Okay okay so like many of you my experience of anarchists widely consists of flaky fashion radicals who are more interested in wearing pins and patches that champion radical ideas than in reading books about them or concocting any serious political actions, but SRSLY...cops exist, beyond all other reasons, to protect what these anarchists are calling "the included." Examples of the truth of this abound.
I think they're sweet. They're confused about a lot of facts but so what? The Stranger pays reporters every day to mix up facts and that does a lot more harm than these kids.
Kelly-O,
The photo says it all. A bunch of misinformed, attempting-to-disguise themselves, loudmouthed pubilcity seekers. Let's see how they react when one of them is assaulted and one of Seattle's finest puts his/her life on the line in pursuit of the assailant. These ingrates are an insult to the memories of the 5 police officiers killed in the line of duty in Washington state during the past year.
FTR, Officer Ian Birk who evidently shot Mr. Williams is on leave and the incident is being investigated. And, I too wonder why a Taser or Mace couldn't have been used to subdue Mr. Williams. But, neither I nor the anarchists were there. That said, I don't believe it (the shooting) to have been a summary execution. It WAS a tragedy for all.
How are they saying an "excluded person" can be shot and no one notices? Didn't this incident get a lot of attention? Isn't there an investigation going on? Isn't this likely to at LEAST, deeply mar the career of the young officer involved? Do you they really think that the young cop just though, "I can execute this homeless drunk if I want to."?
Is this a ridiculously over-simplified view of American law enforcement? - Yes it is.
@13 == is a boolean test, akin to a question. Assignment operator is a little more indicting, though used alone is totally arbitrary. I'd mix the two to prove my point.
So if one anarchist were to do something like, say, rape a woman, then it's apparently logical to conclude: Anarchists = Rapists.
This situation with the cop and Williams does seem pretty fucked, though. I realize it's easy to second-guess a cop when you're not in his/her shoes, but it sure seems like there must have been some better way to handle this situation than to shoot and kill Williams.
@24: One of my former co-workers recently moved to a team working on an Excel-based language that will use '=' as assignment AND equality, depending on context. He's been hitting his head against his desk for a couple of weeks after finding that out.
Of course, this is the same co-worker whose lamba-filled nested ternary expression I once had to debug, so as far as I'm concerned, it's karma.
and Anarchists with their face covered = pussies with no conviction behind their principles.
I think that all Anarchists who want to get rid of government intervention (including tea partiers) should be shipped to Somalia or The Congo. I'm sure they will love their (brief) life in anarchists paradise.
I love a passionate activist but I'd like to see this particular group get a little perspective. Some really bad copsβand based purely on what facts have come out, I believe this particular cop should be firedβdoes not make all cops bad, just as all members of nearly any group, are not ALL bad. I have two good friends in the police force; one lives on Capitol Hill. Both are as passionate about doing good and working toward a better community as these "anarchists" are as dedicated to hating them for it.
Leftist anarchists believe that humans can coexist without authority figures, laws, and government to keep them in line. They're deluded, but they are not teapartiers, most of whom seem to embrace the Randian ideal of the "weak" being crushed under the heels of the "strong."
@30, 39, yeah that's a really great suggestion, and the same one racist white folks used for a long time to justify employment and housing discrimination of people of color. Good one.
Why is the guy on the right covering half his face? Won't people recognize him anyway? I'm sure there can't be two blonde guys of his build who wear such FABULOUS pink sneakers!
and it should be noted that Somalia, warlords et al. are an anathema and counter to Anarchism; because those are clearly hierarchical and oppressive examples, whereas Anarchism is often defined as "any social relationship that involves neither dominance nor submission. It is the absence of social hierarchy, with no one imposing their will on another by force..."
Nice, but why would we want a scene like the Rod King riots of '92? Scary, and not exactly a political movement with a peaceful purpose. I'll take my law and order with a side of corrupt, trigger happy police, thanks (and I'll put down the knife when they scream for me to do so).
