Anarchy is often associated with chaos, but not necessarily assimilates chaos. In my opinion it’s simply that there is no official party to control, direct or enforce the masses. And from what I’ve seen in the recent events, I’d like to refer to the Anarchy moments as “spontaneous” and “unrestrained” instead of chaos.
Our media loved to point out the disadvantages and contradictions of what was happening in the pearl roundabout and made it clear that it was externally motivated, in fact, all forms of media that are politically motivated love to distort the different types of systems that can oppose danger or change to theirs.
While in reality or at least in my opinion, anarchism is a theory of organization, we were raised and educated to believe that the only way to get things done is using a form of top-down system, whether it was a boss in the workplace or a politician running the government. But when you look at it from outside this scope, say in your day to day interactions with friends or relatives, you’ll find that you do not use a specific system to govern your actions.
There is no right or specific form of Anarchism, and this is why I prefer to refer to it as spontaneous, but all are common in coming from within the desire of avoiding the top-down system and getting things done.
The moments I referred to earlier are those which happened in the Pearl roundabout and we all witnessed and lived, from the night of the 13th of February when no one thought something would happen or they would be able to reach the roundabout, till a spontaneous moment where a big group did indeed head to the roundabout, and in less than two days the place turned into its own city, not governed by any form of authority. How did that happen?
This was a clear example of the none chaotic Anarchism; where a group of people you have never met and do not know personally, turned into one homogeneous community from different cultures and sects. Everyone felt as important to this community as their counterpart, where each had his part and duties with no one to enforce what they are supposed to do. Where each individual voluntarily provides his services in the field he finds himself useful in. Different people find different parts to contribute in without the need for someone to give them the orders to do it, where people were divided into groups to clean the camp, those who can cook started cooking for the masses, those who are able to educate started to lecture despite their different backgrounds and views, groups started forming of volunteers to protect those inside the pearl and keep a watch from outside dangers. That was a form of none governance in the pearl that did not lead to chaos, instead individuals agreed upon a basic detailed programme and a common thread between a number of projects to be achieved at that spontaneous moment and got it done.
Another fine example was the Salmaniya Medical Center “SMC”, where again at a spontaneous moment in result of what the doctors saw and went through lead it to be a gathering point for them and the masses that were in the pearl. Some may refer to that action as a terrorist action that pushed it into chaos. But for those who lived it or truly did visit the medical center will have a contrary opinion about what the media spread. The SMC was functioning with all its resources to provide their day to day services by the staff and doctors, with addition of treating those who got shot. They were put in a rare new situation where they had to take immediate action in cases they never imagined to be put in. Yet they pulled through it. Such display of human sympathy towards the protesters couldn’t be faked or thought of, it comes spontaneously from within when put face to face with such situation. The hierarchical system did not work in the SMC case, where orders were given not to treat or interact with protesters were ignored and exposed leading to the removal of the Minister at that time.
The same goes to the Pearl, where the hierarchical scheme did not find its way in this anarchist moment that ignited the sense of initiative and creativity in the masses and forced them to behave and struggle for the best of all, where Hierarchism encourages the conduct of self-help as everyone fights for his own for a delusion of promotion to a higher step in the hierarchy. And all those who tried to fool the masses with rhetoric speeches were exposed and ignored or sided.
In my opinion, The only way to shape the behavior of man and restrict his actions is enforcing law. Law, which contains constitutions, regulations and rules, It’s the tool that is used by the powerful to keep the weak under control. While anarchism makes man think and act by his own will and under his only resulted thoughts, where hierarchy rules by the delusion that people need to be observed, directed and restrained.
Anarchism as we have seen and lived, surfaced the relation of pure “love” between different groups of the community, genders, ages and social backgrounds, where Hierarchy is based on mere “fear”.
That anarchist moment brought out the energy and enthusiasm in pursuit of dignity and the taste of freedom. It clearly brought up the humans casual translation to natures law. Rather than to going to the bottom of any given idea and examine into its origin and meaning. Such free display of human energy being possible only under complete individual and social freedom. People felt their freedom in an anarchic milieu, they should insist on keeping the public realm a space for freedom, expression, and respect, where no body is confronted with repression nor nuisance.
By all means, I didn’t go through a specific type of Anarchism, but a simple manner I tried to show is its sensible impact on the Bahraini upheaval. We did not see the regime as a tool, but as an instrument of oppression. It urged man to think, to investigate, to analyze every proposition, break the chains of fear and then act upon it.