I hold Anarchists in really high regard. These are people who have taken considerable time and energy to think outside of the status quo bubble and question pretty much everything. In the Anarchy movement it seems pretty much everything is up for grabs for deep exploration of thought and questioning: mental "illness," social movements, circumcision, workers' "rights".... Anarchists are particularly gifted at picking apart all of the status quo's belief systems. That's what I love about the movement most.
Most people go on holding the same core beliefs generation after generation and never even stop to question them. One of my favorite little stories: There was a woman who cut the corners off of her ham every time she cooked one. Finally one day her husband asked her why she always did that. She replied, "That's how I learned how to cook a ham. Every time my mother cooked a ham, she always cut the corners off." "Why did your mother cut the corners off the ham?", her husband asked. So the woman asked her mother why she always cut the corners off her ham, and her mother replied, "Because my pan was too small."
Anarchists are particularly gifted at the picking apart of customs, thoughts, opinions, and beliefs. It seems that people who have this questioning tendency will always eventually come to Anarchism, because through deep questioning, one comes to the truth of Anarchism. It's not Anarchism which makes someone a questioner, but questioners eventually are naturally drawn to Anarchism.
I always appreciate this questioner's mentality every time I see it. But it's when hate and anger and divisiveness are drawn into the equation that I become really sad. All Anarchists are familiar with the divide and conquer approach of the state. One would think that Anarchists would not fall into this trap, and that since the goal of most Anarchists is to open people's minds, that they would shun divisiveness. But what I see is people questioning, turning their anti-ness into fundamentalism, and using that fundamentalism as an outlet for the hate and anger that they've acquired through the American culture. This is very counter-productive, and it would be wise for people to wake up and realize that they're acting out the divide and conquer tool of the state. I've observed quite a few people becoming increasingly hostile toward feminists in this "meninism movement." I've noticed a whole lot of valuable energy being funneled into the calling out of feminists and social warriors. I realize that some of it is rather lighthearted fun, but this isn't a good look. Not only is it not a good look, it's a terrible waste of energy. If you want to stop being a tool of the state, then overcome your divisive mentality. Am I inviting you to blissfully ignore? No. I'm inviting you to be aware and to move on, spending your valuable energy where it's most fruitful and beneficial. Picking apart belief systems of social warriors is valuable to a degree. Doing it with hate, disdain and anger is beneficial to no one. And I'll state again that fundamentalism is the bane of all movements.
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