Skeptic Project

Matt wrote:

If you're over the age of 18 and you still refer to yourself as anarchist, you're stupid. I don't care what the word means in a historical context because a historical context is not relevant when referring to yourself as an anarchist today. If you run around calling yourself an anarchist, you know damn well that people aren't making some mental connection to the romantic days of Italian anarchism or whatever. They're making a connection to idiots and zealots, and somehow that's their fault because you want to use a certain word to define yourself regardless of the implications of doing so.

First, I am not an anarchist. I do believe that governments are indeed needed, alas, to keep order and for various other purposes.

However, I certainly would not dismiss a political idea as "stupid" merely on the basis of its difficulties in appealing to Joe and Jill Sixpack at the present time.