By Keith Smith

“You are not an anarchist!”

Probably one of the most espoused statements from within the anarchist circles. The definition of anarchism seems to be the very foundation that many within anarchists constantly argue about.

Stray or disagree with on opinion? Not an anarchist.

Have a faith, religion or spirituality you adhere to? Not an anarchist.

Working within the system that oppresses you so that you can live another day? Not an anarchist.

Take a plea instead of life in prison? Not an anarchist.

How can one be a principled anarchist and actually be an anarchist? Seems as if there may not be any actual anarchists in the world, we are all just variations of fake anarchists.

Social anarchist, left market anarchist, anarcho capitalist, anarcho communist, nihilist anarchist, alt right anarchist, antifa anarchist, anarcho primitivism, anarcho feminist, agorist, voluntaryist, anarcho spiritualist, anarcho Christian, anarcho mutualism…

You can find this out yourself by doing a simple google search for anarchist flags:

All the while I consider myself a Christian Crypto Market Anarchist.

First reply I get is “Christians can’t be anarchists, no gods and no masters”.

I beg to differ. I could go on to debate about how God himself is an anarchist from my studies but I think I will leave that for another blog in the future. Usually, I do not even try to debate people who come off in that direction.

Fact is, I can define an anarchist under one definition which is far superior to your “no ruler” “no gods or masters”, “the non aggression principle” or a million different other definitions of anarchism.

Self identification. To be able to identify your beliefs with yourself is anarchism.

Who is anyone to tell someone else they are NOT an anarchist and then call themselves an anarchist themselves?

Would you, as an anarchist, argue that people should not be allowed to self identify as an anarchist of some sorts? Seems very authoritarian to me.

Of course there is arguments on when violence is the answer and it seems that each and every anarchist in the whole world cannot come into an agreement. That itself, is beautiful anarchism. The lack of agreement is better than agreement when to actually initiate the violence. But as to the Christian Anarchy, I will leave that for another blog.

Now, do not get me wrong. Some anarchist philosophies are backwards and twisted as per my view and I will argue against their inconsistencies and constant regression with a passion until the end. I may highly disagree that they are in fact a purer form of anarchism. But in the end, if there is freedom they seek and if freedom from the state is anywhere in their belief system, they are some form of anarchism.

I find and identify what they want to be free from, then I offer them a solution from a different perspective. Far more effective than just writing them off with a degrading tone

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