The words Anarchy and Anarchism derive from the Greek, firstly the prefix 'an' meaning without, secondly 'archon' meaning ruler. Anarchy means the state of being without a ruler. Every person has the right to make all decisions about his or her own life. All moralistic meddling in the private affairs of freely acting persons is unjustified. All governments survive on theft and extortion, called taxation.
All governments force their decrees on the people, and command obedience under threat of punishment.
The principal outrages of history have been, and continue to be, committed by governments. On the other hand, every advancement of thought, every betterment in the human condition, has come about through the practices of voluntary co-operation and individual initiative. The origins of the word may be classical, but the anarchist impulse is older still. Anarchists are fond of seeing elements of their philosophy in the words of Lao Tzu, in the beliefs of Diogenes and the school of cynics. In social and historical terms Anarchism rears its head in parallel with the birth of the state and the emergence of political, social and economic oppression.