MOLLY'S POLLS:

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE WINTER OLYMPICS ?:

As I type this there are only a few more hours left to go in the 2010 Winter Olympics...and also only a few more hours to vote in the poll over at Molly's Polls about 'What Do You Think Of The 2010 Winter Olympics ?'. Drop over to the link and express your opinion before it is too late.

So far the "pro-Olympic" vote outnumbers the antis. Quite frankly I find this comforting and not because I am in favour of the Olympics. I am not. What it says to me is that my goal of having this anarchist blog speaking to not just non-anarchists but, much more importantly, to those outside of the charmed circle of leftism has born at least some fruit. I've mentioned this goal before, and I'm happy to have at least some small evidence of its success. In previous surveys of my visitors I've noted how "non-leftist" the majority are. Good for me.

On the other hand, I might be quite deluded. Perhaps a lot of the voters are anarchists and leftists who take the opportunity of the anonymity of polls such as these to express opinions that they would never dare to express publicly elsewhere. 'Anarchy-wise' at least there are stupendous efforts to try and prevent not just disagreement with the goals of the anti-Olympic campaign but also any criticism of the idiotic "tactics" of the rent-a-riot that was a small part of the anti-Olympic events. This is disguised under the heading of "unity", but it is a foolish attempt at trying to hide real disagreement, almost Stalinist in its manner. What the proponents of such "unity" cannot see is that the dishonesty is obvious to those outside of the charmed circle. The number of people who say that they "have their doubts" about the Olympics but also think the opposition is on the wrong track is lower than both the definite opinions. Too bad. It's my opinion, and not just because of teh antics of the Black Block.

No doubt every political stance requires a certain amount of "evidence shuffling", but, in my opinion, people shouldn't try and make their dishonesty so obvious. Neither should they cave in to the aggression of their "comrades" because every single ideology-including anarchism- has the capacity to produce very evil consequences. The only defence against such consequences is open debate, and there is little doubt that some are desperate to close such avenues of safety. I am certainly not.