http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/jul/28/anarchists-offer-dnc-deal-to-denver/
The comments at the bottom make me sad.
For this reason, I prefer the label “agorist” rather than “anarchist”. Most people think an anarchist is someone who destroys property or holds pointless protests. Even the anti-agorist haters don’t disagree with my definition of “agorism”.
It’s much easier to say “I’m an advocate for free markets (and the State is an example of an abusive monopoly).” than “I’m an anarchist.” The former has a positive spin and the latter has a negative bias.
Why do the comments make you sad?
Many reasons. The top two are the amount of people who depend on the state for security and the number of people who advocated using violence against people who had commited no crimes.
Then there was the person who said something like “somewhere down the road they’ll own property and have children” suggesting that anarchists were against both private property and children. Some people I encounter (and this goes for any political subject, not just anarchy) are knowledgable and willing to hear new ideas. Sometimes I disagree with people on certain subjects, but at least I know they’ve thought them out and are honestly looking for the right answer. Then there are people who have made up their minds and are so far off base about so much that I wouldn’t even know where to begin in refuting what they just said. The majority of the posts following that article fall into the latter category.
The people protesting seemed to be leftist anarchists (i.e. anarcho-syndicalists, council communists, anarcho-communists, anarcho-socialists, libertarian socialists, etc.). Once they own property, have kids, or maybe learn a little about econmics, they’ll probably stop being leftist anarchists. [:)]
I think the comments are what are to be expected. Many people are not prepared for anarchy or to question their government. FSK blogged some time back about how protesting a political event was not apolitical, and thus was a waste of time (paraphrasing). I don’t think these anarchists realize that they are not waging the public perception, media/recruitment war properly. But they are enthusiastic, so I guess that counts for something.
This is why I get irritated sometimes. There is so much evangelical and missionary work to be done for liberty, people who think that avoiding income and sales taxes by hiding in the shadows is a winning strategy, sighs
Don’t forget mutualists. I seem to recall Nicky saying he was going to this event.
Mutualism is still around? I thought there were only a few of them left, maybe a fraction of the anarcho-syndicalist movement.
That’s approximately right. If you attend a political protest, you’re acting like a slave petitioning his master to be less cruel.
Some politician famously said “Let them protest all they want, as long as they pay their taxes!”
A political protest makes the prosters feel better. It gives them the illusion of doing something, while they’re actually doing nothing. Sometimes, token scraps are offered the protesters to satisfy them.
I’m not sure whether I should try stealth-agorism or blatant-in-public agorism, when I start implementing my ideas. Some blatant-in-public advocates are needed to gain a large following. On the other hand, organic growth should not be underestimated. Blatant-in-public agorism is risky, but it’s worth it if you can cash in on the publicity from the inevitable State crackdown.
I’m pretty sure Kevin Carson is a mutualist, and he has no shortage of fan boys. Apparently you and I are “Misoids” his new pejorative term for Austrians.
At the top, there is an article that says “Should congress apologize for slavery?”
Ironically, that article title understands anarchy!
deals with the devil
Indeed he doesnt
That one particularly irks me