Read 19th century anarchist writers like Pierre Joseph Proudhon, Peter Kropotkin[1] X Research source (The Conquest of Bread), Daniel De Leon[2] X Research source , Mikhail Bakunin[3] X Research source (God and the State), Alexander Berkman (The ABC of Communist-Anarchism), Josiah Warren and Benjamin Tucker. Read 20th century writers such as Emma Goldman[4] X Research source (Anarchism and other Essays), Errico Malatesta (Anarchy), Alfredo Bonanno, Bob Black, (The Abolition of Work), Wolfi Landstreicher (Willful Disobedience), John Zerzan, Murray Bookchin, Crimethinc. Ex-Workers Collective (Recipes for Disaster), Daniel Guerin (Anarchism: From Theory to Practice, No Gods No Masters: An Anthology of Anarchism), Rudolf Rocker (Anarcho-Syndicalism: Theory and Practice), Colin Ward (Anarchism: A Very Short Introduction), Noam Chomsky (Chomsky on Anarchism).
The original “black flag” symbol emerged in the 1880s. Over one hundred years later, the circle “A” symbol became the predominant anarchist symbol. Others exist as well. [8] X Research source
Understand the arguments for government control, law and order. Know that statism is founded on the idea that human beings cannot effectively organize themselves on an egalitarian basis. They need a centralized state to defend against totalitarian governments, to police the populace to handle violence, gangs, and more generally to have law and morality and the systems of currency/money, trade and commerce/the economy in order to avoid war at international, national, state and local government levels, and group and individual conflict.
Think about your own relationships. Do you have equal relationships with your friends, family members, loved ones, and co-workers? If you have power over them and they have not consented to it, find a way to remedy the situation. Talk to them about your anarchist beliefs. Let them be. Explain that you wish to create an egalitarian relationship.
Do you think that the government is too powerful? Do you think that the government intrudes on your life too much? Think about the steps you can take to reduce the government’s presence in your own life. You can move to a new country where the government is less intrusive. You can go off the grid and evade the law. Or you can protest. See the following section. Many anarchists turn to atheism because they dislike the hierarchical structure of the church. Others choose to remain in their respective religions but reject this structure in favor of individual or small group meetings for worship. [9] X Research source Some anarchists, particularly communists, collectivists, mutualists, and syndicalists, have a real problem working for corporations with several levels of managers. If this is you, consider quitting your job, unionizing and/or starting your own sole proprietorship type of business. Some even turn to collective farming.
Assist those who are unfairly treated by the “system”. Promote choosing and being dedicated to working in related career areas to build knowledge, experience and skills to get promotions. For example, help promote rights to equal wages in a chosen career, help promote racial diversity. Challenge these opportunities and what they offer to society.
To the extreme, others who proclaim the complete fracture of governing framework, and use anarchy (such as extreme libertarianism) to take the opportunity to convince people to believe they can use their “liberty” to remove many drug laws. They can avoid family-structure/marriage, parenthood, child-raising/supervision of children and much of traditional government/policing. So, instead, a community, much like a cult, would take responsibility for children in a communal “orphanage” as wards/foster children of the “community”/local arm of the state for life.
You will probably have to make a lot of cold calls, put up flyers, and set up booths at local events in order to gain people’s attention. If you truly believe in spreading your philosophy, these are all necessary actions.
In our social media age, you can find other people with similar interests easily. Search your social media platforms (Facebook, Reddit, 4chan, 8chan, YouTube, Google+, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, Vine, Steam. . . . etc. ) for other like minded individuals. You can also help organize protests and other anarchist activities through social media. This is a great way to get free exposure for your movement.
