Those Wacky Anarchists Are At It Again!

The recent release of the film V for Vendetta has created some interesting reactions within the anarchist subculture. Although the film apparently removes most of the source comic’s references to anarchism, our dreadlock-encrusted friends have decided that this is a prime opportunity to educate the masses as to the benefits of living in a society free of cops, laws, and indoor plumbing. Never mind that the protagonist of the Alan Moore comic book is clearly insane, and that the story paints the period after the fall of the state as being one of roving gangs and food shortages. The anarchists are going to pass out flyers outside of the film’s screenings in an effort to get people to visit a website that ties what they’ve just seen with anti-state indoctrination. More entertainingly, they promise to “Engage audience through costumed role playing of 'deleted scenes'—acting out portions of the graphic novel where V speaks in support of anarchy.” Can you imagine how yuppies and teenyboppers would react to such a display? Anyone who can direct me to a video of this hilarity will receive a place of honor in the annals of Extreme Politics.

On a side note, a writer from the Wall Street Journal used the release of the movie as a starting point for an article that provides a well-reasoned attack on anarchism both in its past and present incarnations. The responses given by the anarchist range from the humorous to the bizarre. I especially enjoyed how they quickly distance themselves from Leon Tolstoy’s pacifist interpretation of anarchy, arguing that terrorism will be a completely appropriate course of action once the tactical situation calls for it. And they have the nerve to complain when the very state they seek to violently destroy uses any amount of force against them.

PETA’s Unsettling Truth

As regular readers of this blog have no doubt noticed, I’m not a big fan of PETA. Although their cause (improving the treatment of animals) is a laudable one, their disturbing fanaticism, questionable tactics, and links to terrorism make them a proper addition to this site’s list of dangerous extremists. Having just said all of that, I have to give credit where it’s due. PETA seems to be the only group in the U.S. with the balls to go undercover and capture animal abuse with hidden cameras, then turn the evidence over to law enforcement and post it for public viewing.

PETA has been engaged in a long-running feud with the circus industry over its treatment of animals. They’ve posted a new secretly shot video depicting the horrendous abuse elephants undergo during circus training. It makes for very disturbing viewing. Take a look for yourself and then see if you agree with me that the bloody climax seems to be in many ways totally predictable.

Anarcho-Punk Imbeciles Riot At British Invasion 2K6

Rioting-The Unbeatable High

-Jello Biafra

It appears that the British Invasion 2K6 concert recently held in California tuned into a fun night for everyone involved. The Nazi skinheads got to do what they do best (start trouble and then run away), the anarchist punks got to do what they live for (throw bottles at the cops and vandalize local businesses), and the cops got to use all of that cool riot control training they’ve received by terrorizing said punks.

For those of you not familiar with what happened, the concert was a huge show featuring a bunch of second wave British punk acts like Vice Squad and the Adicts. Apparently, there were a handful of Nazi skinheads among the crowd of 1,500. The Nazis started giving white power salutes and yelling at the bands, bringing the wrath of the crowd upon them. At this point, someone got stabbed, and the cops responded by setting off tear gas both inside and outside the venue. The punks then proceeded to use the events as a pretext to generally act like a bunch of fools (check out some interesting videos and photos of the riot here, here, and here). The cops quickly got the situation under control, but not before some major property destruction went down, leaving local civic leader to fret that the whole thing will discourage businesses from coming to the area.

As a wayward youth, I was a pretty heavily involved in the punk scene myself. It was just this kind of blatant, pervading idiocy that made me stop going to shows. In this case, I would have to say that the cops, the Nazis, and the punks were three groups of people who absolutely deserved each other.

One People's Project Does An Ideological Somersault

One of the hallmarks of extremist thinking is its rigidity. Core values must be maintained, no matter how ridiculous they become. For example, leftists (both here and abroad) make hatred of the United States one of their primary tenants. To maintain otherwise is foolishness. This is why Noam Chomsky attacked president Clinton when he authorized the humanitarian missions to Somalia and Kosovo. He simply could not conceive of the U.S. government actually acting out of benevolent intentions. This brings me to a recent article posted on the One People’s Project (OPP) website which attempts to rationalize the riots in the Muslim world after the publication of the infamous cartoons. Given that traditional Islam is a faith that horribly oppresses women and allows for virtually no freedom of speech, you would think that leftists might be a tiny bit critical of it. But the jihadists are enemies of the U.S., and therefore the “good guys” in the far left’s twisted worldview. The author of the article states, “Freedom of the press does not exist to insult other countries.” Perhaps he should check out some Islamic papers, which regularly insult not only president Bush but also the American people in general. He also suggests that “What these riots are really about, and what the Middle East hatred for the west is, too, is about the Middle East being outraged that the Western World has no respect for its culture [but I love hummus!]/values [like stoning women for adultery]/beliefs [in homicidal god], its people [would that include the suicide bombers?], and its property [I assume you mean their wives].” To top off the hilarity, the main OPP page sports a banner that reads, “Intolerance of intolerance is the only intolerance tolerated”. I would love to see these leftist assh*les go to one of the backwater Muslim counties they venerate and see how “tolerant” the locals are of them.