When an Anarchist enters the room, people shudder. I would like to change that today, even if it is in the slightest.
The term "Anarchist" unfortunatly ushers in images of pierced teenagers with neon, spiked hair hurling bricks through windows or even an apocalyptic scene of a chaos-laden world enveloped in fire. Even the symbol of Anarchism is often drawn as a misshaped "A" in a hastily drawn circle. I am often reluctant to tell people I'm an Anarchist because of this.
Why does Anarchism have this negative stigma attached to it?
I was once a conservative supporter, which is a little bit of an understatement to be completely honest. When people teased me by calling me a Nazi, I would get offended, even when I knew it was a joke. Eventually I realized that politics was nothing to joke about, it has the power to destroy everything you own with the simple checkmark on a piece of paper.
Anarchism is, unfortunately made a joke of. Like I said previously, the power of politics is incredible, so what would happen should someone have an idea that contradicts it? Any piece of government-controlled media would turn against it, create a negative image of it, and hope that it dies along with those who thought it could work.
And here we are: walking past city hall and throwing out your empty cup off coffee into the trash when you see the faint remnants of spray paint on the brick wall above the garbage can. You have to squint to see it, but it's a harshly drawn circle with a crimson "A" in the middle.
Sometimes even Anarchists are confused as to what Anarchism is. Im going to refer to the stereotypical Anarchist teen once again who dyed her hair green and spits indoors. She is exercising her freedom, which in essence is what Anarchism is. But she is also rude and evidently inconsiderate for spitting indoors. She does it because she doesn't believe in the rules that tell her not to, she does this because she might be angry and needs to rebel against something. I am an Anarchist because I feel the world can find a greater peace without the government, I don't believe in Anarchism so i can spit indoors.
The government has every right to be against Anarchism. After all, if Anarchism was put into place, the government would loose its power. But you don't have to be against Anarchism. The next time an Anarchist walks into a room, don't shudder, smile, she's just another human with a different story than yours.
