Within our society, anarchism always has been considered a violent social state when uprisings and riots pop up in cities around the world. It's been demonized by government officials and through pop culture by making people think anarchy means chaos. The Merriam-Webster definition of anarchy is "a utopian society of individuals who enjoy complete freedom without government." Other definitions are "an absence of government" or "a state of lawlessness or political disorder." It wasn't until one night not too long ago that I was able to discover something about anarchy within society and what it means to me.
All by watching ferrets play in a cage for thirty minutes at a Petco.
As ridiculous as it sounds (and I know it sounds ridiculous), it all makes sense in some sort of way.
One night, I was driving around with my friend Jenni in Lower Merion when I saw on a Facebook group chat that my friend George, who works at Petco, wanted to know if anyone wanted to play with any ferrets. Being the animal lover that I am, I answered within fifteen seconds of George sending the message by saying, "I'm on my way."
Once I arrived, I saw the ferret cage and that's when I got to realize how fun ferrets are; however, the thirty minutes I spent with the ferrets, they were fighting with each other the whole time. Scratching, biting, pushing each other over, they were having a blast!
I digress. See, there were seven ferrets in the cage, and they had all their needs: a little ferret hut, a food bowl, a water bottle attached to the wall of the cage, and a little litter box.
The seven ferrets represent a figurative anarchistic state within American society. Their playful fighting also shows the chaos in human nature and the constant violence and wars in recorded history.
By the time I arrived, the ferret hut was already knocked over. The hut represents the fallen infrastructure of our government that will be toppled by the masses.
Not too long after, they knock down the water bottle! How the water bottle worked was with gravity; if the nozzle where they get the water was pointed down, they could get the water, but if they nozzle was pointed up, they couldn't get any water. The knocked down water bottle stands as an example of how humanity is depleting our natural resources at a rapid pace.
Soon enough, the ferrets caught on to what they had done and how they couldn't get any water. Five of the seven ferrets all lay down next to water bottle and look extraordinarily sad about not being able to get a drink for about ten minutes. Eventually, George came and put the water bottle back up so they could get their water, hydrate, and continue fighting each other.
Going back to when the five ferrets were laying down next to the bottle though, this serves as an example of how once our natural resources are depleted, their will be a severe decrease in human population.
After further thought on the subject, anarchism is thought of as the collapse of society. In recorded history, there have been many societies that have collapsed after a state of anarchy. The people living during the state perish with survivors only to tell the tale of anarchy brought the downfall of society; but on top of the society that fell, more was able to be built and more was able to accomplish.
Once society collapses, survivors are eventually going to find their way to each other and will either kill each other or work together. The small group of survivors will begin to grow (depending on the aftermath of the downfall of society) and will turn into a new community, thus starting a new society to build upon the last.
The process of a society embracing anarchism would bring an end to it, but those who emerge from its ashes are a more advanced and intelligent people.
