“Throughout history, authoritarian governments have used gun violence as an excuse to take people’s firearms and control their population.This is exactly what Adolf Hitler did to disarm the German people and look at the atrocities his administration did. Obama has been working hard to try and ban all semi-automatic weapons and shot guns while at the same time increasing the weapons and firepower that police and government agencies have.”
- Anonymous
Of course, when we reference Anonymouse, we're not really talking about any one group. The people who extended this message most likely have nothing to do with the group that, for instance, is responsible for exposing the Steubenville tragedy. By nature, it's simply people adopting an anonymous identity in order to strike from the shadows.
However, if we're going to laud group wide praise on them for Steubenville and their efforts for Bradley Manning, it's also fair to point toward them as a group for words like this. To be sure, there's legitimate reason for the complaints on their part, including their citation of police violence on unarmed prisoners. Their inherent statement is that government is taking too much power to itself and leaving the people defenseless.
I stated in another thread that, overall, I don't like Anonymous. To me they're no different than the government, a group that can strike at you from the shadows, without accountability, on presumptions of your guilt. When we do this as international killing missions and espionage, it's frowned on in the liberal community. When Anonymous exposes people like those involved at Steubenville, we applaud.
But somebody said it perfectly: The Batman is only a good guy as long as he's on your side. Applauding the concentration of power into the hands of individuals who can use it to punish you without evidence is foolish, and an abuse on the part of those with the power. What of the day when, in retaliation for supporting greater gun control, Anonymous starts releasing information of gun control activists to public information? Or hacking their websites? Or plunging their emails?
Again, they're not monolithic, since one cell may have nothing to do with the other. That doesn't change the point that I can't approve of them going after those I disagree with because I may be the one they're coming after, if I'm on the wrong side of their perspective. So I clap for them with one hand. Parts of them do things I can morally nod my head at, while other things they do make me shake my head in defiance. Nobody should have the anonymous power to take vengeance in their hands. Because you might be the one being prosecuted by them.