History Main / AnarchyIsChaos

* Played with in ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra''. The villain Zaheer believes in a philosophy that is like anarchism. He sees that people will never be truly free until all governments have been brought down. When confronted with the fact that this would lead to chaos, he is okay with that since he sees the natural order as disorder. He goes back and forth between [[VillainHasAPoint having a good point]] about what bad leaders (like the thoroughly horrible [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Earth Queen]], the [[ObstructiveBureaucrat incompetent President Raiko]], and [[EvilOverlord Fire Lord Ozai and his predecessors]]) have caused and basically saying "yes, it would be total chaos, and that would rock!" In the end, while not one tear was shed when he [[spoiler: airbended the oxygen away from the Earth Queen, suffocating her to death, the extensive riots and looting that grip Ba Sing Se immediately after her assassination prove that, yes, eliminating a leader like that will indeed plunge a kingdom into chaos. The subsequent Book shows a brutal dictator acting to repair the damage caused, making Zaheer feel incredibly guilty about what he'd done.]]

* {{Averted}} or even {{inverted}} in ''Literature/TheDispossessed'' by Creator/UrsulaKLeGuin. Anarres is an anarcho-syndicalist society, and the closest thing they have to a government is the bureaucracy that manages job postings, but their society is peaceful and unchaotic. Much of the plot revolves around Shevek (the main character) fleeing his anarchist people because they've become ''too'' unchaotic, venerating the ideals of their founder as dogma and treating anything that diverges from those ideals as a threat, even something as innocuous as a new style of orchestra music. The anarchists, ironically, have become conformists.

* {{Averted}} or even {{inverted}} in ''Literature/TheDispossessed'' by Creator/UrsulaKLeGuin. Anarres is an anarcho-syndicalist society, and the closest thing they have to a government is the bureaucracy that manages job postings, but their society is peaceful and unchaotic. Much of the plot revolves around Shevek (the main character) fleeing his anarchist people because they've become ''too'' unchaotic, venerating the ideals of their founder as dogma and treating anything that diverges from those ideals as a threat. The anarchists, ironically, have become conformists.

* {{Averted}} or even {{inverted}} in ''Literature/TheDispossessed'' by Creator/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.

[[caption-width-right:350:Join the anarchists get a free hoodie and DIY Molotov cocktail set!]]

* In the Sonic comics the equivalent to the Chaos Emeralds in the MirrorUniverse Scourge comes from are called "Anarchy Beryl". They are more abundant but relatively weaker than chaos emeralds, because unlike in Sonic's Universe, they were never all gathered and fused together.

* As pointed out in the page quote, ''ComicBook/VForVendetta'' is actually a subversion or inversion, pointing out that "mindless chaos" and "anarchy as a social system" are not, in fact, the same thing. Unfortunately, the peoples' reactions at the end of the comic (and those of [[MisaimedFandom many readers]] as well) demonstrate that not everyone realizes this.

* ''Film/XXx'': The antagonists are former Russian intelligence agents turned anarchist terrorists called Anarchy 99, ([[ShapedLikeItself due to leaving their government's service in 1999 and advocating anarchy]]) who want to incite war between different countries by a FalseFlagOperation, creating chaos-ForTheEvulz, apparently.

* Ricky's children in ''Film/TalladegaNightsTheBalladOfRickyBobby'' appear to hold this view, despite one of them admitting to not knowing what the word means. (And anyway, [[PokeThePoodle the worst thing they do is aim a garden hose through a neighbor's window and spray him in the face]].)
* Intentionally averted in ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail'', where King Arthur comes across an anarcho-syndicalist commune of literal mud farmers. They are decidedly non-violent, particularly when compared to Arthur himself, but also extremely irritating, screaming [[PoliceBrutality "Help! Help! I'm being repressed!"]] when Arthur grabs one of them in annoyance, yelling at him to shut up.

* {{Zigzagged}} in ''Film/NoGodNoMaster'', centering around the investigation of the 1919 Anarchist Bombings, which ([[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin as the name implies]]) were the work of Luigi Galleani and his anarchist followers. On the other hand, it makes very clear that other anarchists did not advocate these actions. In the end, it did nothing for the anarchists but get many thousands of them (violent or not) deported.

