Anarchy, the Meaning and the Myth.

Anarchy, when you see or hear this word what springs to mind, chaos and disorder, well you couldn’t be more far from the truth!
The word “anarchy”has had it’s meaning bastardized over the decades and now it’s used as a common word for chaos and disorder.
Many politicians and media person’s alike use this word miles away from the true meaning of anarchy. So why is this, where has this other meaning come from?
I first discovered the word “anarchy” years ago when I was nine. I heard it being used as a lyric in a song called “Anarchy in the UK” by The Sex Pistols a UK punk band put together by the late Malcolm McLaren.

To me, when you read the lyrics it becomes clear that this band doesn’t know the meaning of anarchy either and I think this is where things started to go wrong for the true meaning of the word. Such lines like “Don’t know what I want, but I know how to get it, I want to the passerby” and “How many ways to get what you want, I use the best, I use the rest, I use the N.M.E., I use anarchy.”
In my view these lyrics distort the meaning completely. The Sex Pistols were a force to be reckoned with back then having taken the spotlight of the punk movement into the mainstream of television and radio but in an immature way. People now started associating this word with the punk scene and that all punks wanted was chaos and disorder but if you are a punk or know of the punk background you will find that this is miles away from their beliefs.
Punks, the real ones, are into peace, not chaos and disorder, though some may argue that we need chaos and disorder to get to peaceful times.

The varying use of this word by politicians and media to describe what is happening in the USA right now gives the general public a distorted meaning of a word. Why are politicians and media getting it so wrong! Do they like the sound of the word? Why do they use this word like this is anyone’s guess, they obviously have never used a dictionary to look up the true meaning.

How do words and their meanings get changed over time, is it because of the loose use of the English language in these modern times and if so why aren’t they pulled up on this! Even one of my most favorite YouTube political analysts used it in the wrong context a few days ago and I was
extremely disappointed for I thought they knew better.
So for those of you who think anarchy means chaos and disorder here are the definitions.
Anarchy is the state of a society being freely constituted without authorities or a governing body. … The word anarchy was first used in 1539, meaning “an absence of government”.

Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that rejects all involuntary, coercive forms of hierarchy. It calls for the abolition of the state which it holds to be undesirable, unnecessary and harmful.

Anarchism is a belief that society should have no government, laws, police, or any other authority. Having that belief is perfectly legal, and the majority of anarchists in the U.S. advocate change through non-violent, non-criminal means.

I’m still unsure why it used as a description for the current protesting, rioting and looting in the USA as many politicians and media representatives are calling it. Trump often states that these “anarchists” are creating chaos and disorder in the streets when in fact he and his team have continued to create this mess that was started by previous elected officials.

So before you are about to use this word, think about it, are you using it out of context?