History Main / AnarchyIsChaos

* Averted with the Creator/DCComics character ''ComicBook/{{Anarky}}'', who in one storyline is horrified to the point he gives up his plan when he is presented with reasonable evidence that anarchy ''will'' lead to chaos and will ultimately resurrect the very governments he is trying to oppose.

This trope can be used as an [[BombThrowingAnarchists anti-anarchism propaganda tool]] when played together with ChaosIsEvil. That's pretty much where it came from: those late 19th/early 20th century anarchists who ''did'' advocate and use violence generally did so because they didn't see any prospect of the existing system changing unless it was shaken out of its complacency. The mass media of the time had no interest in what the anarchists actually wanted (social change on a large scale), and were only interested in registering the outrage felt by much of civil society at the actions of the anarchists. And so, anarchism went from being a political philosophy like any other to a synonym for meaningless violence, because the people who associated anarchy with chaos were unable to understand why the anarchists were doing what they were doing.[[note]]If you're unable to understand why the anarchists were doing what they were doing, we recommend you do some reading in late 19th century and early 20th century labour history, so that you can find out just how god-awful working conditions were for most people.[[/note]]

* Subverted in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas''. Vault 21 was designed to have no authority figure, with the rules being that everything was decided through a gambling session. This Vault was actually one of the few that was opened up near-completely unscathed. Provided that having part of your home filled with concrete doesn't really count as a major problem.

* As hinted at in ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOpsII'' and elaborated on in the short story ''Rightful King'', ultimately [[BigBad Raul Menendez]] is an Anarchist in the traditional sense of the word; he's against both big government and big capitalism, with the motto of "less power, less problems". Ironically being a wealthy man himself [[{{Hypocrite}} he is part of the so called 1% that the 99% seeks to overthrow]], a good deal of his plan being funded by drug money. If the man does want change, It's certainly ''not'' change we can believe in.

* As hinted at in ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOps2'' and elaborated on in the short story ''Rightful King'', ultimately [[BigBad Raul Menendez]] is an Anarchist in the traditional sense of the word; he's against both big government and big capitalism, with the motto of "less power, less problems". Ironically being a wealthy man himself [[{{Hypocrite}} he is part of the so called 1% that the 99% seeks to overthrow]], a good deal of his plan being funded by drug money. If the man does want change, It's certainly ''not'' change we can believe in.

* The narrator of the SexPistols' most famous hit, "Anarchy in the U.K.", appears to hold no political affiliations, and desires nothing more than a chance to channel his baseless anger into mindless violence.

* Usually averted by actual anarchist musicians, including Music/DeadKennedys, Music/WolvesInTheThroneRoom, Music/{{Skagos}}, Music/{{Panopticon}}, Music/{{Motorhead}}, and Music/GodspeedYouBlackEmperor. (See UsefulNotes/PoliticalIdeologies for a more complete list).

* ''Big Head Press'' has featured several comic series. These depict fantasy civilizations Past, present and future largely using a capo-anarchist system. Scott Bieser is the writer for these series, and appears to partially advocate those systems. But they are all too silly to be taken seriously. So it is hardly a manifesto.

* In ''Series/SonsOfAnarchy'', the motorcycle club is actually very structured. They have a clear hierarchy of power and clearly defined branches of operations. They also have strict rules of operation which include not targeting women and children, protecting the town in which they operate, and looking out for underdogs who are brave enough to approach them. Anyone who disrespects the chain of command or breaks the rules of operation is subject to violent reprisals. The club itself tends to be chaotic but ordered. The founders believed not that there should be no rules, but rather that any group that was willing to leave the inherent protections offered by the government's system of rules was entitled to create and live under rules of their own creation.

* The Creator/LarryNiven story ''[[Literature/KnownSpace Cloak of Anarchy]]'' posits "anarchy parks" with just one rule: no violence (making them the anarcho-pacifist sort of anarchy). Any time a fight starts (or looks like it might start), floating robots stun all participants, who are then separated. They wake up a few hours later, and it's mentioned that the threat of losing part of your holiday is enough to keep most people in line. Then someone figures out how to make the robots break down, so "just one rule" (anarcho-pacifism) becomes "no rules", which pretty much fits the "chaos" definition. It's not pretty.

