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Introduction and Synopsis of The Anarchists Episode 3
This week’s episode of HBO and Blumhouse’s The Anarchists continues to explore the Anarchapulco community’s enthusiasm with crypto currency and how its crash effected the conference, as well as how organizers and founders of the conference have been impacted by the stress of organizing the event and the cryptocurrency crash. Now, despite the poor attempt at research and exploring anarchism, I will give credit where credit is due.
Whereas the past two episodes of this limited series have been nothing short of uninspiring, this episode picked up and piqued my interest. Todd Schramke focused more on the people behind the yellow and black flag of the ancap community of Acapulco, their relationships, and the tragedy that I’m sure will pique any viewer’s interest in these people’s story.
No Gods, No Masters… Unless You Have Crypto
This third episode of The Anarchists kicks off with a montage of “anarchists” boarding their planes or entering their hotel rooms in preparation for the Anarchapulco conference. The montage is paired with Lily Forester’s reflection on the current state of the ancap community in Acapulco. Here, Lily spotlights the issue we have been anticipating with the oxymoronic hybridization of anarchism and capitalism. Paired with various clips of the conference goers partying, Lily says Anarchapulco took on a “rock star vibe,” drawing more and more attention to itself and straying further and further from what the original mission of Anarchapulco was.
Based on these clips, we can infer that Anarchapulco is no longer an anarchist conference, while it maintains its face with branding, the shamefully improper use of the anarchist A, and speakers who spout superficial anarchist rhetoric, it is time we call Anarchapulco for what it is. A sham. A lavish excuse for grifters, investors, and other business or executive types to fly down to Acapulco, one of the most dangerous cities in Mexico, hide themselves away in their luxurious hotel rooms, and party on in security while the rest of the city sleeps uneasily, as the cartel prowls the streets injecting drugs into the community, leaving death and sorrow in their wake.
Crime will take up more space in this story as we move forward. Although, at the midway point of this limited series, we are still very much in an exposition-esque phase. It is not until the end of the episode that promises us a deeper dive into how things begin to fall apart for this anarchist community and how crime will play a large role in this de-evolution. So now, dear reader, I ask you to hold out just a while longer. We will see the crumble soon enough but before then, let’s sit back and see how it all begins to unfold.
The Capitalists and the Hippies
Now, as we know from the previous episode, Lily and John set out to organize an alternate conference, Anarchoforko which, unlike Anarchapulco, is organized from the bottom up and maintained a relatively decentralized structure. With Anarchapulco and Anarchoforko side by side, we are shown not only how difficult it is to organize such an event, but the toll that it has taken on its organizers.
Let’s begin where it started, or rather where it ended up. That is, with Nathan Freeman and his family. Over the course of these three episodes, we have come to know Nathan as one of the primary movers and shakers of Anarchapulco. Jeff Berwick, after proving unable to adequately organize the conference, brought Nathan on after he had volunteered himself. However, as the conference grew bigger and bolder, Nathan was overwhelmed and throughout this episode, we see Nathan begin to struggle to balance his personal and professional life.
This leads to a discussion between Berwick and the Freemans about bringing on more personnel to help in organizing the conference and eventually leads to Nathan being pushed out from his role as an organizer by Berwick. Here we begin seeing the true paradoxical and hierarchical nature of this conference. It is as Lily Forster has said so far — an imperfect representation of anarchism.
Bearing this in mind, let’s not turn to Anarchoforko, organized by Lily and John. As opposed to the structure of Anachapulco, which has, what appears to be, a strict hierarchical organization, Anarchoforko is a more spontaneous and decentralized structure. Now, although I view anarchist capitalism as a large-scale grift draped in anarchist clothing, I will give credit to Lily and John where credit is due.
The conference was a success and it was true to the decentralized nature of anarchism. This was illustrated excellently by the documentary in the way that it showed how the conference was comprised of small workshops with breakout groups sitting in circles speaking to each other or demonstrating something that is supposedly important to the anarchist community in Acapulco.
Now, I am not going to sing the praises of John and Lily’s conference. They are, after all, ancaps who organized an anarcho-capitalist conference, but at least they made an attempt organizing in a decentralized manner which is the closest. (Even though “decentralized organization” is only one aspect of anarchism, we have gotten to seeing what authentic anarchist praxis).
The fork has caused a riff between the ancaps of Anarcapulco and the Anarchoforko organizers, John and Lily, to the point where they have been ostracized to an extent by the Berwick, Freeman, and company. The ongoing tension at Anarchapulco paired with the Bitcoin crash. Anarchopulco’s attendance to a dive. While this is a significant development in the Anarchapulco story arc, but it is not what captivated this viewer. Instead, let’s look at the interpersonal relationships between a different set of characters: John Galton, Lily Forester, Jason Henza, and Paul Propert.
The Cocaine Cowboy Anarchapulco
Surprisingly, it took three episodes for The Anarchists to bring the issue of drugs and crime to the fore. It has been hinted at in earlier episodes of the documentary that Acapulco is unsafe because the cartels took over the city. They maintain their grip on power through the drug trade and violent crime. Paul Propert, currently a former United States Army Soldier disillusioned by the American State, fled to Acapulco, Mexico to find his “tribe” and it is with Paul that the plot thickens.
Paul was introduced in the previous episode as the nomad “evacuating” the American state in a refurbished school bus dubbed “The Battle Bus.” Now, based on the fiasco that was the stolen Crypto ATM, his rambling monologs posted online, and his one-man coke business being conducted in a hotel room at Anarchapulco and then again at Anarchoforko, Paul is a dangerous character.
Unfortunately, Paul only descends further as the episode goes on as he gets chased by security at Anarchapulco for selling cocaine, kicked out of John and Lily’s place after attempting to sell at Anarchoforko, and goes so far as to threaten to kill Jason Henza’s ex-wife and to “throw hands” with John Galton.
Now, while Paul at this point seems like some kind of caricature, it would do us well to remember the damage that turned Paul into who he is, a direct result of the military-industrial complex and the poor way this country takes care of the men and women it sends to fight its wars.
Final Thoughts on The Anarchists Episode 3: Death Beyond the Barricades
At this point, The Anarchists is still a shoddy attempt at an exploration of anarchism. The documentary is showing more promise, primarily because of the shift in focus from an exploration their ideology to an examination of the relationships between the main cast of subjects. This episode comes to a head at the last minute or so when it is revealed in a Facebook video of Lily in hysterics she witnessed Henza being shot three times and John killed by an unknown assailant.
While many of us were looking forward to seeing how the Anarchapulco community would come apart at the seams, it is unfortunate that the death of John Galton appears to be at the heart of it all. As for the quality of this documentary, I have made it explicit that this is extremely poor exploration of anarchism. It is becoming a very interesting examination of the division of class and how money buys both luxury and safety.
On a final note, I will say that this documentary has certainly picked up, but only because it is capitalizing on the tragic murder of John Galton as well as the torrid past of other subjects of the documentary-like Paul. While the drama between these parties has certainly piqued my interest in this documentary, I am reminded that we forget that behind the strongmen, movement, and ideologies of the world, there are people who truly believe in what they were sold and are selling.
On one hand, the big picture is certainly interesting. On the other hand, however, the people that comprise the image and the messes they get themselves into or out of are sometimes more fascinating and nuanced than the image itself. While my stance on this documentary as a superficial and irresponsible portrayal of anarchism still stands, I enjoyed this episode exponentially more because the focus shifted from Berwick and company selling me their pathetic excuse for what they believe is anarchism, to the relationships these subjects had with each other, how they lived, suffered, and died tragically.
This article was edited by John Tangalin.