Argentina: Those who give speech for the poor

آرژانتین: آن ها که برای فقرا سخنرانی می کنند

There are things valued as virtuous in a society, sometimes for all the wrong reasons. Things that even cruel tyrants with any sense understand should be left alone if they expect to stay in power for any significant amount of time. Javier Milei never had much sense to begin with. Luckily, the real decision-makers decided to give him enough psychiatric medication to make him sleep away this iconic day. On March 24th, 1976, a military coup deposed the constitutional government of Isabel Martínez de Perón, starting a reign of terror of unprecedented proportions in Argentina’s history. Scholars have written hundreds of volumes on every aspect of this dark historical period. It suffices to say that in the scene of the Cold War, foreign American interests, coupled with local oligarchies, were complicit in the military coup, participating in crimes against humanity where over 30,000 people were abducted, tortured in the most horrific ways, and then killed, having their babies stolen and given to other families, their property seized, and every atrocity under the sun committed against them in clandestine detention centers.

March 24th is a national holiday as the Day of “Memory, Truth, and Justice.” Today, millions of Argentinians took to the streets to commemorate this infamous event in our history. There is not a snowball’s chance in hell that Milei’s fascistoid government could apply the usual repression and scare tactics and still manage to be in one piece. The topic is omnipresent on every form of media. It is one of those things that should not be touched. The rituals of “protests” like this are not much different from football culture. We squeezed ourselves into a train, bus, or subway. While chanting the same songs that compare dictatorship to the current government, just beside me, a couple of pensioners were discussing with a younger lefty woman how they participated in the protest on March 13th that was brutally repressed. Solidarity was ever-present at the event, which represented a cross-section of society. It was a truly inclusive event. Despite this, the official posture of the current government is negationism.

Performative Activism:

I checked my gear in case of possible repression; my setup is compact and low-profile. Just walking down the street, I came across the Antifa column. The hooded crew had been preparing in advance with special meetings for several months to supposedly train in tactics, first aid, and some other stuff. They did pretty much the same thing they do every year. They go from the same point, paint some graffiti, put up some posters and stickers, while making lots of noise and using fireworks and colored smoke for added spectacle value. All while making an extra effort to look tough. I could distinguish some known individuals wich my personal opinions vary widely from “overall a good comrade” to “please, stay at home and spare us your idiocy.”

Antifa is a perfect example of performative activism. While antifascist action is necessary, it is not equally active all the time. Antifascist action is a job, much like the job of a volunteer fireman. We put out fires of totalitarian activities when we must. The rest of the time, we train, attend to other tasks, teach others, and go on with our lives. But Antifa is something else. It is an entire subculture supposedly built around fighting fascism that ends up doing all sorts of activities but the only one it is supposed to.

Plainly put, they can’t fight fascism because they can’t even understand modern forms of fascism. They ended up doing a parody of themselves where they look more like someone who watched the cult classic film “The Warriors” too many times. Their subculture is around the music scene, fight clubs (something I really approve of), in combination with whatever “rebellious” ideas or trends the powers that be decided should be fashionable at that particular time. Substance abuse, dysfunctional cancel culture, corruption, internal power struggles. Their social group dynamics are dysfunctional and tribalistic at best and “a cause of activist burnout that runs across generations” at worst.

They defined their identity about fighting fascism, but they are unable to fight real fascism because it just flies over their head. So they need a “fascism” they can fight… That is how scapegoats are created. Not everyone you dislike is a fascist. They just need them to be that.

Holding a flag at the very rear of the formation, I see a face I clearly recognize. It is the guy who falsely accused me of being a fascist infiltrator in some group chat because I questioned some idiotic idea I can’t bother to remember right now. And how he went on and on with empty threats about how he would destroy me if he ever encountered me. While subtly caressing my concealed impact weapon, considering if I should finally take him up on his offer and send his big bloated humanity crashing down to the pavement with several fractured facial bones, I take a deep breath. I finally decided not to bother with a dog that barks more than it could ever bite.

The Unlikely Expression of Classism:

Despite what some clueless American lefties on the internet would tell you, racism is not a widespread practice in Argentine society. But classism is. As I walk through the multitudinous rally, it looks more like a street celebration than a protest. No one thinks they will be repressed in this context. This is the day where all political organizations dust off their activists and march on to Plaza de Mayo. While those multitudinous columns can roam free, they are nowhere to be seen when repression strikes. I passed through the stand of “Anarquista,” the local anarchist newspaper, seeing some familiar faces. The paper used to be good reading material before it was completely overwhelmed by the chaotic events happening in Argentina. You cannot be politically correct and at the same time accurately reflect the reality of this trainwreck of a situation.

