TomE

From your description, that must have been someone who's *really* into anarchist theory... I realize this is off-topic so I'll try to keep it short, but this is something I feel rather strongly about, because I still hear too much bullsh*t and too little serious information about it: anarchism is a social theory that can be traced back as far as the origins of Christianity and Taoism, not the combined scenarios of Mad Max I through IX - no matter how many ignorant little bastards abuse it as an excuse to just do whatever the hell they want without regard or respect for anyone else.

Being to some extent part of the local punk/anarchist scene myself, I shave my head and wear combat boots too (the first for practical reasons, the second because it's the only pair of shoes i have, and the only pair that has ever lasted me five years and will probably last ten more as long as I replace the soles when they're worn through) and I get called everything from "nazi" over "hooligan" and "vandal" (did I mention I usually wear dark clothes too? Black Blocs, y'know) to "punk". Believe it or not, there are many people in the movement who -despite their looks - are actually intelligent and have ideas and alternatives that actually make sense - often more so than some good obedient citizens who go about their daily routine without even knowing why. Looks aren't everything.

Anyway, I'd be more than happy to discuss this further in a separate thread in the general forum if you wish. For now, let's get back to the original topic:

I've been writing and rewriting a reply to the latest reactions, but wasn't really satisfied with it so I didn't post it. Basically, it went along the lines of Tim Griffiths's reply.

I am aware that stopping a bully may cause him to abuse his wife & kids even more as soon as there's nobody around to stop him anymore. But still... will not stepping be better? Sometimes it's better to increase the pressure and force something to a breakthrough/conclusion, rather than let it fester. Since it's obvious that this situation isn't likely to have a happy end anyway, I'd still step in. And I'm well aware that it could end badly too, like his wife finally snapping and stabbing him with a kitchen knife and being sent to jail, with the kids being placed in an institution (that's not exactly what i mean, but the correct english word escapes me right now), or him beating her to death... whatever.

Of course I can afford to be all rational about it, sitting here comfortably behind a computer right now - maybe I'd react differently when I'm in the middle of the real thing. But still...

As Kevin said earlier - you can indeed not take responsibility for everything that goes wrong. But when you see something turn bad right under your nose, and you know you have the means to do something, I think you damn well have the responsibility to step in. Nobody can foresee everything and yes, perhaps your actions will eventually lead to worse despite all you good intentions - but as long as there's also the chance of improving something, that is no excuse for not acting, IMHO.