* {{Averted}} or even {{inverted}} in Literature/TheDispossessed by UrsulaKLeGuin. Much of the plot revolves around Shevek (the main character) fleeing his anarchist people because they've become ''too'' unchaotic, with an unofficial government firmly in charge.

* The period if you hold a revolution or your government falls in ''VideoGame/{{Civilization}}'' is called Anarchy. All civilization activity comes to a halt - no tax collection, no scientific research, no trade income, and (in most cases) no building. All you cities go to civil unrest, and it's generally a good way to open yourself up to being conquered.

In RealLife, this trope is usually averted. Many proponents of anarchy are actually quite high on the "idealistic" side of the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism; they genuinely believe that [[RousseauWasRight humans are good]], and so a society with no form of higher authority or official rules will become utopia, as all people will be able to communicate with and understand each other as individuals and will choose to be good. Most other anarchists are more cynical, and believe that anarchy is desirable ''because'' HumansAreFlawed - giving them power, these anarchists contend, simply makes matters ''more'' chaotic, and will inevitably lead to power abuse. This was the position of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (the first person to declare himself an anarchist, incidentally), who penned the phrase "[[InvertedTrope Anarchy Is Order]]." This is, by the way, the meaning of the circle A symbol you may have seen graffiti'd here and there (it's actually an "A" inside an "O"). More information can be found in our UsefulNotes on UsefulNotes/{{anarchism}}.

* In the webcomic series ''Webcomic/{{SSDD}}'', the part of the timeline set in the future features (among other super-governments) the Anarchist Collective, which sort of [[ZigZaggedTrope goes back and forth]]. Officially, there are only two laws, "do not profit at the expense of another anarchist" (which can be interpreted to cover anything from scams to murder), and "there are no other laws". The officials in charge are referred to as "Advisers" who don't put out laws so much as "suggestions"; you can technically break them without any sort of official penalty, but since the only difference between local police, angry crowd and lynch mob is how organized they are... the Collective does have a rather [[BloodKnight intimidating]] military, not to mention a [[KillSat secret weapon]], though.
** There's also a reference to "true anarchists" who live in the wasteland between cities, taking potshots at passing vehicles.

In RealLife, this trope is usually averted. Many proponents of anarchy are actually quite high on the "idealistic" side of the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism; [[WideEyedIdealist they genuinely believe that humans are good, and so a society with no form of higher authority or official rules will become utopia, as all people will be able to communicate with and understand each other as individuals and will choose to be good]]. Most other anarchists are more cynical, and believe that anarchy is desirable ''because'' HumansAreFlawed - giving them power, these anarchists contend, simply makes matters ''more'' chaotic, and will inevitably lead to power abuse. This was the position of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (the first person to declare himself an anarchist, incidentally), who penned the phrase "[[InvertedTrope Anarchy Is Order]]." This is, by the way, the meaning of the circle A symbol you may have seen graffiti'd here and there (it's actually an "A" inside an "O"). More information can be found in our UsefulNotes on [[UsefulNotes/{{Anarchism}} anarchism]].

In short, real-life anarchists tend to be about cooperation and mutual respect, and very much tend ''not'' to be about unleashing [[HumansAreBastards the natural savage instincts of humanity]] so that [[MightMakesRight the weak will become fodder for the strong]] (supposedly in the belief that either ''[[OriginalPositionFallacy they]]'' [[OriginalPositionFallacy will be among the "strong",]] or that that'd still be ''better'' than the existing system, or that the sooner humanity goes extinct the better off it will be). A person who thinks like that will probably not become an anarchist in the first place (unless that person is a MisanthropeSupreme).

