Left Anarchism

Anarchism covers, at least in my book, a pretty broad political spectrum. Basically, a society outside a state is an anarchist society. Beyond that, things get a little bit more complicated; there's left anarchism, anarcho-capitalism, and individual anarchism a la Bob Black.

Individual anarchist theories embody some of the worst of America. I always get the feeling, when reading their tracts, that they were written by wanna-be mountain men who deck their Idaho cabins in the latest Army Surplus fashion, have a trusty dog who once saved them from drowning, and hold a vast arsenal of weapons including a .50 caliber six-shooter. Probably a couple of mail-bombs tucked away somewhere, just in case.

If your answer to society's ills is for everyone to retreat to the hills (after some population culling, one would imagine since there are more of us than there are suitable hills and tar-paper) and shoot strangers on site, you've missed the point of the human experiment. Might as well take that thirty odd six and put an end to your misery; at least your trusty dog will have some food.

Humans have great potential to work collectively for the benefit of the species and the planet, and, for me, that is what an anarchist way of life should strive to achieve. That is the positive fulfillment of the human experiment.