I have always said that “anti-hate speech” is just a mask for political repression. States and ruling classes always attempt to justify repression by appealing to the dominant moral paradigm. In past times, they would use religion as a justification for suppressing ostensible heretics. When church and state were separated, the new justifications became Communism or obscenity. Now that Communism is largely dead and what was formerly considered obscene (profanity, pornography, homosexuality, etc.) is now mainstream, the dominant cosmopolitan-liberal paradigm is being used instead.

The interesting thing about this situation is that most anarchists seem to share the same moral paradigm as those who wish to ban the circle “A” (e.g. “cosmopolitanism uber alles”). The main reason that I have pushed the critique of morality developed by Stirner, Nietzsche, etc. is that moralism is always the first refuge of the state. Most anarchists reject the religious paradigms that were used to justify past states (although some anarchists hold to a subversive counter-paradigm rooted in religion like the Christian anarchists). Most anarchists reject the secular ideologies that have been used to justify modern states (social contract theory, vanguard party, fuhrerprinzip, etc.). But, regrettably, most anarchists still have not shaken off the “progressive-left” or “cosmopolitan-liberal” moral paradigm and its pieties like “progress,” “inclusion,” and so forth.

By John Vibes

Free Thought Project

Ontario, Canada – Last week, officials with the City of Hamilton legally ordered a local anarchist group to remove the anarchy symbol from the front of their headquarters, under the pretense of fighting against hate speech.

According to CBC News, city officials called the symbol “hate material similar to the swastika,” citing property damage caused by an extreme group of black-bloc anarchists during recent protests.

“The anarchist symbol is considered hate material by the City of Hamilton and Hamilton Police Services and as such, must be removed,” City spokesperson Marie Fitzpatrick told CBC News.

Ironically enough, the anarchist headquarters that is being asked to remove the symbol from their storefront was itself a victim of vandalism, and the symbol in question is painted onto a piece of plywood that is covering the shop’s broken window.

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