Realistically, I have never seen any sense in the concepts of Anarchy. So it was with general curiosity that I agreed to attend the Anarchist sponsored May Day March in downtown Seattle with Micheal. To me, it remained a self-marginalized ideology that perpetuates its own negative public image by neglecting to have any concise, cohesive, or even necessarily tangible objectives. Basically I couldn't understand how any movement that hopes to create change, would choose to operate without any structure, along the fanatical fringe where it won't garnish much support. And don't get me wrong, I absolutely believe in grass roots movements. Mike was the first to remind me that this country is built on the massive success of grass roots movements around race, sex, war, etc. Yes, that's true. However, it seems to me there are always components built within those movements which add to their success. First and foremost of these components; a unified, consistent message with measurable goals & feasible objectives. Sometimes included are also viable evidence or alternatives supporting the change the movement seeks to create within society. I suppose the difference between Anarchy and other grassroots movements, was the presence (or in the case of Anarchy, the non-presence) of actual organization. In my mind, there needed to be commitment to something more than fragmented thoughts of grandiose change, that stayed loftily at the level of "ideal" but remained unsupported by any real road map for achieving these aims. Ahh, but see isn't that the root of Anarchy- "non-organization?" To me, therein lies Anarchy's contradiction- It's an ideology organized to support the masses, and yet it remains anti- ideology, anti-organization, AND anti masses. So, color me confused but I was a tad skeptical I admit.
And so here is where my thoughts on Anarchy lied as I walked onto the campus of Seattle Central Community College and prepared for my first foray into the world of political activism. I tried to shelf my sarcasm and remain open- minded for the sake of not being an ideological hypocrite and also to support my partner who had developed a genuine interest in Anarchy while studying it in school. Though to be clear, I didn't feel obligated to participate or explore this day because of Mike. I went for myself. And myself, was genuinely surprised by how enjoyable it actually was once we got going. Admittedly, the march had a few underwhelming "leaders" who spoke on campus prior to the start and who left a lot to be desired in terms of rallying the troops. One began his rally cry by screaming. "Capitalism kills! Fuck the System!" "Oh..I see," I thought to myself- "it's going to one of THOSE marches where we're just shouting popular catch phrases and nebulous concepts." I'd be a hypocrite to say I don't rant my own nebulous concepts, but for the sake of organized movements I do find them generally pointless and self-defeating (in case you hadn't gotten that from the first paragraph of this post.)
Despite the bad speaker, we started marching. And like I said, it was surprisingly adrenaline inducing. I looked around me an noticed how many people were marching that looked nothing like the media perpetuated image of an "Anarchist". What I noticed, were the old hippie couples, the family with children, the funky hipsters dressed in hot pink tights- just a full range of Seattlites marching for something they believed in. Of course there were more than a few people screaming "kill the cops." And there were also other aggression repressed youth wielding pipes they hoped to use against the windows of a corporate store or two. Though, those people were the exception- not the rule. The fact that these negative persona's serve as the unofficial "face" of Anarchy is an unfortunate byproduct of a sensationalist media. And I wont even examine the argument of, "who shot first." Who really knows whether it's ever the police or the protesters who first overstep the line from peaceful protest, to unmitigated mayhem. Either way, that's simply an initial spark that starts an uncontrollable domino effect until both sides fall together into ugliness, fear, and aggression. What I will say is despite the malay that ensued after the march, and avoiding the issue of "who done it" finger pointing, the day was an eye opening experience for me. And then I got it- it didn't necessarily need to be about measurable aims or achievable goals. It didn't even really need to be about some massive coup of the government or a complete overturn of the capitalist system. Instead, It was simply a means by which everyday citizens could march together in an effort to relay the point that, yes- this world is a bit f***d up, so we stand together to promote a public awareness of this fact. It's a symbolic stance- a good ole fashioned fight from the populous- against the oppression of culture by the mighty dollar & a hope that one day, we can all progress past it.
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