#statism

[fictionalauthorityii]

[wageronancap]

[blackwolfmanx4]

Real Talk:

The “No Kings” protest are full of liars and hypocrites. When they say “No Kings”, they really mean no red plantation owners but blue plantation owners instead. These protesters are doing everything they can to convince you that they don't want rulers, but that is the worst lie these bootlickers ever uttered from their mouths. And of course it's in the election season, a season of tap dancing for their overlords and pretending that voting for their oppressors is the same as being free.

[dittography-direwolf]

I've been thinking more about the Punisher, and it feels like some thoughts have gelled firmly enough to make a bit of a post.

The reason the Punisher gets so much trashing by so many creators, even by the ones that ostensibly like him, is because the entire superhero genre is at odds between its core purpose and the outlook of most people that work in the genre.

Superheroes are inherently anarchist to a certain extent. The core idea behind them is that the actions of the individual can make a difference and affect a positive outcome where the state fails to. The problem with this comes from the fact that most people who write for comics are hardcore statists. It's why so many of them turn towards the idea of superheroes working for the government or under government supervision, or turning on the idea of superheroes completely, or in some cases simply shrugging and making a distinction without a difference between "superheroes" and "vigilantes". The entire premise of their setting requires them to attempt to resolve its fundamental clash with their worldview.

So here's the Punisher. A guy who rejects basically every other foundational principle of superheroes except individual action, but also whose methods solve many of the sticky problems people tend to bring up about other superheroes (they let villains live to go on causing harm). This does in fact make him quite popular among a fanbase who leans harder into the individualistic nature of the medium than many of the writers do.

So now the problem is that writers have this character who embodies the core concept of their medium, perhaps better than most, but who also innately flies in the face of the veneer of respectability and state cooperation virtually every other superhero operates under. Most of them understand that they can't really argue with his drive or the fact that he's taking the law in his own hands, so they have to resort to other methods.

The most often-used is that he's "taking it too far" because gunning down bad guys is a privilege that is reserved for the police and federal agents. Again, this one tends to fail specifically because the entire genre revolves around vigilantism, however they try to dress it up.

So then what they turn to is basically character assassination. Other superheroes hate him, which just proves he's bad (give in to social pressure, kids!). Or they undermine his motivation, implying or outright declaring that he never really loved his family and is just using them as an excuse to be a serial killer. Because every other superhero's dead family is a valid motivation, but not the guy that uses lethal force, his can't be.

Ultimately the Punisher serves as a fascinating look at the sort of mental gymnastics statists have to engage in to try and be creative in mediums that inherently operate on anarchist principles, even when it's mediums that they created themselves. Because on some level they do understand that anarchy works, individuals working on anarchistic principles do more than the state, but they then have to figure out how to resolve that with their view that life without the state wouldn't be worth living.

[sunder-the-gold]

When they say "no one is above the law!" do they understand that laws are rules which apply to them as well as their enemies, or do they think the phrase means "the state's power is absolute and unquestionable"?

And of course, an institution is not "the state" unless they believe they control it.

Nevermind how, even when they believe they control the state, they still see themselves as a rebel movement against authority, never as the authority they have become.

[illumanarchy]

[thefreethoughtprojectcom]

As more people recognize the reality of living under a concentrated, elite‑driven economic order, class consciousness in America is rising. But naming the system isn’t enough, solidarity and fairer structures only matter when we understand the forces shaping them.

Read More: https://thefreethoughtproject.com/the-state/with-class-consciousness-on-the-rise-it-must-be-accompanied-with-an-embrace-of-anti-statism

#TheFreeThoughtProject

[giantpetrel]

“The side that wants to win will always beat the side that just wants to be left alone!”

“Wants to win? You mean like you do? So you must be winning all over the place, right?”

“…”

“Right?…”

“…utopian.”

“Huh. Funny how that works.”