ABSTRACT
This chapter provides common positions under different labels more interesting and worthwhile than demarcation disputes. There is lively argument about centralisation on both left and right, but the notion of the total abolition of the State is rarely heard or debated. The chapter explores in more detail why so many of its proponents insisted over a long period on the abolition of the State as a major part of their philosophy. It argues that the way out of our problems is for all to think in more syncretistic, libertarian terms and thus to build alliances for change and discusses an advanced anarchist thinking without being anarchists. Socialism and conservatism are useful labels that cover a wide range of views – anarchism embraces even more divergent elements in a less coherent philosophy. For some, anarchism is indelibly associated with violence, often linked to the anarchist idea of ‘propaganda by the deed’ or ‘direct action’.
