The ‘avocado toast’ millionaire has a point, guys

What is all the fuss about?

Essentially, a millionaire went on the Australian news program 60 Minutes and told millennials ‘what they should and should not buy’… I think this generation (the same one I regretfully belong to) is way too eager to get upset (‘triggered’ some might say) over the minutiae of life. There is a lengthy list of people that leftist millennials like and don’t like – and millionaires (both left and right) are near the top of the ‘do not like’ pile. So it is absolutely reasonable to expect this generation to unanimously decry a ‘one percenter’ and wage jihad over the fact that he committed the tremendous crime of critiquing their spending habits and, worst of all, targeting their precious avocado.

I see what you mean, I really do

First off, I have to give this guy’s critics some credit – I’m not exactly thrilled when people critique my spending habits or advise me against buying things I know I shouldn’t either (Proof). On top of that, if something gives me joy or helps me get through a tough day at the office, I definitely think it was worth dropping a couple more coins than I ought to have. Those are two really good reasons for not siding with this millionaire (that is what I will refer to him as, because nobody on twitter appears to be bothering with his name either).

Still, I think it is worth hearing this guy out. I am not 100% sure that the people commenting on twitter actually are informed and upset or are just chiming in with a funny joke on the topic to seem trendy. It is hard to tell which is which these days.

We (millennials) aren’t good at taking advice

Millennials, by and large, have lived their life free of criticism or conflict. The only person who has told them they’re wrong has been their college professor. It isn’t exactly surprising that when one of the millennials’ arch nemesis (the dreaded millionaire) tells them they might be in the wrong, they begin to lash out with high-pitched screeching and sarcastic jokes. Their parents didn’t criticize them, their friends didn’t criticize them, their co-workers didn’t criticize them, and they’ll be damned if they let this guy get away with it.

Okay, I’ll take it easy on my fellow millennials. Still, guys, I think the pros of hearing this guy out, far outweigh the cons. We are constantly sharing memes about how broke we are, so if that is something we want to remedy, taking advice should be a top priority. This guy is wealthy and successful so perhaps he has a thing or two to say on the topic. If you wanted to get better at basketball you’d take advice from someone who is good at basketball. Money is this guy’s basketball.

Now, to the root of the matter

The price of everything keeps going up and up. Food, gas, entertainment – you name it, it has seen a price increase in recent times. On top of the fact that the average thing costs more and more, there are a lot of products, many of which are enjoyed by millennials, that are a little overpriced (I’m looking at you Starbucks).

If we want to save up for larger purchases like buying a house (something millennials are struggling to do), cutting back on some things could go a long way. Making your lunch at home instead of going to Panera Bread every day, biking or walking places instead of driving everywhere, and yes, cutting back on avocado toast, could all be decisions that when applied for a lengthy amount of time, could pay dividends. If you ever talk to someone who has quit smoking, one thing they love to mention is how much money they have saved since getting rid of their habit. You’d be surprised at how much you can save over the course of months, when you actively try to cut back on some things.

In conclusion…

Like I said before, if something makes you happy – go for it. Grab that $4 coffee. Buy that $18 avocado toast. If that helps you get through the day – it is worth it. Still, we (millennials largely) need to stop getting offended at every little thing in this world, including people who criticize our spending habits. If we can’t take advice that might help us out, just because it means we have to look inwards at ourselves, than we aren’t going to have much success in life.

Practically everything costs more and more these days, and saving isn’t necessarily a bad thing at all. If we want to take bigger steps in life, we are going to have to be willing to make a few smaller ones in between to allow for that to happen.

Toeing the line between civil disobedience and terrorism

Even though quite a bit of time has passed since my last blog post, it seems fitting that we move from anarchism to anti-fascism. Now, whereas in my last post I took a rather neutral or pro-anarchism stance, you likely won’t see that too much during this post.

