Anarchy is a political structure where there’s basically no one in charge, right? But wouldn’t that just create a power vacuum that would filled by organized crime, corporations, etc.? Then, after that power vacuum is filled, we’re right back at square one, and someone is in charge.
Are there any political theorists that have come up with a solution to this problem?
Taking the definition at its etymological root, all anarchy means is “without rule”.
In my head-canon, that doesn’t necessarily mean the lack of laws, state, institutions or governance; the implication is that there are no citizens or individuals with permanently elevated authority in the polity of government. Without rulers.
Many, of course, disagree with this mostly on the basis of practicality, but I’d like to think it’s another way to describe the concept of “No gods, no kings, no masters, no slaves.”
But then there’s the issue of who enforces the rules
all of us, that’s what culture is. There are so so many things we only do because we’re brought up to consider it normal, a popular example being how you put back the shopping cart.
No one is going to punish you for just leaving it wherever, hell you could bring it home and it’s almost certain no one would really even care much about it, but yet most people put the cart back simply because it’s the right thing to do and we’d get a very strange and uncomfortable feeling in our stomachs if we didn’t.