* ''VideoGame/{{Elite}}'' features star systems with different government classifications, one of which is Anarchy. Anarchic systems tend to be the most infested with SpacePirates out of all of them. These systems can be very profitable to bounty hunters, as most ships will be wanted ''somewhere'', and the Kill Warrant Scanner is built precisely to detect where. ''Videogame/EliteDangerous'' makes it clear that 'Anarchist' factions are more like mobs, cartels, and pirates than actual anarchists.

* Averted in ''VideoGame/ShadowrunReturns: Dragonfall''. The game is set in the Flux State -- an anarchic future Berlin. Although the city has been divided into numerous ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiez Kieze]]'' that are local communes at best and many people live in [=SINless=] poverty with an uncertain future, there's no complete breakdown of law and order with gangs of criminals ruling the streets. The game takes time to explore several facets of anarchist philosophy, and [[TheMessiah Monica]] or an overly altruistic player may even be criticized by Lucky Strike for making everyone dependent on you and thus becoming a 'ruler' to your Kiez.

* The Data Angels of ''VideoGame/SidMeiersAlphaCentauri'' have all the trappings of an anarchist society, and while the decentralised society isn't constantly fighting itself, it ''does'' take a hefty penalty to Police so if things start going wrong, it's much harder to keep the people in control.
** The Nautilus Pirates might be considered a downplayed example. Their society is a violent trainwreck of individualistic captains butting heads, but it functions... just very badly, taking hefty penalties to efficiency due to the lack of long-term planning.
* 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 cities go to civil unrest, and it's generally a good way to open yourself up to being conquered.

* The ''VideoGame/FallenLondon'' universe and its spin-offs plays a bit with this trope:
** The Calendar Council and the Liberation of Night are anarchists, seeking to overthrow worldly governments and [[spoiler:the destruction of the Judgements to free existence from their unjust Natural Law]]. It's uncertain exactly what, if anything, their ideal society would look like, but both clearly want an end-state that is more than simply all against all. The Calendar Council also has a kind of hierarchy with leaders, but one based more on veterancy and merit than the societies they fight against.
** The Iron Republic in ''Fallen London'' and ''VideoGame/SunlessSea'' is a republic free of laws -- ''all'' laws -- [[RealityIsOutToLunch where the rules of reality are decided by consensus]], and things not everyone agrees on tend to act as they please. What, if any, ruling system the Republic has beyond mob rule is unknown, but calling the result 'chaotic' would be a major understatement.
** Eleutheria in ''VideoGame/SunlessSkies'' is more restrained: [[spoiler:As a result of The Halved, [[RealityIsOutToLunch the normal laws of the Judgements do not hold sway there]]]], and the region's major port of Pan is anarchic and divided between several factions [[spoiler:who cannot survive the Judgements' lights elsewhere]], with an AuthorityInNameOnly being the chief negotiator whenever the parliament of Pan cannot decide things among themselves. Despite this Pan has a functioning society, and it is possible for a sky captain to safely retire there with no major issue.
* ''VideoGame/TheNewOrderLastDaysOfEurope'' zig-zags this.
** Played straight by the world during [[NonstandardGameOver thermonuclear war]]. The map slowly turns black as the bombs fall, representing the downfall of law, order, and civilization in the face of nuclear apocalypse.
** Downplayed by Orenburg. While the anarchic communes around Orenburg can maintain organization on the village level, they have a hard time communicating with each other and the city and resist any attempts of centralization, which makes them vulnerable to external threats, such as Dirlewanger's bandits and Lysenko's minions.
** Defied by the Siberian Black Army, who are practically Anarchy Is ''Order''. Not only are their communes much more organized, they are also quite militaristic, with the army being a major component of the communities. It's to the point where some are beginning to fear a possible military takeover and the end of anarchism. [[spoiler:Their worst fears are realized if Ivan Stepanov succeeds in his MilitaryCoup, replacing the Libertarian Socialist Siberian Soviet with the Despotist Siberian Security Council and making the Free Territory anarchist InNameOnly.]]

