![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Against the defamation of anarchists
Aug. 4th, 2012 04:31 pmSo on the Guardian, another commenter has suggested that fascism acquired its rationales for political violence from anarchism, here and in later posts: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/aug/04/wagner-family-bayreuth-festival?commentpage=2#comment-17505091
The extremes of fascist political violence included wars, police states, and genocide. How many wars have anarchists started? None. How many police states have anarchists run? None. How many genocides have anarchists conducted? None.
The acceptance of wars, police states, violence against the poor, and violence against minorities is hardly unique to fascism. It's the systematic, deliberate, industrialized genocide which is unique to fascism. But the closest parallels are with other right-wing political ideologies, such as other forms of nationalism and other forms of racism.
But wars, and violence against the poor, and violence against minorities are too often taken for granted, and accepted, if not embraced, by almost every non-anarchist political ideology. They aren't seen as political violence. As long as it's the powerful killing the powerless, it's invisible, unless it reaches the extremes of war and genocide. Only when it's the powerless hurting the powerful is it visible as violence.
If someone dies from preventable disease, it's not considered violence. If policies force her into unemployment and/or poverty, it's not considered violence. If policies price medical care out of her reach, it's not considered violence.
If someone is killed crossing the street, it's not considered violence. If road maintenance ignores pedestrian safety it's not considered violence.
If someone is bullied to death, it's only recently recognized as violence.
If a head of state is assassinated, it's immediately recognized as violence, and usually blamed on anarchists. I've read other essays claiming that the assassinations of Alexander Romanov, William McKinley, and Franz Ferdinand were by anarchists, but the first was by a Narodnik, the second is disputed, and the third was by a nationalist. May as well mention the assassination of Frank Steunenburg, by union-busters who tried to frame union organizers who were sympathetic to anarchism.
Of course, it's often impossible to conceal the violence of war and genocide, except against the smallest minorities.
The extremes of fascist political violence included wars, police states, and genocide. How many wars have anarchists started? None. How many police states have anarchists run? None. How many genocides have anarchists conducted? None.
The acceptance of wars, police states, violence against the poor, and violence against minorities is hardly unique to fascism. It's the systematic, deliberate, industrialized genocide which is unique to fascism. But the closest parallels are with other right-wing political ideologies, such as other forms of nationalism and other forms of racism.
But wars, and violence against the poor, and violence against minorities are too often taken for granted, and accepted, if not embraced, by almost every non-anarchist political ideology. They aren't seen as political violence. As long as it's the powerful killing the powerless, it's invisible, unless it reaches the extremes of war and genocide. Only when it's the powerless hurting the powerful is it visible as violence.
If someone dies from preventable disease, it's not considered violence. If policies force her into unemployment and/or poverty, it's not considered violence. If policies price medical care out of her reach, it's not considered violence.
If someone is killed crossing the street, it's not considered violence. If road maintenance ignores pedestrian safety it's not considered violence.
If someone is bullied to death, it's only recently recognized as violence.
If a head of state is assassinated, it's immediately recognized as violence, and usually blamed on anarchists. I've read other essays claiming that the assassinations of Alexander Romanov, William McKinley, and Franz Ferdinand were by anarchists, but the first was by a Narodnik, the second is disputed, and the third was by a nationalist. May as well mention the assassination of Frank Steunenburg, by union-busters who tried to frame union organizers who were sympathetic to anarchism.
Of course, it's often impossible to conceal the violence of war and genocide, except against the smallest minorities.
