The terminology problem seems to come down to an attempt to capture too many axes of difference in a single term. When we examine a sociopolitical system, we can characterize it by the classes (if any) on whose behalf the political means (coercion, violence, expropriation) are used. We can characterize it by the principles on which the society is broadly organized. We can characterize it by the economic mechanisms that predominate. These axes are not totally independent, but they are also not tightly enough correlated to let a very few terms suffice.
For instance, I have generally divided societies on the first basis -- the control of the political means of the state. Thus, anarchist (no political means), capitalist (holders of capital in control), socialist (representatives of "social interests" in control). But in each of these cases, plenty of social organizations and economic mechanisms could exist.
Unless we want to populate the whole three-dimensional space with technical terms that nobody will understand or remember (and I'll admit, it's tempting) we need to defer to the wider understanding of terms. And in the world outside of our rarified libertarian cloud, what prevails today in the US is capitalism and a voluntarily-organized society is anarchism. If those are the terms we have to work with -- and for the larger discourse, they are -- then I'm an unapologetic anarchist.
--G
by Grant Gould on February 4, 2005 at 4:44 PM