Opinion Stage

In Western cultures, the word "anarchy" often conjures images of chaos and collapse. Most living in modern democratic societies can't even see how it would be viable as a functioning political system. But according to the recent Occupy protests in the U.S. and political rebellions around Europe and the Middle East, people seem to think that our "democracies" are failing us. So do we have something to learn from anarchy after all?

From Wikipedia:

Anarchy (from Greek: ἀναρχίᾱ anarchíā), has more than one colloquial definition. In the United States, the term "anarchy" typically is meant to refer to a society without a publicly enforced government or violently enforced political authority.When used in this sense, anarchy may or may not be intended to imply political disorder or lawlessness within a society.

Outside of the US, and by most individuals that self-identify as anarchists, it implies a system of governance, mostly theoretical at a nation state level although there are a few successful historical examples, that goes to lengths to avoid the use of coercion, violence, force and authority, while still producing a productive and desirable society.

Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be immoral, or as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations. Proponents of anarchism (known as "anarchists") advocate stateless societies based on non-hierarchical voluntary associations.