So, today we will be delving into the world of protests, riots, Antifascist Action (AFA or Antifa for short), civil disobedience, free speech and where this all is going. It truly is an enormous topic and I can in no way touch on all of it, but I will attempt to sort of present an ‘entry-level’ guide to what is happening. Here we go.

Antifa – Who are they?

If you’ve turned on the news, picked up a newspaper or came across an online article in the past few years, you may have seen a rather peculiar word scrawled across a title or two – Antifa. This is the popular abbreviation for the Antifascist movement. It has its roots in early-to-mid twentieth century ‘extreme’ communism, anarchism, democratic socialism, etc. (in many cases as paramilitary groups) with the belief that violence is necessary to fight back against society’s ills – in the case of Germany that meant the Nazi party which was then in its infancy but would continue to be enemy #1 for the group even up to the present day.

In modern times, these people are not necessarily all the same as one another and they most certainly approach issues differently than many of the other groups that you might see rallying or protesting in recent years. Without getting too much into the nitty-gritty of what their beliefs are, I think a good summary is this: Antifa is to protesting today, what Malcolm X was to protesting during the civil rights movement.

Now, that might make a few people on either side of the issue a little uncomfortable, but it is rather accurate. There are many issues that we face today and tons of people across the globe feel like they need to rally and protest for their voice to be heard. MLK did this during the civil rights movement with speeches, rallies, sit-ins and an otherwise peaceful resistance movement. Malcolm X said ‘no, no, no, that is not going to work – if you want to get their attention, you need to kick up a little more dust’, to paraphrase. Antifa side with a lot of the social and economic issues that you see at the rallies today, and many of them are among the groups that come together to protest – the difference is, they too think a little more dust needs to be kicked up.

This anything-but-peaceful movement, to be blunt, does not have an issue with committing a crime or two in order to ‘fight back’ against whatever the cause of the day may be. In a world where we are increasingly being videotaped, especially at public events like protests, these people feel the need to adopt black bloc tactics such as wearing all black and covering their face, in order to ensure that they do not have to be held accountable for their actions. However, that is not to say that they are in any way apologetic for what they do.

As I mentioned before, I won’t get into the nitty-gritty of their beliefs (link here if you wish to read about them though), but essentially they are not just antifascist, and will protest against what they deem to be sexist, racist, or any other people, events, or things which they consider offensive. As their name suggests, they also rally against oppression and tyranny such as ‘the police state’ and authoritarianism.

Antifa – What do they do?

So, how does Antifa go about spreading their message? Well, on a good day it is simply property damage or a couple of bruised egos, but on a bad day it is molotov cocktails for police officers and stabbings for ‘nazis’. The level of violence is not necessarily reflective of what is being protested, but who is doing the protesting. Certain areas and certain individuals have been responsible for large, violent riots at what may seem as over-exaggerations for what is being claimed, as we saw during extremely violent protests against Milo Yiannopoulos during a planned speech at UC Berkeley.

Antifa, as you may have noticed, has certainly been amping up the frequency of their gatherings and as such media coverage has definitely increased as well. As of the writing of this article, some of the most recent protests within America include a series of rallies in Berkeley (largely against planned speakers for UC Berkeley), a counter-offensive against the Traditionalist Workers Party in what has been called ‘The Battle of Sacramento’, and Inauguration Day protests that resulted in over 230 arrests.

I may have included a lot of links in those paragraphs, but I highly recommend clicking on at least a few of them, in order to get a good feel for what it is like attending an Antifa rally.

Antifa – Masked up for mayhem

As I mentioned earlier, Antifa protesters are easily recognizable with their black clothing and covered faces. Many would say that this attempt to protect identity is so that they do not have to face the consequences for their actions.

Personally, I used to be neutral on the topic of covering one’s face during a rally or protest. I recall following every moment of the 2010 G20 protests in Toronto as a younger, more left-leaning man. I wouldn’t say that I supported their right to conceal their identity, but I didn’t care as much back then as I do now. What I cared about was seeing cases of police brutality against people like Adam Nobody. That was what was front and centre for myself, not who the protesters were and what they were wearing; however, even back then, in my more leftist days, I did not approve of the black bloc or their more aggressive tactics.

