Forget everything you’ve heard about anarchism. Chances are, it’s all nonsense.Most people will tell you that the word “anarchy” means violence, chaos, and destruction, that anarchists are against all forms of order and organization, and that they are crazed nihilists who just want to “f*ck sh*t up”.

In reality, nothing could be further from the truth.

Anarchists are simply people who believe that human beings are capable of behaving reasonably without having to be forced to. Hence the anarchist belief that we would all be better off without institutions of hierarchy, such as the government, an establishment that derives its authority from the threat of force, coercion, and violence.

Rich people hate that idea.

The very notion of anti-statism is actually extremely frightening to those who have a vested interest in the status quo. That’s because state institutions of authority, like the police, the military, and the prison industrial complex, enforce the inequality in which excessive power and privilege thrive.

No small surprise that the word “anarchy” has been made synonymous with violence, chaos, and disorder. This is because the powers-that-be want us to believe that outside of their hierarchical order, there is no order.

“If there were no laws? Why, you’d all be killing each other! It would be the rule of the jungle!”

That idea almost makes sense until you remember that anarchists are not against order and organization. Rather we are against authoritarian order and organization. There is a difference.

Anarchist organizations follow a very specific kind of process: a non-hierarchical order based on the principles of self-rule & consensus decision-making as well as the idea that people are inherently good and trustworthy (until corrupted by power).

Both of these concepts sound remarkably similar to those found in Quaker process.

Which brings me to an interesting story that passed through the AP News wires a few months ago. A 21-year-old Quaker woman from New Jersey had been arrested during the July G8 protests in Genoa and was being held on the charge that she was participating with the “violent” anarchist black bloc.

Many Quakers quickly leapt to her defense, saying “How could a Quaker possibly be an anarchist?”

This was upsetting to me because, the way I look at things, there is something intrinsically anarchistic about the ideals of Quakerism.

Think about it: nobody in a Quaker group is inherently higher than anyone else. Even clerks don’t rule; they simply gather the sense of the meeting. Friends conduct business by consensus and everyone, even children, can have a voice. Though we do have rules, testimonies, and principles, they are self-imposed and followed voluntarily.

“But wait!” some would argue. “Aren’t Quakers committed to nonviolence and pacifism? And isn’t the black bloc some kind of militant anarchist cell that openly advocates using violence?”

To find the answers to those questions, you will have to look for my article in next week’s issue of The Guilfordian. This is just the first in a series of articles on anarchism, the most misunderstood political movement in history. Next week’s installment will discuss the various ins and outs of the black bloc which is perhaps the most misunderstood protest tactic in history.