Leon something or other, yeah. He mistakenly blamed Emma Goldman for the murder which got her in a mess of trouble. My grandfather was amazed to find out I had a book on “Red Emma.” I’m fascinated by the anarchism movement. Going from believing all the lies about their non-violence to being wised-up about all their very real and true murders. Emma Goldman, Vanzetti and Alexander Berkman had other blood on their hands. Vanzetti murdered a priest in the Midwest on his trip to Mexico to avoid WWI.
Most of what I know about anarchists is from the Spanish Civil War; they served as the communists’ useful idiots in the first year, then their leadership was killed (a la “night of the long knives”) and their members forced into the communist units. The left’s morale never recovered from that (as the anarchists were the purest representation of their ideals), and they quickly lost ground after that.
I understand the concept, and with the Obama regime in power I can respect it. When people rail against the government controlling their lives, they are echoing an anarchist sentiment that was born of mistrust of ruling elites. The black-clad people protesting the WTO in Seattle may be ungovernable, but today that seems like a noble concept.
I refuse to celebrate the men who fought in the Intl Brigades as heroes, even whilst I loath Franco. Neither sides were heroes: either Stalins or Hitlers dupes, cheerboys for totalitarianism.