Today I take a different stance. We still see police brutality and we still see police shooting unarmed civilians – and those things are deplorable in their own right. What is common at a lot of these protests, is that, even with the arrests that have been made, police are not taking 1/100th of the reaction that they did years ago in Toronto. Now there are countless reports of stand-down orders, which is why many of the protesters committing the various acts of violence usually go uncharged.

The combination of concealed identity and minimal police presence is a dangerous reality and something that puts protesters, journalists and even innocent civilians at risk. I am completely for free speech, I am 100% behind the right to attend rallies, protests and gatherings, and I am 100% behind civil/non-violent clashes between two groups on opposite sides of any issue. What I am not in support of is the violence that groups like Antifa bring to these events.

If you want to attend a rally, I will support your right to do so and I will support you if the police come to shut down your non-violent rally – no matter what side you are on. If you bring violence to these gatherings, I completely believe that you should be held liable for the actions that you take. That is why, while I normally would not support any laws that would infringe on a protester’s rights, I would gladly support a law that would make it unlawful to conceal your identity at a rally. I believe that such a law would discourage violent protesters from attending, or at least minimize the amount of violence that is seen.

Antifa – Inciting violence, free speech, and fascist hypocrisy

This could potentially be a rather small section, but I wanted to make a brief mention about the people inciting, and in some cases (for lack of a better word) brainwashing people into violence – because I believe it is very important to mention.

Take, for example, By Any Means Necessary (BAMN) organizer Yvette Felarca. She is a middle-school teacher in California who has not only attended many of the rallies that Antifa have appeared at, but even helped put them together. As I mentioned before, that isn’t a crime on its own. The fact that she diverts from the path of peaceful protesting should not be surprising considering the name of the organization that she represents.

As I always say (at least on my social media rants or during debates in person), I will wholeheartedly support many of the causes that those on the Left are trying to raise awareness for. Sexism, racism, homophobia, etc. – these are things that should be condemned. What causes me to get off the train is the method at which groups like BAMN go to achieve their goals, as well as their broad definition of what many of those social offensives include.

Yvette Felarca is a prime example of this. She is a middle-school teacher who simply wants to help young people, like her students, grow up in a better, more equal world. That in and of itself is nothing I could ever disagree with. When she organizes rallies with dangerous individuals, promotes violence at these rallies, and then uses her students as pawns to get herself reinstated after she loses her job – that is something I can disagree with. She isn’t even afraid to get a little blood on her own hands.

I always say – I support free speech (including things I disagree with, things that appall me and even non-violent hate speech) up to the point of inciting violence. That is why I can never support BAMN or Yvette Felarca. To silence someone because you don’t like what they say, and then to label that as hate speech, is a VERY slippery slope to go down. Going down that path leads to the very fascism that they are trying to fight. Fighting fascism with violent fascist tactics may just be the most hypocritical thing I have ever heard, and would almost cause me to burst out laughing – if the consequences weren’t so terrible. If we go down the path that Yvette Felarca and BAMN are leading us on we will wake up in a society where everyone who has even slightly different views from the mainstream social-justice narrative is in a gulag somewhere in America. That might sound dramatic but it is what a President Felarca would bring us – dissenters (much like the role she finds herself in now) arrested for disagreeing with her. That is something very indicative of every fascist dictatorship.

Antifa – Where do we go from here?

In conclusion, as I hinted at in the previous section, action needs to be taken against violent groups like Antifa. I believe that we should explore all avenues to do so, as long as rights are not being infringed. You do not have a right to conceal your identity. You do not  have a right to commit or incite violence. Those things are what have lead us to this point.

