Today I wish to pay my respects to a departed friend, namely, anarchism.
For a long time, anarchism struggled with any manner of challenges. From relevance, all the way to coherence. Over the last three decades prior to its demise, anarchism showed clear signs of dementia. But we try to look back and remember anarchism in its hayday.
Sad truth is that anarchism has become redundant. For instance Anarchists spend several months carefully organising squats in abandoned buildings without water or electricity.
However a neoliberal government can put thousands of people into derelict buildings without any utilities in a matter of weeks. UNICEF proves over and over again that anarchism is not a very effective system, and that it impoverishes people at a much slower rate than other more common alternatives.
Similarly, freeganism, which generally requires a great deal of effort and exerted ability on the anarchist’s part, facing everything from legal to logistical obstacles, can be done far more impressively in places like Skid Row, or Liberia, where people may eat trash right off the streets if they so desire.
And look at the Bonnot Gang, who were gunning down random civilians and looting stores during France’s belle époque, and compare it to the third republic’s own military, who were gunning down far more random civilians in Algeria and Indochina, and looting far more stores for that matter. Once again we see how the anarchists simply cannot keep up with modern times.
And in Eastern Europe we see how fascist organisations within the Ukrainian government are far more effective at spreading anti-Semitic conspiracy theories about the Soviet Union than even the most astute of anarchist scholars.
Even Mikhail Bakunin, who was once considered an honoured polymath, being a master not only of antisemitism, but also pedophilia, is being taken to the cleaners in both respective fields by the dedicated work being done to this very day by the Vatican.
And not to mention Berkeley, where masked anarchists in black hoodies were throwing Molotovs and setting fire to things, we see how even climate change best them at their own game, being able to burn far larger regions of California in a much shorter time.
Then you have the Minneapolis riots, during which CHAZ, the anarchist commune, only managed to cause the deaths of two unarmed black people. Contrast that with the racist violence being carried out by US police officers all across the nation. Anarchists should not be protesting the police at this stage, they should be taking notes.
And let’s not forget the legacy of Maria Nikiforova, the world’s first self-described terrorist, who bombed trade unionists in Moscow in the name of anarchism. Not only are the Nazis far better at killing trade unionists, but on top of that, Daesh are far better terrorists. Which took a rather ironic twist during the YPG skirmishes.
Fact is that there are so many other systems out there who simply offer the same services at far more effective magnitudes, and this is why anarchism fell into decline.
So to anarchism, I bid you a fond farewell. You’re like the John Henry of bad philosophy.
