I made a reply to somebodies rant the other day, and part of there rant was about anarchism. And in this rant, his view of anarchism is similar to that of most people in America. Chaos, fight to live, no comforts, thievery, murder. I hate to tell you all this, but we live with that today. To put it simply, anarchism is based on correct and incorrect. Legitimate and illegitimate. It is not about kids blowing things up, or mass rioting and destroying everything in ones path. People and the media often use anarchy and define it in negative ways. If there is a large riot and all hell breaks loose, the media will tell you �It was anarchy in downtown Shitzville today, as an angry mob began to riot. Property damage is estimated to be in the thousands and at least 57 people were injured or killed.� Notice how negative that sounds. Granted, it is not a real quote but if you think about it, does it not sound like the news?
I will openly admit that as I grew up, I believed anarchism, or at the time I only knew the word anarchy, was simply violence and abolishment of the government. Fuck Authority if you will. But as I grew up, and I began to read up on it, I began to realize just how wrong I was. If anything, anarchists should be considered Utopians, instead of violent cop haters.
Here is a definition of anarchism through http://www.freesearch.co.uk

anarchism noun {U} the political belief that there should be little or no formal or official organization to society but that people should work freely together.

Here's a definition on the same page, which, purposely or not, colors anarchism negatively

Someone who wishes to destroy the existing government and laws

. Notice the word destroy. Destroy is most often used negatively. The locus destroyed the crop. And now try to use it positively. Lincoln helped destroy slavery. Doesn't work to well does it. So let's try a different word.

Someone who wishes to abolish the existing government and laws. The locus abolished the crop. Lincoln helped abolish slavery. So the locus quote doesn't work very well with the term abolish. It just goes to show how all words have certain uses.

Now then, in many situations people find themselves in need of a person to represent them, or a person to take their problems to. For example the workplace. If there is a problem, say the copier broke, or the fryers are not coming up to temperature. The worker would go to their boss, be it an office manager, shift leader, assistant manager, or co-worker with more seniority, and tell them the problem. Then the boss would investigate the problem, and make repairs, or contact a person with the necessary skills to repair the equipment. This may bring to mind the fact that we have representatives in our towns, cities, counties, and states. That is part of democracy, and democracy is not bad. When it's not abused. In this country, it is quite abused. Two words for you: Florida recount. Democracy is a very good form of social organization, as long as the views of the people are not manipulated on their way up the ladder. Another word for you: Corruption.

Well it's getting late, and I have much more to say, but feel that this is already long enough. In closing I hope this at least helped one person become less closed-minded to the world. Learning is the key to much. With knowledge comes power, with power comes the chance to help others become enlightened. But at the same time, the chance to be an elitist pig, a corrupt power freak that will try to keep the knowledge to themselves. You have the power to vote if your 18. Do it. You have no room to complain if you don't vote. The only exception to this are those under 18. But you can still be heard. Flyers, websites, speech. We are all born with a voice, be it audible or not, use it! And make those wrapping themselves in corrupt power tremble. Don't be afraid to speak up, it's your right. If they try to keep you silenced, take it with a smile and go back again, and again. Bring like minded people, friends, co-workers, family, one voice may be easy to block out, but two voices are annoying, three draw a crowd, and you can't silence the masses. At least not forever.
http://a4a.mahost.org/archive.html Several links don't work anymore (certain people don't like the people thinking thoughts that might diminish their power) but check it out! Learn learn learn!