@30, 39, yeah that's a really great suggestion, and the same one racist white folks used for a long time to justify employment and housing discrimination of people of color.
When, oh when will we learn to accept that this is as much the anarchists' home as it is ours? It's not their fault that they were dragged from their suburban homeland, lo these many weeks ago, and forced to take up the mantle of professional students by their heartless bourgeoisie parents. Just today, I passed an anarchist-only water fountain on the way to work, and I thought to myself, "enough! Anarchists have as much a right to their idiotic, uninformed opinions as any other spoiled, self-important American! Let my people go!"
@55, I agree. The so-called anarchists' presentation isn't eloquent, but the core sentiment is completely valid. There's a systemic problem with the way Seattle police are being trained and managed. I'm not going to call this particular police officer evil, but he killed an innocent man who was basically minding his own business. People should be upset by this fact alone. If it was your friend or relative who was shot, it would be a lot easier for you to understand how fucked up this is.
Of course, SPD had both a mounted contingent and a small army of bike cops to cover the six or eight angry anarchists waving signs at Pine & Broadway. If we want to know why the city is running out of money, perhaps completely disproportionate police responses like this one are the answer.
@41, I"m not sure where you're from, but where I grew up the only good education to be had was public. The private schools were so busy sucking rich parents' cocks and handing out straight A's that the kids they turned out were barely literate. They were, however, full of themselves and convinced they were intelligent.
And I love that they signed it "Anarchists". They might just as easily have signed it "Mayonnaise".
"Anarchists" = Ineffective and Alienating
Also, that's the most polite anarchy symbol I've ever seen.
Make a game about it and flog it at PAX.
Then we might give a flying fuck.
the bandana is a nice touch, dude. hurry up though, intro to photoshop starts in 30 behind you, don't be late.
i lean in this direction often, but this is just embarrassing.
cops == murderers.
= would just make them murderers.
I believe that would be "anarchy"...
The photo says it all. A bunch of misinformed, attempting-to-disguise themselves, loudmouthed pubilcity seekers. Let's see how they react when one of them is assaulted and one of Seattle's finest puts his/her life on the line in pursuit of the assailant. These ingrates are an insult to the memories of the 5 police officiers killed in the line of duty in Washington state during the past year.
FTR, Officer Ian Birk who evidently shot Mr. Williams is on leave and the incident is being investigated. And, I too wonder why a Taser or Mace couldn't have been used to subdue Mr. Williams. But, neither I nor the anarchists were there. That said, I don't believe it (the shooting) to have been a summary execution. It WAS a tragedy for all.
Is this a ridiculously over-simplified view of American law enforcement? - Yes it is.
So how would this "anarchy" system solve the problem of a police officer killing an innocent person?
cops = innocent_citizens_killed > 0 ? murderers : public_servants; // or something
...faithfully awaiting a functional programming geek to take this to the next level
This situation with the cop and Williams does seem pretty fucked, though. I realize it's easy to second-guess a cop when you're not in his/her shoes, but it sure seems like there must have been some better way to handle this situation than to shoot and kill Williams.
Of course, this is the same co-worker whose lamba-filled nested ternary expression I once had to debug, so as far as I'm concerned, it's karma.
I think that all Anarchists who want to get rid of government intervention (including tea partiers) should be shipped to Somalia or The Congo. I'm sure they will love their (brief) life in anarchists paradise.
cops = innocent_citizens_killed.Any(citizen => citizen.RootCause != UnavoidableAccident) ? murderers : public_servants;
Sic him, dogs!
Stop telling, and show me some solutions ye anarchists.
Anarchism: What It Is & What It Isn't
and it should be noted that Somalia, warlords et al. are an anathema and counter to Anarchism; because those are clearly hierarchical and oppressive examples, whereas Anarchism is often defined as "any social relationship that involves neither dominance nor submission. It is the absence of social hierarchy, with no one imposing their will on another by force..."
not chaos or lawlessness.
-eeyeah-
that has never happened before, you are so trenchant, oh learned, internet person.