Anarchists, Black Blocs and Declan posting.

[Bill Stoddard]

>
>      So anyway, the TM thing was interesting.. But what was
>    more intriguing was the idea of a Black Bloc.  I followed the link
>    from the article (http://www.infoshop.org/blackbloc.html), and
>    could rationally understand their message, at least to a certain
>    degree.  The concept of a collection of folks with strong group
>    cohesion at a given event, which may or may not lead to violence,
>    changed my view of many of the anti-capitalist uprisings.  NOt that
>    I support them any more now, but the black bloc tactics modified my
>    view that much of the chaos and violence was driven by pissed off
>    teenagers with no purpose, to merely another method of protest.

Why did you change your view?  The blackbloc folks are tribalists. In concept no different
from the "moral majority", the Taliban, the high school football team, the white
supremists, the black panthers or any other group with notions of moral or physical
superiority. If thw world were to embrace the anarchist cause, most people in the
anarchist movement would quickly denounce the majority position and adopt another.  It is
not the cause that motivates, its the sense of belonging to an 'elitist' tribe. For lack
of a better phrase, I call what these people are engaged in "emotional masturbation".

I was particularly amused by a quote from www.infoshop.org/blackbloc.html:

"They engaged in a variety of activites including property destruction.  This was not
mindless and adolescent vandalism--it was done for political reasons."

Heh, heh, I am very impressed at the overflowing intelligence in that statement :-/. Most
of the evil in the 20th centry was done for political reasons (and much of it for leftist
causes, which is relevant only in the context of the anarchists being sort of leftist.
Sort of but not really. Perhaps they have looped back around to the extreme right if
that's possible :-)

Bill