Anarchy, a word so simple yet provocative. The word has captured the imagination of many in regards to what its definition is. Some call it chaos, others call it order. I certainly am agnostic when it comes to such debates. Others also differentiate anarchy from anarchism.(1) And certainly quite a handful of people misconstrue it for a plethora of things the Spectacle casts upon them. But to quote Oscar Wilde, “To define is to limit.“
As such, anarchy can be many things but for myself and many others such as Emma Goldman and the late Aragorn!, it is the Beautiful Idea.
I had always been around anarchist ideas without being entirely conscious of it. Like many people, my initial real exposure to anarchism was through the punk and hardcore scene, and in particular, it was listening to bands like Aus-Rotten whose lyrical content ranged from the anti-authoritarian, anti-capitalist, anti-fascist ideas to pro-feminist, pro-LGBT, and pro-refugee had a big influence on me. This, along with some soul-searching and other factors in my personal life have led me down a path towards embracing anarchism.
When I first started getting into anarchy, I started with an interest social anarchism (i.e. anarchist-communism, anarchist-syndicalism etc.) This was in the form of learning from the likes of classical anarchists such as Kropotkin and Bakunin, but that didn't stop there. Within a span of a year, I learned more about contemporary anarchist and anarchist-adjacent ideas and individuals. Besides the classical and first wave of anarchists, I learned of the Conspiracy of Cells of Fire, knew of the Invisible Committee, and read Desert. I was exposed to green, individualist, nihilist, and insurrectionary strains of anarchism along with everything in between. I accepted all of these as valid positions of anarchy. So naturally I gravitated towards what is called anarchism without adjectives. A god-awful name yes, but I understood the concepts behind it. But rather than tie myself to some tendency I would rather just be called an anarchist.
The anarchist project, varies between each individual. My anarchist project is one that is negative and positive. Negative in the sense that I seek the total destruction of all forms of domination and their logic including but not limited to capitalism, the state, civilization etc. It is positive insofar that it emphasizes and seeks possibilities of many worlds based on mutual aid, free association, collective empowerment, and individual realization in whatever forms they may take.
It is an amalgamation of different anarchic tendencies but one should know that I am not beholden to the ideas that some dead white men had from more than a century ago. And certainly I am not beholden to the people in the present day whose ideas I find affinity and have interest with. I loot from their proverbial arsenals to shape my own struggles and to arm my own desires. To relate how I experience the world around me. In short, I have made anarchy my own.
Following the old adage “Be realistic, demand the impossible!”, my anarchist project, my anarchy, is impossible. But it is in this impossibility that makes it all the more desirable. I don't know if there will ever be a revolution that will destroy power and domination in all its forms. However, this will not cause me to resign and make peace with the status quo. It will not stop me from being an anarchist in my day to day life. Individual revolt and social insurrection are perpetual. There will always be something to rebel against. It is the never ending desire to be free from anything to restrains me. It is to take my own life into my own hands and to enjoy it as I please.
My anarchy is my own.
*(1) – Anarchists of different stripes argue semantics over anarchism and anarchy. I do find myself using the two terms interchangeably at times. But for this blog post I will mainly focus on using the term “anarchy”.