Have you ever known a person, let's call her "Vicky", so terrible, so absolutely awful that she soured you to the name "Vicky" for the rest of your life? Now whenever you hear that name, you associate it with lies, gossip and bullying. You won't ever consider naming a child Vicky. It's even difficult for you to befriend a Vicky without some reservations.
Negative association is powerful. People can be turned off of ideas in the same way that they can be turned off of names.
This brings me to the problem of Toxic Anarchists.
What's a Toxic Anarchist?
The Toxic Anarchist isn't interested in listening to you. Frankly, he isn't even interested in communicating with you. He's only interested in being right and belittling you for your foolish beliefs.
There's no conversation to be had here, no understanding, only insults.
Let me clear something up straight away; this problem isn't exclusive to anarchists. It's a human problem. But nevertheless, it's a problem that plagues our community so I believe it needs to be addressed.
Where Does the Toxic Anarchist Come From?
The Toxic Anarchist wasn't always an anarchist. I believe this is a safe thing to assume. Nearly every anarchist was once a statist. That's symptomatic of the global culture we're raised into. It's possible that the Toxic Anarchist wasn't always toxic either, but that's neither here nor there.
One day the Toxic Anarchist stumbled upon the ideas of liberty and anarchy. Perhaps he resisted these ideas at first, but eventually he was won over by their sound logic. He came to accept the truth that every single person owns him or herself.
This truth that he once resisted now seems so obvious and self-evident that it's hard to imagine that he ever believed anything different. Here lies the source of his toxic behaviour.
Because this truth is so obvious to the Toxic Anarchist, he starts to believe that anybody who disagrees with him is, at best, an idiot or at worst, evil.
The Toxic Anarchist begins to treat everyone who disagrees with him as a villain or a fool. He's not interested in making converts or reaching hearts and minds. His only aim is to seek and destroy his enemies.
He's forgotten that he was once exactly like the people he now insults and abuses. If it weren't for other level-headed and reasonable anarchists, the Toxic Anarchist would likely have never found the truth. But he sees no need to check his own behaviour and act the part of reasonable and level-headed. He doesn't believe he owes the movement his best. He doesn't believe he owes anything to anyone.
How Does the Toxic Anarchist Harm the Liberty Movement?
This brings me back to the problem of negative association. I'm part of a lot of anarchist communities on social media and I see this toxic behaviour constantly. I see people scared away from the message of liberty by Toxic Anarchists who do nothing other than bully and insult. Would-be disciples have no interest in a "belief system" whose faithful behave in this manner.
Not only does the Toxic Anarchist scare people aware from liberty, he causes division within the existing community. He beats down his brothers over small points of disagreement, declaring his own opinion the obvious truth and his opponent's the belief of a "moron".
Let me restate what I said before; this is a human problem. It's not exclusive to anarchist. But I find this behaviour so pervasive in our community. Anarchists should be better. We're a minority that's discovered a beautiful and irrefutable truth. It's a truth that could make the world so much better.
If you are a Toxic Anarchist, my question to you is, why? Why don't you want to help usher in an anarchist world? Why are you only interested in making enemies? Why won't you extend the same reason, understanding and kindness to others that was extended to you?
We should be part of building a better world.
Why are you so focused on tearing it down?
Why are you only concerned about self-aggrandizing behaviour?
Why do you want nothing more than to be proven right?
The world is so broken, but we can all play a part in fixing it.
Be better than the Toxic Anarchist.
Be part of the solution.