Topic: Anarchist movement
Section B – Why do anarchists oppose the current system?
This section of the FAQ presents an analysis of the basic social relationships of modern society and the structures which create them, particularly those aspects of society that anarchists want to change.
Section B – Why do anarchists oppose the current system?
Introduction
B.1 Why are anarchists against authority and hierarchy?
B.1.1 What are the effects of authoritarian social relationships?
B.1.2 Is capitalism hierarchical?
B.1.3 What kind of hierarchy of values does capitalism create?
H.1 Have anarchists always opposed state socialism?
Section H – Why do anarchists oppose state socialism?
The socialist movement has been continually divided, with various different tendencies and movements. The main tendencies of socialism are state socialism (Social Democracy, Leninism, Maoism and so on) and libertarian socialism (anarchism mostly, but also libertarian Marxists and others). The conflict and disagreement between anarchists and Marxists is legendary. As Benjamin Tucker noted:
A.5 What are some examples of "Anarchy in Action"?
Anarchism, more than anything else, is about the efforts of millions of revolutionaries changing the world in the last two centuries. Here we will discuss some of the high points of this movement, all of them of a profoundly anti-capitalist nature.
A.4 Who are the major anarchist thinkers?
A.2 What does anarchism stand for?
These words by Percy Bysshe Shelley gives an idea of what anarchism stands for in practice and what ideals drive it:
Anarchism is a political theory which aims to create anarchy, "the absence of a master, of a sovereign." [P-J Proudhon, What is Property , p. 264] In other words, anarchism is a political theory which aims to create a society within which individuals freely co-operate together as equals. As such anarchism opposes all forms of hierarchical control – be that control by the state or a capitalist – as harmful to the individual and their individuality as well as unnecessary.
In the words of anarchist L. Susan Brown: