Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis for May 18, 2023

Never underestimate Paris Goat.

Ya think?

I bet Goat felt great doing that.

Nihilists Unite! er, uh well…

anarchy is only good when it doesn’t happen to me…

Sort of like revolution or civil war, the idea of anarchy is popular with those who have no idea what that would actually mean.

Since the days of Sacco and Vanzetti, the Anarchists have been blamed for everything, and then turned out not to be guilty: Spanish civil war in the 30es, Italian bombing in the 60es and 70es are few examples.

But I know that this is only a comic and there is no need to throw it into politics.

That isn’t quite how Godwin, Proudhon, Kropotkin, or Baldelli visualised the anarchist society.

Or you could move to Portland, Or.

Goat! Goat! Goat!

The depressing thing is people destroying the easy targets and leaving the big ones alone…

One of the few times that Goat shows that s/he is not well informed, any other goats out there? Inform yourself https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarchy

Well, that was out of character!

Haha! Goat is the one using the bat for a change.

Rat got “outratted”!

Peaceful protests are great, too.

Looks like Rat got a taste of his own medicine

Rat just got head-bXtted by Goat and reality.

Anarchy, Communism, Randian Objectivism. All philosophies that don’t work and can’t work because they ignore human nature. But some people keep believing they can work because a book says so.

The local Anarchists’ Picnic takes place near where I live every year. I always wonder how they organize it!

This must leave Rat feeling shattered!

Maybe you might want to rethink your choice of stands, Rat.

Ohhhhh, that felt sooooo good you would not believe.

I’ve always wondered how there could exist a universally recognized symbol for anarchy.

Rat that comes under the heading of No shït Sherlock .

They’re proponents of anarchy with themselves in charge of it.

Goat waited a long time to do that.

A pitcher’s mound, a baseball bat, what comes next?

Funny how the people who favor Anarchy want to be the ones in charge of it…which is totally opposite to the reality OF Anarchy.

Revolutions typically don’t end well.

Wow. Goat is my hero.

Early in the 21st Century there was an anarchist bookstore in MAD-hattan called Blackout Books. The store displayed of things that could NOT be done in the store. Think about it; anarchists OPPOSED to anarchy!

Well, that chicken came home to roost (with a THWACK).

“As the Englishman said to the anarchist, ‘Your freedom to swing your fist ends where my nose begins’.”

People don’t want ‘anarchy’ they just want justification for doing whatever they want and ignore any rule that gets in their way…

When you have nothing, you have nothing to lose

I’m in favor of a society in which (as much as possible) no person or institution has power over others. Such a society would be based on cooperation and community rather than command. I know we will never get there, but perhaps we can head that direction. Historically one of the roots of anarchist thought was a reaction against centralized socialism. The socialist part was fine, and most anarchists think of themselves as socialists, but the centralization was not so fine. Thus there was a split between anarchists and Marxists, who are centralizing socialists. The kind of anarchism I find interesting is based on analysis (as full as possible) of how power actually works in society. The centers of control are not just governments, but also churches, for instance, and of course there is the power of capital. Anarchism at its most interesting is really about the liberation of human ability so that it can flourish. I have a lot more to say on the topic, but I will leave it there for now.

Yeah! That’s about it! Violence, destruction!

Of the Key family, Anne R. was the one that got all the attention, much to the consternation of her older sister Gertrude L.

Second panel has Office Space vibes…

In 2016 we elected a bigoted, narcissistic serial Liar who had, as one of his stated goals, the destruction of the “administrative state” – which is another way of saying “Anarchy” – he was not reelected and so did no complete his goal of destroying America and so introducing the anarchy required to meet his goals…

He is now attempting to run again in order to complete the job either by himself or by means of one of his surrogates such as DeSantis, Haley, Pence, Scott, Youngkin, Christie, et al.

The ENTIRE republican political party is now nothing more than a corrupt personality cult with no clear goal other than to destroy “the administrative state” (America) – there is no longer anyone left in the party that believes in “governance” in any meaningful way…

Would’ve thought Goat was a head-butter. Who’da thunk he’d use a bat!? You go, guy!

Well, Rat seems to have the soda straw arms and legs they all seem to display.

Sadly timely, with attack on Virginia congressman’s staff with baseball bat. Thankfully he didn’t have an assault rifle. ( though “guns don’t kill people”)

Goat is so far off what Anachy means. That’s totally out of character. Goat ist far too educated to be a MAGAhatter.

Goat hasn’t had his morning coffee yet

My daughter once had a boyfriend who ran an anarchist bookstore. He told me some skinheads threw a firebomb into his store. “What did you do?” I asked him. “I called the fire department and the cops. They put the fire out and the skinheads in jail.” Unlike Pig, it didn’t make him re-think anything.

GOAT USED VIOLENCE!!! (Sort of)

The perfect government is a theocracy. That will happen in the future when Christ takes the throne in Jerusalem.

If you think it – know it, live it – and show it! … Then you gotta Take It !! … :)

Huh. I didn’t see Goat as an anarchist, but it would make sense!XD

Best left to the people, not the POTUS.

We are not amused. No comment.

Yes! Post this everywhere! Isn’t Karma a b*tch?

Anarchy is good when I get to be the only anarchist.

Many who espouse anarchy actually want to set themselves up as rulers.

You can tell Rat is a non-conformist because he dresses just like all the other non-conformists.

OG anarchists believed in a society based on consensus and sharing.

I categorize anarchy into two camps, depending on the people involved. In my preferred version, people would come together in a society that enables each individual. In the other version, we would have the old beggar-thy-neighbour idiom, in which it’s every man for himself. Of course, we kind of have that second type in the capitalist system we have now.

Isn’t Goat being ironic here? He isn’t an anarchist. He’s trying to teach Pig something.

This must be done in the right order – when the power of love is more important than the love of power, then, and only then, can you do away with most rules.

Stopped too soon.

Anarchism at least as a political philosophy is not just doing whatever what one wants. True Anarchism means individuals rights and individual responsibility. Can’t have one with out the other but together it is a recipe for peaceful coexistence and a lack of governmental coercion.

Anarchy isn’t for everybody. It’s just for people who like to think the rules don’t apply to them. You want to live in the woods with that idea – fine. City anarchists mostly live in jails of one kind of another.

Nice to see Goat come out on top for a change

All you would be revolutionaries, consider the consequences.

Surprisingly activated, Goat teaches a lesson in the reality of anarchy.

Think it through, Rat: “what goes around, comes around”….

We need more goats to come forward.

That’s not exactly how the movement works but..

History would disagree, in that, the Founding Fathers knew anarchy and a revolution were the solution! My two cents!

Goat finally gets his revenge!

Have we ever seen Goat’s teeth before?

But it was “mostly peaceful” destruction…

The people who despise anarchy the most are those who know least about it, including the otherwise appreciated author of this comic. In fact, anarchism is not the absence of rules, not at all. It is the equal right for everyone to participate in making the rules. If everyone has these rights, then no one is above the other, which is what the Greek word an-archein means. Nowadays, it would probably be called direct democracy. The comic strip reveals utter ignorance of the topic. Sorry, Stephan, but you should read Muehsam, Bakunin or Landauer before you get back on that.