* ''Podcast/ItCouldHappenHere'': Both played straight and....averted. While the fall of the US government results in large amounts of chaos in the land, Evans also details how chaos wouldn't necessarily come with a pull out of the US government. He also cites a real-life event during Hurricane Katrina where relief workers were expecting chaos, but ended up finding very little violence and destruction save for the hurricane. The narration details [[SecondPersonNarration your city being abandoned by the US government]], and life becoming....semi-normal afterwards. Until the Dominionist forces show up of course.

** Defied by the Siberian Black Army, who are practically Anarchy Is ''Order''. Not only are they much more militarized, their communes are also more organized. It's to the point where some are beginning to fear a possible military takeover and the end of anarchism. [[spoiler:Their worst fears are realized if Ivan Stepanov succeeds in his MilitaryCoup, turning the Libertarian Socialist Black Army into the junta-ruled, Despotist Siberian Protection Committee.]]

* Downplayed by Orenburg in ''VideoGame/TheNewOrderLastDaysOfEurope''. While the anarchic communes around Orenburg can maintain organization on the village level, they have a hard time communicating with each other and the city and resist any attempts of centralization, which makes them vulnerable to external threats, such as Dirlewanger's bandits and Lysenko's minions.
** Defied by the Siberian Black Army, who are practically Anarchy Is ''Order''. Not only are they much more militarized, their communes are also more organized.

A virtually ubiquitous trope, both in fiction and RealLife, is the misconception that anarchists have no beliefs, that 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]].

This trope can be used as an [[BombThrowingAnarchists anti-anarchist 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 labor history, so that you can find out just how god-awful working conditions were for most people.[[/note]]

This trope is rare/more likely to be averted in Spanish works since a substantial minority of the population formed a highly regarded anarchist system during the UsefulNotes/SpanishCivilWar. Some of them are still living and anarchist organizations are slightly more mainstream than in most countries. They ''are'' still a political minority, though.

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, on social anarchism, can be found in our UsefulNotes on UsefulNotes/{{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).

* The science fiction novella ''Anarchaos'' by Donald E. Westlake plays this trope utterly straight, as the title would imply. He posits a world entirely colonized by anarchists, which breaks down within a single generation into, well, [[ShapedLikeItself chaos]] (in the story the world is named Anarchaos ''by the anarchists themselves'', which seems unlikely). Overall it comes off as Westlake having a dislike of anarchism that he's trying to get out with an AuthorTract, but [[TropesAreNotBad despite that it's a good story]].

** Eleutheria in ''VideoGame/SunlessSkies'' is more restrained: [[spoiler:As a result of The Halved, [[RealityIsOutToLunch the normal laws of the Judgements do not hold sway there]]]], and the region's major port of Pan is anarchic and divided between several factions who cannot survive the Judgements' lights elsewhere, with an AuthorityInNameOnly being the chief negotiator whenever the parliament of Pan cannot decide things among themselves. Despite this Pan has a functioning society, and it is possible for a sky captain to safely retire there with no major issue.

** Eleutheria in ''VideoGame/SunlessSkies'' is more restrained: As a result of The Halved, [[RealityIsOutToLunch the normal laws of the Judgements do not hold sway there]], and the region's major port of Pan is anarchic and divided between several factions who cannot survive the Judgements' lights elsewhere, with an AuthorityInNameOnly being the chief negotiator whenever the parliament of Pan cannot decide things among themselves. Despite this Pan has a functioning society, and it is possible for a sky captain to safely retire there with no major issue.

** The Iron Republic in ''Fallen London'' and ''VideoGame/SunlessSeas'' is a republic free of laws -- ''all'' laws -- [[RealityIsOutToLunch where the rules of reality are decided by consensus]], and things not everyone agrees on tend to act as they please. What, if any, ruling system the Republic has beyond mob rule is unknown, but calling the result 'chaotic' would be a major understatement.

** There is also a nicely subtle takedown of Zaheer's philosophy in the way he is defeated. While Zaheer believes that airbenders should abandon their attachments in favor of true freedom, which [[spoiler: grants him the power of flight, he is defeated by the new Air Nation as they act in a coordinated fashion to create a tornado.

