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The CHAZ Has Become America's Fascination
The Stranger describes it as an "anti-capitalist police-free Vatican City inside Capitol Hill." The New York Times deems it "part street festival, part commune." President Donald Trump alludes to it, via tweet, as a bastion for "anarchists" who "must be stooped [sic]."
Seemingly overnight, the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone—or, "the CHAZ," as everyone's calling it—has become a local and national fascination. It was only Monday that the Seattle Police Department loaded up trucks and ditched the East Precinct at 12th and Pine, the site of tear gas-clouded confrontations between officers and Black Lives Matter-inspired protesters in the days after the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd. Protesters have since barricaded and transformed a cluster of city blocks into a mostly peaceful enclave of free food, face coverings, resistance art, educational town halls, and even some live music. Seattle Police Department chief Carmen Best says she's heard of armed people patrolling the area and businesses having to pay "protection" fees, but as of this writing, no formal police reports related to either situation have been filed.
At a time when cities are mulling the defunding and, in a few cases, abolition of their police departments, some people might be looking at Seattle's police-free movement with a mix of amusement and genuine curiosity: Is this communal version of the American experiment a blip, or is it a preview of what's to come in other population hubs this summer? For many, however, the questions are more fundamental: How long will the CHAZ (or the People's Republic of Capitol Hill, or Free Cap Hill, depending on your sign preference) stick around? And what are its aims?
Raz Simone, a local rapper, has apparently taken a leading role in declaring a several-block area of a residential Seattle neighborhood to be an independent revolutionary state called the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (The CHAZ). Simone and a few friends, armed with several guns and a megaphone, have declared themselves the new police. He came to national attention on Wednesday when a video of him assaulting someone over graffiti came to light online.
[...] The president tweeted Wednesday and Thursday morning that the area has been taken over by a "Terrorist Warlord" and "Domestic Terrorists."
See also: The Future of Capitol Hill's New Autonomous Zone Is Predictable
Businesses Extorted? Armed Checkpoints on Capitol Hill? Yes, and Also Mercer Island Is for Sale
An Exceedingly Chill Day at the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 12 2020, @06:39PM (5 children)
Do people really think this is what happens, like at all?
Here [twitter.com] is a slightly more realistic clip of what happens when you get into anarchy. For those who don't like watching Twitter clips - it's a video of the now self declared 'warlord' of the CHAZ trying to get somebody to stop spraying graffiti on the home of some guy who's aligned with them. The "artist" ignores them, so the new-found CHAZ law enforcement become violent. Isn't ironic, don't you think?
And that's within just a matter of days with a group that's about as ideologically homogeneous as you can get. This [zerohedge.com] one directly relates to your comic: "ALERT#2: the homeles people we invited took away all the food at the Capital Hill Autonomous Zone. we need more food to keep the area operation. please if possible bring vegan meat substitutes, fruits, oats, soy products, etc. - anything to help us eat". It's a copy of a Tweet since the guy has since set his account [twitter.com] to followers only, but he's very much a part of their organization.
Now imagine a 'CHAZ' that had hundreds of millions of people, many of whom *really* *really* didn't get along. Welcome to what a country is, and it's absolutely remarkable how peaceful we've remained, for the most part. It doesn't take much for society to descend into anarchy - there are only 3 police per 1000 people. And anarchy is not some place you want to go. It's not a peaceful flourishing commune - it's a violent power vacuum where the next government is decided not by vote but by force. After all, all a government really is is the group who has a monopoly on violence.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by meustrus on Friday June 12 2020, @10:15PM (2 children)
Yup, that's what happens in every revolution. Running a government is hard.
Thing is, revolution happens. Especially when a large number of people start to feel like trying their chances in a revolution. We all know revolutions are dangerous. Sometimes it's the least dangerous option.
Rather than point out the obvious flaws of revolution, maybe we should be more responsive to the people before they start revolting.
Of course, if the protests were always peaceful, always orderly, always deferential to the authorities, then the authorities could simply ignore them indefinitely.
We should want the threat of revolution to be ever-present in the minds of the ruling class. They'll figure out how to run a better government, but only if the alternative is CHAZ.
If there isn't at least one reference or primary source, it's not +1 Informative. Maybe the underused +1 Interesting?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 12 2020, @11:53PM (1 child)
Really? You WANT that? Are you welcoming a counterrevolution?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 13 2020, @03:46AM
I'm pretty sure we could do the same thing where I live, and it would work, because I don't live in the middle of a concrete wasteland. Not sure if it's a great system for places that produce nothing "real".
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 13 2020, @06:27PM
You mean "chaos", not "anarchy". "Self rule" does not necessarily mean "chaos", even if it sometimes can be.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Saturday June 13 2020, @11:39PM
The ideological extremes actually get pretty diverse. But of course, there's plenty of other reasons for interests to diverge than ideology. Not every ideology is equipped to deal with divergence of interest.