The “imitation effect” is a marketing term where consumers of certain demographics purchase products they perceive as associated with the habits of someone of higher socio-economic class or status. A known case study is a particular whisky brand that made sure its product was served at the most elitist nightclubs where the rich and famous hung out. There was nothing special about this drink. Last time I had one, it tasted like being punched in the throat. But the imitation effect made people of lower socio-economic backgrounds start consuming it like crazy, therefore reaching its intended audience. The “market of ideas” employs this simple tactic a lot. Most of the prevalent ideas in anarchist and activist circles in general are coming from a very specific sector of American academia and popularized by celebrities and social media influencers that parrot more or less the same speech at the same time because they are managed by the same agencies.

The academic circuits, especially in social sciences, have over and over turned out peer-reviewed papers that sustained ridiculous theoretical claims with insufficient or faulty evidence, as proven in the “hoax papers” scandal. This is not to say there are not worthy recent works, but the waters have been muddied so much that these concepts should be carefully hand-picked.

The first to adopt these new trendy ideas are usually the progressive bourgeoisie. Since they never suffered any oppression and are only exposed to a very filtered and sanitized version of reality, they are on board with posturing any idea that makes them feel intellectually and morally superior. This is where classism shines. While the right-wing rich keep peddling the lie of meritocracy, in which the poor would not be in that situation if they weren’t such lazy scumbags, the progressive rich, because of their newly found ideas, can posture themselves as morally superior, wise, and knowledgeable when this can’t be further from the truth. They would lecture the poor on social media about how ignorant they are and how below their moral stature those uneducated simpletons are to anyone who disagrees or proposes an alternate approach that is more in touch with reality.

Then the imitation effect happens. And those activists and anarchists who do suffer from these social problems start acting out these delusional ideas. Notions that always seem to pacify social movements and keep them well away from any meaningful social change. Since in these conflicts, the part that is willing and able to escalate the conflict more tends to win, this ridiculous nonsense keeps us safely away from ever achieving anything and tries to convert legitimate movements into controlled dissidence. Social media also plays a role. Where you could post anything and feel like you are saving the world while not really doing anything. People lock themselves up in their echo chambers while patting each other on the back.

Anarchism Needs to Change Practices and Rebrand Themselves?

As I walk through a sea of people, everyone is cramped up in such a way that even walking a few paces was a chore. I see two masked figures gracefully flowing through the crowd like dolphins swimming through water. We found each other’s eyes with this masked female comrade as I smoothly nodded my head and swiftly moved out of the way while the pair swiftly continued their movement in a true insurrectionary fashion. As I later found out, they were the propaganda crew painting anarchist slogans that are like a cold breeze in that hot, stuffy crowd. Finding any one particular organization in that sea of flags as we approached Plaza de Mayo was an almost impossible task. No phone signal; the government put jammers in the square. I never before saw police officers who enjoy swarming and harassing homeless and random people try so hard not to be noticed all around the demonstration area and downtown in general, knowing fully well that they can and will get swarmed and stomped by the crowd. Bullies only understand force. I wonder of this multitude how many would show up if the climate was one of repression, and of those, how many would truly support with actions the anarchist ideal? Many of the spaces where anarchists congregate are subject to many dysfunctional social dynamics outlined above. There is more social grandstanding than workable, practical ideas.

If we would want some political socio-economic model to push for, we could take Kurdish democratic confederalism and carefully add some extra cleverly thought anarchist modifications for good measure. That could be a political project that pretty much everyone can support. In a very Ricardo Flores Magón fashion, “if you are an anarchist, don’t say it. Other anarchists already know, and if you say it, you will scare the fools.” With this premise, he was very successful in gaining popular support with his “Mexican Liberal Party,” even if they weren’t liberal and it wasn’t a party. Can we make regular people support anarchy and act out in anarchist ways without them being fully conscious they are supporting anarchy?

Well, they confused a chainsaw-wielding maniac with an anarchist and unknowingly contributed to the destruction of a country and their own material conditions. So, it does not really matter how good or nefarious your ideas are, but on the technicalities of making people act against their own best interests.

We can do it the other way around. New dynamics need to arise for anarchism accessible to a wide population. It needs some rebranding and some studying.

People started slowly vacating the square at 6 PM. At 21:30, there was a punk rock festival in the square in front of Congress. The same place where brutal repression happened on March 13th against the pensioners. A squad of motorcycle police roamed in the distance, attempting to look intimidating while people on the sidewalk uttered all kinds of insults at them as they finally turned around and disappeared around the corner. They are slowly regaining their bravado as the balance of powers turns once again in their favor. At 1:41 on the 25th, a friend uploaded a video taken a few blocks away where 12 officers harassed a young man over nothing, taking advantage that the streets were almost vacant.

We did not win. We just rolled back the enemy temporarily. Enough to drink, smoke weed, and have a party. Unlike most, these anarchists are not celebrating “the wonders of democracy.” We are mourning our dead, learning from the past, and conspiring for a future worth living. We see the flaws, but we also see the potential.