Title. Is it because looser adventurism gets more headlines? is it an image thing? Dunno how to articulate reliably what I’m thinking, just seems like all I hear about are “anarchists squat building”, or about food not bombs (admirable work so I hear), or is it just down to difficulty in organising in other groups?
I think you are overlooking some key things here. Anarchists definitely suffer similar forms of state repression. In fact the free kitchen I work for on occasion has been targeted by 3 sweeps in 2 years.
If you read my post carefully, you’ll see I said anarchists don’t get as strong pushback from the state. I stand by that statement 100%. It doesn’t mean that I think anarchist movements don’t face repression from the state. Getting targeted by sweeps is not in the same ballpark as Mccarthyism, Cointelpro, and assassinations of leadership. As MLs we seek to build enough power to credibly challenge the power of the state, and that naturally provokes a proportional response from the state and requires an adequate defense from the state. That’s not to say that anarchist movements don’t have value especially given how thoroughly ML movements are coopted and repressed. It makes sense to provide mutual aid in the short term especially given how oppressed people can be in this country, and you’re doing good work. But it’s not a movement that needs to be defended in the same way as it’s more compatible with the existing state than what we’re trying to do.
I am saying that we often face more direct immediate repression and I can provide evidence. This isn’t a contest or anything though just saying we get just as much flak.