What is the first thing you think of when you hear the word "Anarchist"? Terrorism? Violence? Chaos? Is it something that sounds good on paper, but could never work in real life?

Not too many people know about what Anarchism really stands for -- and who can blame them? Anarchist theory and history has been completely distorted or ignored for the last century!

Did you know that Anarchists were responsible for lowering the work day to 8 hours? Did you know that Anarchist unions have numbered in the hundreds of thousands -- at times even millions? Did you know that Anarchists are every day in the struggles for housing, labor, living wages, support groups... amongst hundreds of other things?

Anarchism is not only the opposite of terrorism and chaos, but it is an idea which works to reduce these things in all aspects of life. How many Anarchists dropped bombs on Iraqi civilians, evicted the poor from their houses, suppressed peaceful demonstrations, or committed police brutality? It is ironic that the things we are accused of are committed mostly by those who attack us!

Anarchism, simply put, means community control by community members, and workplace control by the workers. It is a society where communities govern themselves instead of giving their decisison making powers to a central government (i.e. the President). The labor and management of a workplace is divided amongst the workers, rather than giving their decision making power to a boss or owner.

One myth is that Anarchists are against organization -- absolutely not! Anarchism is a highly organized society, but is run from the bottom up (horizontally) instead of top-down (vertically). We want all the power in the smallest parts of society -- the community and the workplace -- instead of giving all our power to faceless politicians.

How would decisions be made in an Anarchist society? Small communities would make their decisions face to face and discuss matters until a decision is met. This is known as "Direct Democracy" and is important to making politics real in our lives. For problems that extend beyond the small group, communities are "Federated", which means that each one is networked together and uses "Delegates"(people chosen to temporarily represent the community) to make larger decisions.

It must be noted that every delegate is temporary -- they can be recalled at any time and are never in a position long enough to gain political power. It also rotates tasks so that everyone can take part in the decision making process.

The obvious question that comes to mind is: What if people disagree? We argue that this is one of the best reasons to adopt Anarchism. People have different opinions and should have the right to express them. On important issues, everyone should have a say in what happens, and there should be lots of debate before a problem is solved. In situations where consensus (everyone agrees) is not met, a majority vote can be taken.

In our current "Representative Democracy," decision making powers are given to a politician, who may or may not think the same way you do. He makes decisions based on his own desire to stay in office. In a country where most of the population is poor, female, and/or a person of color, the average politician will be a rich white man. Politicians can cut funding to schools, eliminate your job, even send you to war -- all without your approval!

In our two-party system (with a third party thrown in for giggles) there is no real choice. Both the Democrats and Republicans have been notorious for cutting aid to the poor or for starting conflicts all around the world. Though we can point at little things -- small welfare reform here, or a peace process there -- we can not honestly say that having a large government has helped our lives significantly or created world peace.

Workplaces would run in a similar way to communities. Instead of bosses, assemblies/collectives would be created to run each shop. These assemblies would cover every detail from how many units to produce to how many vacation days each individual gets in a year.

Have you ever been in a situation where it was necessary to have a boss breathe down your neck? How many hours in the day do you and your coworkers manage yourselves without ANY supervision? Anarchists argue that workers are the ONLY people qualified to make workplace decisions, since they are the ones who spend all their time doing the work.

What would an Anarchist economy look like? People would work because they know that their needs (food, housing, clothing, community etc) would be provided by others. This is called a "Reciprocal" economy, and has worked successfully throughout history. For example: Sally bakes bread for free knowing that Mike is going to bring her milk and Maria is going to fix her stove. If a person doesn't work, he/she does not take from the community and does not have decision making powers (with exception to senior citizens, children, the handicapped etc).

We often hear that Anarchism could never work because people would be lazy. Work hours would be GREATLY reduced as we collectively remove unnecessary jobs, and the workplace assemblies turn us from wage slaves into real people again. Also, we live in a culture which encourages laziness and living off of others, and Anarchism would be a far cry from this. Landlords, bankers, pay day loan companies, politicians, bosses, stock brokers, accounting departments, credit card companies, bill collectors... all of these people make a living off of your labor! For every one lazy person in an Anarchist society, there are 100 lazy people in a capitalist society.

