The Baltimore Riots

On April 27, 2015 in Baltimore, Maryland, riots erupted. It all started when Freddie Gray was arrested on April 12, 2015, and was severely injured in police custody. Gray later died of the injuries. This was the latest case of police brutality in a long string of incidents. Tensions boiled over after about a week of peaceful protest, and protesters turned to violent actions. Joined by gangs and others seeking to take part in violence, stores were looted, rocks were thrown at police, and property was vandalized by the mob. As the police were not able to control the violent mob, anarchy ensued.
Without a powerful government, anarchy exists because the government is the institution that defines laws and enforces them. The four main purposes of government are to: Make Economic Decisions, Maintain Social Order, Provide Public Services, and Provide National Security.
A main purpose of government is to maintain social order. This is done by enforcing laws. If laws are not enforced properly, then people do what they want to. Evidence for this reasoning in
Baltimore, is that crime rose to record levels in the city in the month following the riots, May 2015, because police were making less arrests because they were scared of getting caught in cases of “police brutality”. Now, the laws were not being enforced, so people became fearless and started committing crime and causing chaos and disorder. The state of chaos and disorder due to absence of authority is anarchy. This means that when laws are not enforced properly, and social order is not maintained, anarchy exists.
Another governmental purpose is to provide National Security.
National Security protects us from national threats and crises. The Baltimore Riots had become a national crisis, for the National Guard and other police departments were brought in to Baltimore to curb the violence and return to a natural state from the state of anarchy. Without them, the state of anarchy would have continued. If National Security was not provided, anarchy would exist because no one would be there to protect others.
Anarchy exists when a powerful government does not exist. The state of anarchy, witnessed in the 2015 Baltimore Riots was caused by the inability of government to maintain social order and provide national security. Once the national security was provided, and social order was maintained, violence was curbed and Baltimore returned to a normal state from the state of anarchy. In conclusion, without a government, anarchy
exists.