A. I never cease to be amazed and amused by the violent caricatures that dog the anarchist movement. When you examine the historical record, anarchists are angels when compared to other social movements. Violence is a by-word for religion, nationalism and racism. If you compare the limited violence committed by anarchists to the death and destruction that¹s caused by wars due to national, religious or racial differences, any violence committed by anarchists is insignificant when compared to the glorious record of the God, Queen and Country Brigade. So why are the stereotypes that anarchists are mindless violent thugs such a constant feature in popular literature and popular culture. The answer lies in the very principles that define anarchism. Anarchists want to break down hierarchies and rule themselves. Anarchist philosophy is a direct challenge to the idea that people need rulers to survive. Within our cultural, economic and religious context, people have a great deal of difficulty in believing that if you break down hierarchies that society won¹t disintegrate. The popular thinking is no rulers, no society, chaos. What¹s even more interesting is that at the very moment that human beings have access to knowledge, education and technology that makes hierarchies redundant, people are fighting to maintain the structures and institutions that limit their personal and social potential. The good thing is that more and more people are beginning to realise that rulers are an unnecessary imposition on people¹s aspirations and lives. Interestingly the decline of religion in western society (atheism is Australia¹s third largest ?religion¹) is one of those prerequisites that seems to be necessary to break down the stereotypes that continue to dog the anarchist movement. Through our aims, actions, activities, methods of organisation and planning, we can break down these enduring myths. Our position in Australian society is similar to the position of asylum seekers in this country, while asylum seekers are kept apart from the population they can be successfully de-humanised. Once contact increases, de-humanisation is difficult. As long as anarchists keep to themselves, they can be stereotyped. Once their presence begins to be felt in a community, they will be able to break down those stereotypes that have made them figures of fear and more importantly derision in most parts of the world. From http://www.ainfos.ca/ainfos12143.html