All of this sounds good on paper, but it probably has no relevance to real life, right? Actually, Anarchism is not the utopian dreams of a philosopher, but is an idea which was actually born out of the workers and peasant struggles of the 1800's. Millions of Anarchists have struggled for the right to be their own masters and to work collectively with others.

Workers councils and community assemblies have popped up all around the world, most notably in Russia, Hungary, Paris, Spain, Argentina, and Mexico.

In Russia 1919, "Soviets" (workers councils) were created all over the country in the midst of the revolution as an alternative to capitalism. Anarchists helped organize, federate, and sustain these projects, and later to defend them from the Communists.

In Spain, 1936, the 1.5 million member strong Anarchist union set up a near-Anarchist society for nearly 3 years. In addition to workers councils and neighborhood assemblies, money was abolished in many areas, workers militias replaced the army, central government was ignored, and production actually increased. All while defending themselves from Russian-backed Communists and German-backed fascists!

In Hungary 1956, workers councils and neighborhood assemblies were created while workers militias drove out the Soviet military. Goods were distributed freely and decisions were made democratically.

In Paris, 1968, a general strike led to the city being run by workers and student councils.

In Argentina, 2001, neighborhood and workers councils were created after the value of the peso collapsed. Workers took over hundreds of factories and ran them collectively.

In Mexico, 1994, Zapatistas helped to collectivize the poor communities in Chiapas. Decisions are now made through councils instead of the Mexican government.
In 2006, a teachers strike in Oaxaca led to an uprising, followed by neighborhood assemblies running their own communities.

As we can see, Anarchist ideas are not limited to books or theory. Workers councils and neighborhood assemblies are NATURAL ways that people organize themselves. Anarchists simply wish to expand these forms of organization on a global scale.

But what about human nature? This is the most common argument against Anarchism: that humans are naturally greedy, and could never work together in an Anarchist society. We argue that people are products of their environment. Capitalism encourages greed and selfishness, and therefore produces greedy and selfish people. An Anarchist society would encourage respect and mutual aid, and would therefore produce respectful people. If we are going to examine "human nature", it wouldn't do us much good to look at human beings in a capitalist society! Societies which exist outside of capitalism -- tribal, primitive, hunter-gatherer -- exhibit the same cooperation and respect for others that an Anarchist society would encourage. Though these societies are not necessarily Anarchist (and we obviously wouldn't advocate a return to primitivism), they do allow us to see what "human nature" is really capable of.

How do Anarchists work towards these goals? Anarchists advocate "Direct Action" instead of political action -- we believe that actions outside of voting and politicians are the most positive forms of change. The United States has a long history of Direct Action -- from the Boston Tea Party to the strikes for the 8 hour work day to the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Voting puts our power into the hands of politicians, who may or may not sell us out in the end. If there is a problem, people could literally spend years voting or lobbying for some small amount of change, and never achieve it. Direct Action puts our power into our own hands, lets us see what we are capable of, creates change on our OWN terms instead of the politicians', and let our bosses know who's REALLY in charge.

Direct Action comes in many different forms. Strikes, boycotts, sit-ins, neighborhood assemblies... the list goes on and on.

Your boss won't give anyone the wages they deserve? You could wait years for him to give you a small raise, and wait years for another one. Or, you can use Direct Action: organize your coworkers, start a union, start a "work slowdown", go on strike, and demand a living wage! One puts the power into the hands of the boss, the other gives that power to you!

Has your city government been tearing down affordable housing to make room for new condos? You could voice your opinion and a city council meeting, and pack up your belongings as your home is destroyed behind you. Or, you can use Direct Action: organize your neighbors, start a tenants union, and refuse to leave!

Anarchists are the only political group which does not seek to take power over others. Our goal is to empower people to make their own decisions through direct action. Anarchists today work within labor and social movements to help people realize their own potential to control their lives.

This has been a very brief and very simple explanation of Anarchism, a form of politics that has hundreds of years of theory and practice. We hope this article has helped you to understand who we are and what we do, and has dispelled some of the myths surrounding us. If you'd like a much longer or in depth explanation of some Anarchist principles, your local Anarchist collective can send you more information or arrange for a meeting.

Thank you for reading!

The Sunrise Collective
Waukegan Anarchism
www.sunrisecollective.org