When I first went into this project, I tried to have an open mind towards the ideology. I have heard the criticisms towards anarcho-communism for being too idealistic, even childish, yet they always lacked actually proof other than "my ideology is better!". As such, I was excited to finally get to know more about anarchist communism and anarchism in general and form my own opinion. Despite thinking that I went in with no judgement or pre-determined idea of the ideology, I was surprised to find just how much I knew about it was wrong, or at the very least inaccurate. Such was for example my idea of how an anarchist communist society would look like. Previously, I thought that any type of anarchism implied a complete lack of structure, as part of the complete lack of hierarchy. However, I was surprised to find that structure still remained within a theoretical anarchist communist society and that only hierarchy would be abolished. Some surprises were more personal. I was delighted to find out that Kropotkin was not only a theoretician but also a renowed scientist. I was even more delighted to find out that he had incorporated that aspect of himself in his ideological writings. In researching his books, I found myself agreeing with a lot of the ideas he put forward, especially in regards to his book, Mutual aid: A Factor of Evolution. I have long believed that social Darwinism is wrong and cooperation is the key to survival, so I was happy to find this embeded into the ideology. Other pre-conceptions I had were proven right. Such was the presence of violent groups and the often violent causes for the emergence of anarcho-communism.
Now that I have done more research into the ideology, although I consider it surface level, I feel confident in giving my opinion on it. I protest the dismissal of anarchist communism as an impossible idealistic view of the world that can never become true and is completely unfounded. While I do not think that I would personally fight for the ideology, I do not see it nearly as ridiculous as other people make it out to be. It is certainly not more ridiculous to me than the idea of state communism. I think anarchist communist societies are very well possible on a small scale, such as the Strandzha commune. However, I still hold my doubt on whether this could be enforced on a global or even national scale. Nevertheless, I also cannot ignore the contributions of anarcho-communists over the years, both to society and other political ideologies such as communism or socialism. And still, that contribution continues through their participation in modern day movements and political discourse. In it's essence, I also believe anarchist communism is a lot less violent than people make it out to be. I understand why it's way of thinking can incite violent acts, however I do not believe it is more provocative than any other radical ideology. I find myself especially agreeable with many of the ideas put forward by Kropotkin, which I find to be reasonable and well supported by scientific, ideological and anecdotal evidence. As such, I think there are worthwhile ideas to be explored within the ideology. During the course of my research, it had happened multiple times that I came across an prominent idea in anarchist communism that I myself have thought of over the years. Such are the concepts of mutual aid and common ownership of resources. Nevertheless, I do not encourage the idea that to establish an anarchist communist society one must violently take down the current system. A violent take down will only result in chaos and more violence. Instead, anarchist communist is more likely to be achieved spontaneaously or with slight guidance without coercion after an unrelated violent event, such as in the case of the Strandzha commune.
In conclusion, I believe that the dismissal of anarchist communism is unjust and almost hyprocritical when coming from communists or socialists. The ridicule and dismissal of it comes from a place of both ignorance and prejudice. Rather than refuse to hear out what they have to say, we should instead give the respect of taking the time to try and understand their ideas. My personal opinion on anarchist communism is that it is a reasonable and very much a strong ideology. While I am not convinced of the efficacy of anarchism, I find myself partially sympathetic to them, more so than ideologies such as marxism that advocate for authoritarianism. Still, I must emphasize my stance against a violent uprising for a change of system.