Response to "The Anarchist Profile in Santa Cruz"

KOIN, not known for its in-depth reporting -- claims by newscasters notwithstanding -- really swung a miss in this report. But beyond being factually incorrect and full of intimations bordering on libel, the simple definition of the subject they are trying to approach "in-depth" is manipulated.

Here's what the KOIN report on May 5th said:

World Book defines anarchism as a political theory that promotes the abolition of government and in some cases using violence and terror to do that.

If you watch, the video carefully, you can see that KOIN starts with an authoritative shot of the World Book Dictionary (serif typography) then switches to another book (sans serif) as the definition becomes more inflammatory.

Here's what the World Book Dictionary really says:

Anarchism 1a) the political theory that all systems of government and law are harmful. Believers in anarchism think that all such systems prevent individuals from reaching their greatest development. b) the practice or support of this belief. 2) disorder and confusion; lawlessness; terrorism.

The second definition is clearly a reference to the popular misconception of anarchy, but not the source of the KOIN confusion.

The second book is the World Book Encyclopedia from which KOIN derived the second part of their definition. The reporters have taken a portion of a larger article about historical strains of anarchism drastically out of context. The article is about what World Book terms "Terroristic Anarchism" a brief trend over a hundred years ago.

Terroristic anarchism began under the leadership of Mikhail Bakunin in Russia during the 1800's. Followers of this type of anarchism believed in the destruction of the government by violence and terror. They thought that land and other means of production should be owned in common. Many anarchists throughout the world resorted to revolution and assassination in the belief that terror would correct what they thought to be evil. They murdered heads of governments, including Czar Alexander II of Russia and President William McKinley of the United States. After the death of McKinley, the U.S. government passed a law barring anarchists from entering the country.

This was a strain of anarchism that lauded the "propaganda of the deed," and felt that if courageous anarchists put their lives on the line to assassinate world leaders, the masses would rise up against their oppressors.

A few decades later in the early 20th century, many anarchist lecturers and writers, including Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman (himself jailed earlier for a failed assassination attempt), reevaluated the usefulness of the "propaganda of the deed" and rejected revolutionary violence.

The writer Leo Tolstoy was a passionate pacifist anarchist who believed that violence was not justified even to save the life of a child. Tolstoy influenced the non-violent philosophy of Mohandas Gandhi, who considered himself a "kind of anarchist."

As you can see the philosophy of anarchism encompasses a lot of ground. While anarchists generally agree on their opposition to government and laws, mutual support for each other and others, and individual and community autonomy, issues such as violence or non-violence are hotly debated.

The KOIN report like much of the Sentinel reporting was unsurprisingly simplistic and ignorant to the point of doing real damage to real people's lives. If we were to attempt to hold people and institutional accountable in the aftermath of May Day, KOIN should be called to account.