The Fight Against Fascists (I Can't Believe This Exists)

[CJD]

(06-09-2021, 02:50 PM)Wes Mantooth Wrote: Fwiw, that attempt was plotted by a anarchist militia, who would probably fit in pretty well with Antifa. At least much more than they would any conservative or MAGA group.  They were anti-government and anti-police.

https://www.wilx.com/2020/10/09/suspect-has-history-of-anti-government-social-media-posts/

I'm not sure if you were just listing them as another example to balance out the types that engage in this behavior, or if you were linking to them to Trump, but I do remember that when this news broke a lot of people heard the word "militia", looked at their skin color (white) and where they were from (bumfuck Michigan) and automatically assumed they were something they're not.  I remember watching some of the videos that came out and being shocked at just how anti-police they were.  If recall, I think they were referred to as being slavemasters.

Here's some quotes I highlighted from the article, for those that don't feel like following the link...

“The Declaration of Independence was an anarchist document. It was a document that said, ‘you don’t own me’,” said Caserta in one of the videos.

“They are oppressing you for a paycheck,” he said in another video shared by director Robby Starbuck via Twitter on Thursday.

“If you are still supporting them, you are supporting the people that are enforcing slavery on everyone else,” Caserta said.

In another video, Caserta criticizes President Donald Trump; saying Trump isn’t your friend.

“It amazes me people actually believe that, when he’s shown over and over and over again that he’s a tyrant. Every single person who works for government is your enemy, dude,” Caserta said.

These people are freaking dangerous, just as Antifa is.  If they had their way they would tear down the entire system.

Libertarians and objectivists (the ones who believe "tax is theft") generally consider themselves conservative. "Don't tread on me" etc etc. It isn't entirely consistent with other conservatives, especially those who have idolized Trump, the head of the state, to the extent that MAGA folks have, but there are different ways to define rightwing vs leftwing.

There are a few different theories on what defines left vs right. Most leftists believe the metric is "egalitarianism vs hierarchies" (socialism/communism/anarchism being 100% egalitarian, with fascism/monarchy/dictatorship being 100% hierarchy) and that is how they define what is left and what is right. Anything that encourages equality or equal rights for all people would be a left wing concept, for example. That's why you see leftists claiming the abolition of slavery and the civil rights acts as left wing movements.

The other way to categorize the two sides is "more freedom vs less freedom." This is what most right wing anarchists ascribe to. They believe that anything the government does removes freedom. Regulations on business removes freedom. Mandates from the government removes freedom. Taxes remove freedom. etc etc. Police would also fall under that umbrella, making a right wing anarchist's hatred of police be consistent with their ideology despite being against the "law and order" concept from most right wingers. 

They want to do what they want, when they want and they don't want the government trying to stop them. Of course, this theory only considers positive freedoms. It completely ignores negative freedoms, such as a law from the government that outlaws murder. Despite being a mandate from the government, that law doesn't remove freedom from its citizens (unless that citizen wants to go murder people, of course). It universally gives the citizens the freedom to, generally, not have to worry about being murdered for no reason/petty reasons.

So, you can see, that based on what theory you ascribe left and right concepts to will determine if you consider anarchists to be leftwing or right wing. The truth is there are ways to come to the same conclusion (that government should be removed/curtailed/abolished) while having completely different reasons for that conclusion.

One of the main ways you can determine the difference between a leftist anarchist and a rightwing anarchist is to ask them why they don't want a central government.

A leftist anarchist would likely respond that they believe it is impossible to eliminate social hierarchies as long as there is a ruling class that can define other people's lives for them.

A right wing anarchist would likely respond that they don't like being told what to do and don't think they should be required/forced to pay taxes (especially social welfare program taxes) for "lazy" people who don't "pull their weight" in society.

To prevent confusion, a lot of people call rightwing anarchists "Anarcho-capitalists," as they generally believe in Laissez-Faire Capitalism where there are no regulations on how you make money. Kind of like the opposite of Socialism, where every industry is privately owned and all decisions are made based on profit and self-interest rather than any moral or ethical standard. 

This group seems to fall under the latter group, considering this occurred during a time of lockdowns and the government "telling people" to stay inside and wear masks.

The "You don't own me" line definitely reinforces this.