"This" is why i’m an anarchist.

Toronto police terrorized a young family (not unlike my own) in their reckless, irresponsible pursuit of an allegedly reckless, irresponsible “anarchist” protester.

John Booth was amazingly charitable in his assessment of the cops’ actions: “The problem with the whole thing was that it was a very poorly researched and very poorly executed plan… A little due diligence on their part could’ve avoided the whole situation.” Apparently, in addition to veterinary science, Mr. Booth is also an expert in the field of diplomatic understatements. Hey, that’s a valuable skill too.

The tale is laced with bitter irony for me: This is why i’m an anarchist.

I’d like to extend the sentiments of a protester quoted by Globe writer Lisan Jutras, with whom she was mass arrested and stuck on a bus for hours; Jutras tweeted:

“They don't even know what they're protesting,” said a cop.
“Yes I do,” said one.
“What?”
“This,” she said.

The best concise characterization of anarchism i’ve ever read may have been the slogan on a fantastic patch i saw for sale at the NYC Anarchist Bookfair in 2009; it said: “Anarchists have to be as patient as slugs.” In hindsight, i really wish i’d bought the patch (if you know who made it, please tell me!). But, of course, i had already spent all my money on books.

Patience, respect for others and profound concern for all consequences of one’s actions (taking care not to make decisions without consulting those who will be affected by them); these are among the virtues, values and commitments at the core of my understanding of anarchism. So, as an anarchist, i’ve been increasingly frustrated, for years, with certain interpretations or appropriations of anarchism — though my frustration has begun to bloom into real anger during some recent debates about "diversity of tactics."

Therefore i’m quite sympathetic to the very many people (other activists, bystanders, shopkeepers, reporters, academics, and others — maybe even some fellow anarchists?) who also feel frustrated; as Andrew Potter tweeted: “I can't figure out who I hate more in all this, the anarchists or the cops.”

I submit this as further evidence that we must, in struggle, vigilantly distinguish ourselves from those we oppose. It doesn’t matter whether there are agents provocateurs among those who are destroying property. What matters is that we can’t be sure. This situation should be easy to avoid.

But, in the words of one commenter on a post at wagnignonviolence.org (where i first learned of the Booths’ treatment by the police), “Violent anarchy is an amazingly myopic philosophy, since effective anarchy–if we truly want freedom–requires so much more self-discipline and critical thinking than anarchists of this ilk seem to give.”

It saddens me to see how many anarchists have completely rejected the “radical admissions” that George Woodcock urged us to make, in the final pages of (the 1986 revised edition of) his famous history of anarchism. The opportunity to update and re-articulate his admissions in my current academic writing (my thesis project) is cold comfort.

At a time of outrageous abuses of state power, an anarchist critique ought to be taken more seriously than ever. Instead, those who espouse anarchism today often successfully live up to the very worst stereotypes of destructive stupidity that enemies of anarchism have been promoting for almost two centuries.

Windows are smashed by marauding anarchists. Hundreds of people are herded into custody (and many are hurt) by marauding police. Giant fences are erected between the powerful and the public. Fear proliferates...

I think i might have nightmares tonight.

Describing the 4 a.m. police invasion of their home, Hanna Booth said: “…they’re in my room. I’m in my panties and a tank top, my kid’s screaming his head off, he’s so scared, the tension in the house — it was just the most horrible and absurd thing.”

Horrible and absurd. I imagine that about captures the experience of many Torontonians during this G20 summit.

Between idiotic smashing and burning (and media fixation on images of it) and even scarier “security” measures (and the inevitable, brutal fiascoes they lead to), what are reasonable people (let alone those who profess a radical commitment to liberty and justice) supposed to do?

I don’t know. But tonight i’m going to kiss Sara and Roy and try to keep these words, which i read for the first time yesterday, in my mind as i drift off to sleep.

“I don’t know if you’ve known anybody that far back; if you’ve loved anybody that long, first as an infant, then as a child, then as a man, you gain a strange perspective on time and human pain and effort.” — James Baldwin, The fire next time (p. 4).

Happy Canada Day,
r.a.m.

PS: i share the suspicions of many who have wondered how exactly it came to be that two squad cars just happened to be sitting in the street with no officers there to protect them… Seems like maybe a new twist on the familiar (anti-theft) tactic — in any case it gives new meaning to the phrase — “Bait Cars.”