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What Is Anarchism?

An anarchy symbol is viewed after it was spray painted on a window during a demonstration by Occupy Wall Street and other groups in downtown Chicago on the eve of the NATO summit in Chicago, Illinois.
An anarchy symbol is viewed after it was spray painted on a window during a demonstration by Occupy Wall Street and other groups in downtown Chicago on the eve of the NATO summit in Chicago, Illinois.

We’re hearing more about anarchy, especially where President Donald Trump is concerned. He’s repeatedly said that “professional anarchists” were responsible for the unrest and demonstrations against police brutality in cities across the country during the summer. There’s almost no evidence that’s true.

The term is popping up in other venues as well. The Trump administration also moved recently to call Democratically-led cities like New York City, Portland, Oregon and Seattle “ anarchist zones.”

And following the discovery of a plot by a white supremacist militia group to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, right-wing media outlets have moved to label its members as anarchists.

But are those groups actually anarchists?

What do anarchists believe? And how are they organized?

 

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Michelle Harven