Poseurs for Fragging
Steven Den Beste posts a photo of a demo sign which reads: "We Support our Troops when they SHOOT their officers," and has some pointed comments.
"Don't they understand," asks Den Beste, "what their own sign really means?" I'm sure they understand, but I wonder if they take it seriously enough to believe that it is of any consequence. I doubt it; and in a way they are quite right about that, though it does nothing but damage to their cause. The connection between this repellent slogan and the actual case of a soldier trying to murder his fellow soldiers is entirely coincidental, of course; still, it ought to shame them, or at least give them pause. And of course, it won't. I've known a fair few of such weekend class warriors, and I'd say very few of them experience their activities or "ideas" as connected to reality in any way. Their notional world is entirely contained within itself, quite incapable of being communicated to anyone outside their own circle. Which is just as well, since hardly anyone outside this circle ever comes in contact with it except as fashion accessory iconography. They mean to shock and provoke, of course, but they don't truly grasp the nature of the revulsion experienced by people outside of the subculture when exposed to their more extreme stunts. It's all of a piece, the silly with the repugnant. So at bottom it is indeed something of a failure of understanding, of the sign as of much else.
The photo comes via LGF from this page of photos of the "breakaway" "anarchist" march in San Francisco, posted with obvious approval and enthusiasm on SF Indymedia. Another blast from the past in this series says "no war but the class war." These people are enacting a sick, self-indulgent let's-dress-up-like-anarchists fantasy, of no consequence whatsoever except insofar as it alienates and discredits the work of any good and decent folks who may happen to share their opposition to the war. And it's doubtful whether they're sincere about even that opposition in any serious way-- indeed, it is unserious in every respect except as an affront to taste and common decency. (It reminds me of a felicitous phrase in the Monty Python cheese shop sketch. Say what you want about this division of the Peace Movement: it certainly seems to be "uncontaminated by peace.") It is a disgrace to the peace movement and to the many sincere and conscientious protesters who have the misfortune of sharing the street with them. It bears out the worst slurs against them.
Would you fancy the chances of these class warriors were they ever to come in contact with any actual "workers"? Me neither. The masks are, perhaps, well-advised.
Posted by Dr. Frank at March 23, 2003 05:52 PM | TrackBack