjust’ by anarchists and should cease to exist. This would create an egalitarian world where every person in a community actually contributes to the well-being of the society in contrast to off-hand contributions made by participating in exploitative institutions. Anarchists prefer the establishment of joint co-operatives where people work in environments guided by democratic principles or sole proprietors contributing in the micro scale and these joint co-op’s and sole proprietors working together as a federation with horizontal accountability.
Anarchy, if put into practice will undoubtedly lead to the creation of a society that is not limited by Authoritarian chains but graced by wings of freedom. However, the question then arises whether too much freedom is harmful for the society and may lead to an undesirable state for the people living there. Also, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that anarchy in the eyes of many, seems like a far-fetched ideal, one that may sound well on paper but would never work if put into practice.
Whilst the judicial acceptability of a world with extended liberty is still up for debate, the actual feasibility of anarchy is not. The Spanish revolution of 1936 led to a huge region of Spain bonding together to create an anarchist society. The English novelist George Orwell in his classic memoir piece ‘Homage to Catalonia’ lauds the city of Barcelona, the revolutionary spirit present there at the time. In the end, the forces of the Soviet Union, fascist Italy and fascist Germany were too much to fight at once for the people and the anarchist society that the common folk had built swiftly collapsed under the force of military powers far greater than itself.
The notion that anarchy is some undesirable state of existence is completely improper when it is quite clear that a world where the people reign over the systems that shape their lives is quite desirable. Yet, widespread is the stigma against anarchy either due to lack of information or the spread of misunderstanding and misinformation. But then again, to quote Nietzsche “That which an age considers as evil is usually an unseasonable echo of what was formerly considered good - the atavism of an old ideal”.

(Thapa is currently studying A Levels at Gems Institute of Higher Education)5