At the University of Michigan the week prior to the beginning of school is deemed by the student population as Welcome Week. During this time period anarchy ensues. This is no understatement either. There are typically parties on every street and with so many new students and everyone looking to have a great time, all of these houses are just overthrown by party-goers. People will walk into random houses that they would never typically think of going into in search of finding a free drink or a party. People will find ways to lie, cheat, and steal in order to gain entry into one of these parties. With this in mind, The College Answers presents a look at the best anarchies, some fictional, some not.
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome
The setting is that of desolate nuclear holocaust. Mad Max finds himself in Bartertown having to deal with the crazy anarchy and antics of an enemy called Master-Blaster. This foe is a two part problem for Max. Master is just a little guy, but is very smart and cunningly evil. He is protected by his bodyguard named Blaster who is a humongous beast of a man, if he is in fact a man. The way that disputes are settled in Bartertown are ridiculous to say the least. There is the Thunderdome which is literally a cage in which the two people will fight to the death. The one who remains alive has won the argument. The town crowds around the Thunderdome and chants, "two men enter, one man leaves." Another maniacal character in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome was Auntie played by Tina Turner. Her method to resolve issues is based on a spinning wheel called The Wheel of Fortune. If this isn't one of the greatest anarchies, I'm not sure what is. Roger Ebert called the Thunderdome "the first really original movie idea about how to stage a fight since we got the first karate movies" and praised the fight between Max and Blaster as "one of the great creative action scenes in the movies."
Somalia
According to CIA Factbook, Somalia is the most recent state to have no formal type of government. This anarchy sustained itself from 1991 until 2006. The reason that Somalia was in an anarchist state is due to the fall of Siad Barre's government. The anarchy was overthrown after the second battle of Mogadishu, which is the capital city of Somalia. No central warlord controlled the country. Rather, the country was divided into many different areas and regions where groups of warlords would reign over the people with power and devastation. The Islamic Courts Union eventually regained control of the country in 2006. This group controlled most of the southern portion of Somalia and decided to combine their forces to gain control of the entire country. Somalia remains to be one of the poorest countries in the entire world, apparently only reporting that 1.5% of the country has a telephone, but their ratio of inhabitants who live on more than $1 per day is better than some Western African countries. There is a great deal to be done in order to help Somalia still.
Escape From L.A.
After a devastating earthquake that measured 9.6 on the Richter scale, the city of Los Angeles becomes separated from the rest of mainland United States due to flooding of the San Fernando Valley. This created an Island from Malibu to Anaheim. Snake Plissken, the main character of the film, is sent to this island which has become a penal colony of sorts in order to bring the President's daughter back to America. People were sent to this island for crimes that they committed, as well as ridiculous new laws established by the lifetime President, which include smoking, drinking alcoholic beverages, eating red meat, owning firearms, profanity, and extramarital sex. The island has become run by a sinister warlord called Cuervo Jones. Snake is in search of a doomsday device which is capable of sending an electromagnetic pulse throughout the planet by typing in the code "666", which will render all electronics on the planet useless. This is unbelievably far fetched movie and a great setting for an anarchy. Amidst its action, there are so many times when you'll find yourself laughing at the insane oddities that are sprinkled all throughout this movie. Props to John Carpenter for creating an anarchy like this.
Argentina
The coupled effects of the fall of the Argentine government, the collapse of the economy, and riots led to the start of the anarchistic state in this South American country. As a result, the IMF demanded that social programs such as health and education be cut in order to become more privatized. People who work in factories typically don't have any sort of management or hierarchy that maintains the organization of the system. The way that these factories sustain themselves is through the support of external groups. They often take the form of neighborhood assemblies or unemployed groups, also referred to as piquetero. The citizens of Argentina use these assemblies to try and establish health care, collective food buying, or conducting free food distribution programs. As the economy begins to recover, these assemblies have slowly died down a little, but activism remains prevalent. The piqueteros have, over time, adopted a very radical left-wing attitude and are considered violent and disruptive now, adding to the chaos and anarchy that still exists in the country.
Though the beginning of school isn't truly anarchy, there really is a lot of chaos and uncertainty at the onset. It's a lot of fun being part of the ridiculous nature that is Welcome Week, but it can only last for a short while. In a short time, classes will begin and order will be restored. I suppose this mirrors real life in a lot of ways. College is a little bit more scheduled. Be smart. Be aware. Be the solution.
This post was originally written by Tyrone Schiff University of Michigan · Organizational Studies · 30 Aug 2007