A virtually ubiquitous trope, both in fiction and RealLife, is the misconception that anarchists have no beliefs, that [[TitleDrop anarchy is chaos.]] While anarchy and chaos are not mutually exclusive (chaos is anarchic, although it often devolves into despotism, but anarchy is not necessarily chaotic) such an un-mindset is properly called [[StrawNihilist nihilism, the belief in nothing]]. However, the actual definition of Anarchism is ''the belief that rulership should not exist'' (as indicated in its Greek roots, an- [no] -arkhos [ruler]). There is much division on the extent and nature of rulership, and what it means. Regardless of this division, ''in fiction'', Anarchists (of any stripe) are often accused of [[ChaoticStupid favoring a Hobbesian-style war of all against all]].

* Inverted and subverted in ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia''- abandoning the Empire and joining or forming a guild are presented with all the trappings of anarchy (everyone lives according to their own laws, don't have to join a guild if they want to make their own one-man guild, don't have to appoint a leader, and the only "authority" had is presented as people following directions out of admiration or respect rather than because they are an authority figure. The Five "Master" Guilds are just be the five largest or most productive guilds and have no authority over other guilds, and even the Don doesn't seem to have any official authority- he's someone everyone respects and obeys out of that, but it's also stated that he's just another guild member if not one with a lot of supporters), but the Guilds are the Order to the Empire's Chaos. The guilds are also constantly presented as being in the right.

* in WesternAnimation/AdventureTime the brief moment when the goblins don't have a King turns into this.

* Averted by the Ma-non in ''VideoGame/XenobladeChroniclesX'', who are a truly anarchist society, with no ruling body or centralized decision-making process whatsoever. They have just come to the collective realization that action which benefit the whole ultimately advance themselves too, and highly value equivalent exchange in their dealings. There are a handful of Ma-Non who exploit their own system to get ahead, but they're also aware that every race has a few bad eggs.

* Averted by the Ma-Non in ''VideoGame/XenobladeChroniclesX'', who are a truly anarchist society, with no ruling body or centralized decision-making process whatsoever. They have just come to the collective realization that action which benefit the whole ultimately advance themselves too, and highly value equivalent exchange in their dealings. There are a handful of Ma-Non who exploit their own system to get ahead, but they're also aware that every race has a few bad eggs.

This trope can be used as an [[BombThrowingAnarchists anti-anarchism propaganda tool]] when played together with ChaosIsEvil. That's pretty much where it came from: those late 19th/early 20th century anarchists who ''did'' advocate and use violence generally did so because they didn't see any prospect of the existing system changing unless it was shaken out of its complacency. The mass media of the time had no interest in what the anarchists actually wanted (social change on a large scale), and were only interested in registering the outrage felt by much of civil society at the actions of the anarchists, and so anarchism went from being a political philosophy like any other, to a synonym for meaningless violence.

This trope can be used as an [[BombThrowingAnarchists anti-anarchism propaganda tool]] when played together with ChaosIsEvil.

In RealLife, this trope is usually averted. Some proponents of anarchy are actually quite high on the "idealistic" side of the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism; [[WideEyedIdealist they genuinely believe that humans are good, and so a society with no form of higher authority or official rules will become utopia, as all people will be able to communicate with and understand each other as individuals and will choose to be good]]. Most other anarchists are more cynical, and believe that anarchy is desirable ''because'' HumansAreFlawed - giving them power, these anarchists contend, simply makes matters ''more'' chaotic, and will inevitably lead to power abuse. This was the position of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (the first person to declare himself an anarchist, incidentally), who penned the phrase "[[InvertedTrope Anarchy Is Order]]." This is, by the way, the meaning of the circle A symbol you may have seen graffiti'd here and there (it's actually an "A" inside an "O"). More information can be found in our UsefulNotes on [[UsefulNotes/{{Anarchism}} anarchism]].

In short, the anarchist who promotes anarchy while actually believing that this will result in [[HumansAreBastards the natural savage instincts of humanity]] leading to a society where [[MightMakesRight the weak are fodder for the strong]], and yet continues to do so because they believe that either ''[[OriginalPositionFallacy they]]'' [[OriginalPositionFallacy will be among the "strong",]] or else such a dire scenario is still ''better'' than the existent system, or that the sooner humanity goes extinct the better off it will be -- is pretty much a creation of media. Basically, a person who actually thinks anarchy will lead to chaos will probably not become an anarchist in the first place (unless that person is a MisanthropeSupreme).