I believe in disagreeing with someone’s opinion but I do not believe in silencing it. I believe that you should still have the right to gather and protest but not if you are concealing your identity. I believe that you should be able to spread whatever opinion you may have, no matter how weird or vile, as long as you are not inciting immediate violence.

In order to curb these growing issues, while respecting the rights which we enjoy today, I believe in enacting legislation which would make it a crime to conceal identity at a public protest, rally or gathering. I also believe that we should call groups like Antifa and BAMN by what they actually are – groups that are inciting or participating in violent activities in order to spread their beliefs and to instil fear in their opponents. That is almost word-for-word the definition of terrorism. Hence, we should label Antifa, BAMN, and many other groups like them, terrorist organizations. If you want to protest about society’s problems, I will be right there with you, but it should be unacceptable to stand beside violent groups like these and allow their mayhem to continue.

No matter what, keep the protests coming. Don’t stop challenging authority. Don’t stop debating those you disagree with. Those are all good and healthy things by definition. When you bring violence into the mix, you ruin it for everyone and ultimately put the rights that we enjoy today at risk of being lost or muddied.

Anarchism – Past 2 Present

It’s a shame that somewhere in history, Anarchism became associated with violence. In the late 19th century and shortly after, it was the only political movement truly representing the people.

Not to suggest that Anarchism, past or present, is in any way perfect, but there are many lessons that we can learn from it’s values over the years. It’s beliefs can be traced back to 6th century BC Chinese philosophers. Zhuangzi wrote “A petty thief is put in jail. A great brigand becomes a ruler of a Nation.” Heck, Georges Lechartier even stated that “The true founder of anarchy was Jesus Christ and … the first anarchist society was that of the apostles.” Anarchism isn’t just about violence and destruction, as many suggest today, and in fairness it rarely has ever been about those things.

Anarchism was the first to champion TRULY equal rights of the sexes and races. During the 19th century, for example, Anarchist labour movements sprung out amidst the deplorable working conditions. These movements were fighting for worker’s rights – EVERY worker’s rights. Protests and movements across America, especially in Louisiana, were combining both black and white workers together to bring about change. The movement would later include women, who had been working in garment factories and in many other industries since the Industrial Revolution. It was about tearing down the ‘divide and conquer’ philosophy that many leaders believed was being used to control the factions of America. ‘Americans should blame the Irish for low working wages’ was the cry. ‘Americans should blame the (recently freed) African Americans for the jobless rate’ was the follow-up. Asians, Western Europeans and even Native Americans would be thrown into the mix for blame. Anarchism stood in the face of those accusations and said, ‘No, it is you, my employer, my master, my ruler, who is to blame.’

Anarchism emphasized democracy for all and encouraged participation in elections at the grassroots level instead of just a revolving door of wealthy aristocrats and their cronies. ‘Take control of your own politics, if politics is what we must have’ is what the belief would be. At a time when Tammany Hall politics resulted in a revolving door of crony capitalist elites at the helm, Anarchism put forth it’s labour leaders as alternatives, watchdogs and whistleblowers. If movements like Anarchism never took place, politics may never have felt obligated to care for those in the working class.

Now all anyone imagines when they hear anarchism is a mask-clad man with a Molotov cocktail or something along those lines. It’s a movement that has been warped and exaggerated. Anarchism isn’t about bombings or breaking windows or violence. Those things are the product of frustrated anarchists who feel it is the only way for their voice to be heard.

It’s funny though, the two major parties in America today were diametrically opposed back then to the values that anarchism represented and that we unanimously cherish today. Those same two parties are still hesitant to allow competition and true change, much like they were back then. The Green and Libertarian parties are blacklisted and third-party politics, which attempts to act as an alternative choice in a political system that Americans feel more and more is bought and paid for on both sides by Big Pharma, Wall Street, The Military Industrial Complex, The Fracking & Oil Industries and many others.

Looking forward, we must not forget to look back, or like the horse with the blinder to block it’s vision, we may only see the two ruling parties standing be, and not the other options that exist all around us.

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