->'''Evey:''' All this riot and uproar, V... is this Anarchy? Is this the Land of Do-As-You-Please?
->'''V:''' No. This is only the land of take-what-you-want. Anarchy means 'without leaders', not 'without order'. With anarchy comes an age of ordnung, of true order, which is to say voluntary order... this age of ordnung will begin when the mad and incoherent cycle of verwirrung that these bulletins reveal has run its course... This is not anarchy, Evey. This is chaos.

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]

* ''Literature/TheManWhoWasThursday'': The anarchist organization in the book takes this position. It's pointed out that there's a difference between the revolutionary who throws a bomb to kill a king, and the "anarchist" who throws a bomb to kill ''anybody''. [[spoiler: However, all of them turned out not to be anarchists in the end]].
* As far back as the Book of Judges in Literature/TheBible, we have this quote: "In those days Israel had no king. Everyone did as he pleased."
* The Creator/LarryNiven story "Literature/CloakOfAnarchy" 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.
* The science fiction novella ''Anarchaos'' by Donald E. Westlake plays this trope utterly straight, as the title would imply. He posits a world entirely colonized by anarchists, which breaks down within a single generation into, well, [[ShapedLikeItself chaos]] (in the story the world is named Anarchaos ''by the anarchists themselves'', which seems unlikely). Overall it comes off as Westlake having a dislike of anarchism that he's trying to get out with an AuthorTract, but [[TropesAreNotBad despite that it's a good story]].
* {{Averted}} or even {{inverted}} in ''Literature/TheDispossessed'' by Creator/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.

* Also averted or inverted in Literature/TheIlluminatusTrilogy.
* In ''Literature/ThePrideOfParahumans'', Vesta was intended as a peaceful anarchy after independence, but things broke down as the life support infrastructure began to fail and homicide rates skyrocketed until the Protectors' Guilds restored order. [[spoiler: Making it more like feudalism.]]
* Averted in S. Andrew Swann's ''Literature/HostileTakeoverSwann'' trilogy, set on Bakunin, a world of anarcho-socialists (although the hero is more of an anarcho-capitalist) under threat by the imperialistic Confederation.
* In ''Literature/TheWitchlands'', according to the [[AllThereInTheManual supplementary material]], the Republic of Arithuania became the Former Republic of Arithuania because its leaders allowed too much freedom, leading to anarchy and the country disintegrating.

[[folder:Live Action Television]]

* 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 have chaotic results but their planning is shown to premeditated and ordered and all actions have to be brought to a club vote where majority rules. 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.
* ''Series/BlackMirror'': Actually {{Subverted}} in "The Waldo Moment". The idea behind the neutral Waldo party is that it stands for nothing but a cynical "fuck everything" stance to political discourse, and that Waldo is merely a figurehead. In a parliament with no political authority, ''[[DemocracyIsBad public vote alone determines law]]''. As a result, the deepest darkest aspects of human nature quickly rise to the top and society quickly degrades into a barking mad, badly-run totalitarian society. All for a foul-mouthed cartoon bear.

--> ''I am an anarchist''
--> ''Don't know what I want''
--> ''But I know how to get it''
--> ''I wanna destroy passersby''
--> ''Is this the M.P.L.A?''
--> ''Or is this the U.D.A.?''
--> ''Or is this the I.R.A.?''
--> ''I thought it was the U.K.!''

* Anarchy Championship Wrestling is an army of talent and gifted artists working together to create art out of chaos and passion.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* Averted in ''TabletopGame/EclipsePhase''. Posthuman Studios happens to be run by socially progressive transhumanist Anarchists, who put a lot of their politics into the setting, and so the politically anarchist sections of the Solar System (the outer system, mainly) are portrayed a lot more sympathetically than [[PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny the fascist Jovian Republic]] or the MegaCorp-dominated inner system.

[[folder:Toys]]
* ''STOP vs SCUM'': The [=SCUMs=] ([[FunWithAcronyms Special Coalition Urban Militia]]) attempt to create global anarchy in a [[AfterTheEnd post-apocalyptic world]]. As the back cover puts it: "city by city they slice through urban lands, stealing and profiting from the chaos and terror they bring".

[[folder:VideoGames]]

[[folder:WebOriginal]]

[[folder:WesternAnimation]]

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

* 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 (because one guy was BornLucky, beat ''everyone'' at Blackjack, bought the vault and didn't want people tunneling into it) doesn't really count as a major problem.