What is Anarcho-communism?

"Anarchy" seems to have become a profanity, in the wake of Columbine, the recent Colorado shooting, the fires in France, and the misnaming of fascist-jihadists as anarchists. "Communism" often incites visions of Soviet Russia, strange Cold War-era research in top secret underground laboratories, nuclear winters, and, in some circles, space-pencils. However, despite common misconceptions about both of these terms (and there are quite a few of them abound), there is nothing inherently malicious or destructive about either of them.

Both the words "anarchy" and "communism" are only umbrella-terms covering a wide array of political, social, and economic philosophies. Anarchy is a perfectly valid idea, and some forms of both of them have been shown to result in more peace, productivity, and prosperity than almost any other form of government (or lack thereof) - even than, yes, democracy and capitalism.

Anarcho-communism is the intercept where the best of anarchism and the best of communism meet and merge. Anarcho-communism is a very old form of government, though the name for it is a fairly new development (some sources indicate as early as the 16th century). Anarcho-communism, is also known as anarchist communism, communist anarchism, libertarian communism, among other rarified terms.

The crux of anarcho-communism is that cooperation is better than competition, and equality throughout is better than hierarchy; that no one has the right to call anyone superior to anyone. Everyone shares what everyone works to produce. Things are given and traded instead of bought and sold. (If you're in the mood for some eye-opening expansion on this thought, Google 'gift economy' whenever you get the chance.) It's distinctly non-capitalist, but the idea is hauntingly familiar. You've heard it before. Certainly...it couldn't be what our founding fathers would've wanted?

Anarcho-communism is not just a hypothetical construct. It has been shown to work in various instances throughout the whole of world history. Early Quaker establishments in North America could easily be considered anarcho-communism: very loose or nonexistent government, the free sharing of accumulated resources, and a definite lack of buying and selling, favoring a gift-economy. Small Buddhist monk societies could be defined as anarcho-communist, detached as they are from material wealth.

A prime example of anarcho-communism at work is during the Spanish Civil War. Anarcho-communist Catalonia prospered by adopting anarcho-communism. Productivity markedly increased in all areas for the duration of its time as an anarcho-communist commune.

It's long been a dangerous thought that people could simply cooperate and even (much to the disdain of those in favor of large, powerful governments) manage themselves. Perhaps this is why, in the majority of situations in which anarcho-communist societies were toppled, it was done by the military force of capitalist countries, who then converted the anarcho-communist states to capitalist, instated large governments, and cut productivity in favor of taxes.