The Menace Among Us?

Amy Wright 

Life can be a real minefield. You never quite know what is going to happen, every action involving a degree of risk. Sound like an exaggeration? Just look at the stats on people who die in their bathroom every year. The trick is to try and make sure the risk is considered and reasonable. Of course there are going to be instances of the unpredictable and chaotic but this is just more reason to at least try an exercise a degree of control over all factors it is possible to do so. 

There is, however, a cadre of humanity existing in the present epoch for whom decentralization is not only a positive but has been adopted as a philosophy. I refer, of course, to so-called "Anarchism." An allegedly dangerous philosophy literally meaning "rule of none" from the Latinate language, this now notorious philosophy is now seen as a  cliche at best and a punchline at worst. Exactly because they are thought not to be a serious factor anymore. Many would have one believe that the greatest trick the Devil ever played was convincing the world he didn't exist. 

One of the most effective tactics taken by the modern day Anarchist is the mantle of the "Libertarian". Don't let the appeals to the democratic values of freedom and liberty throw you off. Libertarianism, be it "left", "right", or "moderate" has a lot more on common with classical Anarchism that it seems. Even alleged
Conservative Ben Shapiro has been quoted as saying "the  government sucks at everything." An Anarchist statement if there ever was one. 

(Michael Malice; The Face of Modern Anarchism)

Others are a lot more open with their anti-state sentiments, such as author and commentator Michael Malice. According to Malice and "Intellectual Anarchists" such as Noam Chomsky, Anarchism is a philosophy and they are not against rule but rulers, in the form of a coercive, top-down form of governance. Once that use the threat of violence to control the people and forward their own ends. 

An example from history is the notorious case of the "Diggers." The popular name for a group of peasant farmers who petitioned the kings to be able to keep more of their own crops. A request which got them cut down by the royal troops.