A Simple Question

[FurryTrooper]

I am new here, so for me to ask a question without being known of may be somewhat presumptuous but as I understand it, this site is about the left, and though the fascist media often puts Anarchists and Communists together (which I have always found hilarious) how is it that Anarchism is sited as a left wing belief as I have always seen it as neither left or right but somewhat above the two so how can your two philosophies co-exist as they are both in direct confrontation with each other? And also how can Anarchists have unions and groups as in my simple ignorant understanding I always thought Anarchism led to a lack of government and well pardon the cliche but everyman for himself. Sorry if this is in the wrong question or full of ignorance but I am a teen from a country where politics is retarded in the extreme.

[Hessian Peel]

Well, certain political elements are certainly "retarded in the extreme" in occupied Ireland. The perversion that is Unionism/Loyalism/Orangeism is required by the British to act as a reactionary bulwark against native resistance to their illegal presence. Now the former revolutionaries in the Provisional Republican Movement have joined that bulwark, and by their own admittance no less.

As for your question about anarchism: I think it's probably best some anarchist posters deal with it, but my understanding of it as an ideology is that it has both left-wing and right-wing claimants to its name. The left-wing anarchists (such as anarcho-syndicalists and platformists) would see themselves as communists expect they don't believe in a transitionary period of socialism by means of a workers state, but rather favour limited transition to communism. I, as a scientific socialist, find this to be utopian and reject it. But as you can see we aren't necessarily worlds apart and so of course they're just as much a part of the left as Marxist-Leninists, Trotskyites etc etc etc.

As for the right-wing anarchists: they tend to be capitalists who don't want the constraints bourgeois state structures impose upon them. I wouldn't consider these types to be real anarchists and that sort of ideology drifts into cut-throat horse manure like objectivism.

[Plagueround]

Anarchism as an ideology has many, many different interpretations, but very few of them promote an "everyman for himself" philosophy (except maybe anarcho-capitalism, which is not worth your time). Anarchism, as I've come to understand it and in broad terms, is focused on the idea that hierarchy is too easily corruptible and should not exist. Much of the anarchist theory I've seen promotes communal living and harmony, which is why it is considered a left wing philosophy. I'd suggest taking a look at some of the writings of notable Anarchist authors and reading a bit more what it's about...I've found it to be very interesting. Some of our resident anarchist will probably come along later and be able to give more details than I can. Welcome to the site.

[F9]

Anarchism is a leftist ideology,even more left than some "communists".For some of us(Anarchists) communism and Anarchism not only arent a completely different thing but are combined in the perfect ideology,i myself ,and most of Anarchist, am an Anarchocommunist,i am an Anarchist but a communist too,although notice we are not Marxists!If you search the things better you will find that as you said that facist media say all the stupidity they want,or from ignorance or for propaganda.
Yes as Anarchists we dont want goverment but how this affect us of being equal members in unions and groups?I think you are on the usual Anarchy cliche that we dont want organism and Anarchy=chaos which is a BIG lie and false.Anarchy probably is the most misunderstanding ideology now.We advocate organization and as indicates our symbol: which A is for Anarchism and the circle around is for organization!

Fuserg9

[#FF0000]

I am going to copy and paste the definition of Anarchism I posted in another thread. It apparently helped a lot, so, here it is again.

Anarchism is a society with no definite hierarchy. That means getting rid of the capitalist class structure so one person can't have economic power over another. It also means getting rid of political hierarchy, so no one has political power over another.

That means all property is owned by the public, as with socialism. It also means that decisions are made by the workers and common people, not by the politicians and elected "representatives".

Instead of "government" as we know it, an anarchist society has a federation of autonomous communes, in which the people who live in each commune make the decisions democratically.

And as for the no authority part, you're mostly right. Anarchists are against authority, except for rational authority, which is authority that one doesn't have to listen to, and authority that is backed up by experience or knowledge, rather than by status or class. For example, when talking about what material to make a good pair of shoes out of, you would refer to the authority of a shoemaker.

Feel free to PM me with questions on Anarchism.

EDIT: Also, Anarchism is left-wing as it is socialist in practice. That is, no private property, just as with communism/socialism.

[gla22]

I am new here, so for me to ask a question without being known of may be somewhat presumptuous but as I understand it, this site is about the left, and though the fascist media often puts Anarchists and Communists together (which I have always found hilarious) how is it that Anarchism is sited as a left wing belief as I have always seen it as neither left or right but somewhat above the two so how can your two philosophies co-exist as they are both in direct confrontation with each other? And also how can Anarchists have unions and groups as in my simple ignorant understanding I always thought Anarchism led to a lack of government and well pardon the cliche but everyman for himself. Sorry if this is in the wrong question or full of ignorance but I am a teen from a country where politics is retarded in the extreme.

Communism in Anarchism are almost the same. They both (in almost all cases) advocate a stateless, classless society. Communism believes in a transitional stage whereas Anarchism sees a direct change. Some other differences is that anarchism leans more individualistic and promotes direct action whereas Marxism focuses on the industrial working class proletariat.

[Niccolò Rossi]

Communism believes in a transitional stage whereas Anarchism sees a direct change.

No that's not true. Anarchists define the state differently to the Marxists. Anarchists see the transition to an Anarchist/Communist society as lacking a state (in their definition of it). Marxists on the other hand see the existence of a state (once again using their own definition of the state) in the transition period to be a necessity.