Dear #GamerGate supporter, this is not a post primarily about #GamerGate, but is tangentially related to it.

To be completely up-front about this, My ‘end game’ is that I’d like you to become radicalized. What I mean by that should become clear over the course of this post. For now, all I want is to present you with one claim, with a bit of preamble. It’s a claim that I believe cannot honestly be denied. One that was very important to me in forming my current socio-political beliefs.

But first I’m going to flatter you. Your support of #GamerGate tells me that you have the presence of mind not to be cowed into submission by social pressure, slander, and name-calling. You are immune to that kind of bullying. The truth is important to you. You have demonstrated a capacity and willingness to use critical thought even when it leads to taking a position that a large group of people honestly, and mistakenly, believe is synonymous with woman-hating. If you’re like most of the #GamerGate people I’ve read, you also manage to resist the temptation to demonize everyone who disagrees with you, despite some extremely vitriolic rhetoric from people on the other side. You also know first-hand that widespread stigmatization of a label is not an adequate reason to dismiss the arguments forwarded by those who identify with it out of hand. Taken all together I believe these things mean you’re more willing than 'the person on the street’ to reevaluate your pre-existing beliefs. That’s why I’m addressing this post to you.

I’ve seen #GamerGate people reliably condemn all threats of violence, no matter who their target. I’d like to see a broadening of the context to which this noble impulse is applied.

I’ll be happy if all you do is read the claim I’m about to make and think about it for a few days, even if you ultimately decide that it has no merit. Here it comes.

The continued existence of the state (or government) depends on this entity maintaining credible threats of violence against peaceful people.

That might sound surprising or even outrageous. You might feel a pang reading it and a desire to respond at once with a dismissal or rebuttal. If so please hold that thought. I made an animation called You Can Always Leave. I hope it adequately answers the replies I hear most often to this claim. Perhaps the animation already addresses what you have in mind. I’m embedding it in a player further down this page.

Before you watch the video, if you decide to, notice that on its own, acceptance of the claim I made above does not establish that these threats are illegitimate (though I believe they are). Nor does it rule out the possibility that the state is a 'necessary evil’ (though I believe it is unnecessary). Here’s the animation. It’s just over eleven minutes long, but if I’ve done my job well you might end up accepting the claim long before it’s ended.

Please carry this idea in the back of your head for a couple of days. If you find that you want to look into it some more, there’s a rich tradition of thought that’s well represented online that I hope you take a look at. Here’s one YouTube playlist compiled by user PeaceRequiresAnarchy that does a great job of hitting the most important ideas.

And if you’d like to read a fantastic book about this stuff then I strongly recommend The Problem of Political Authority by Micheal Huemer. It’s the best summary and distillation of market anarchism I’ve seen, and a much more accessible read than the formal-sounding title might suggest.

Whether or not any of this ends up making a difference to your view of the world, thanks for reading. My gratitude for the important work you’re doing with #GamerGate.