Consequently, it is also a social philosophy which opposes every intrusion of the principle of authority into relations between people. The ability of every individual to utilise their inborn capacities for critical, logical and rational thought is the foundation of their self- awareness. Those who do not think do not live in the proper sense, although they might walk, talk, eat, drink, breathe, go to the toilet, as well as a million other things. This is because it is possible to be physically alive as well as spiritually dead at the same time. To live means to participate in life, means to have some impact on the surrounding environment.
Anarchists believe that no individual has the right to issue orders to another.
Capitalism is the system whereby some monoplise social wealth, thus impoverishing the majority and making them dependant on them for survival. Respect for the law being maintained by means of state violence, through the police the army, and so on, the state thus becomes a mechanism of social control, a mechanism for oppression the people for the benefit of the rich. In a nutshell, Anarchists view the state as a institionalised, coordinated, systematic apparatus of terrorism, directed against those who threaten the social privileges of the rich and powerful. Any good that the state does, such as protecting society against mad people, is only done in order to retain a monopoly over authority. In the place of capitalism and the state, anarchists desire a social system that would ensure social freedom and material equality.