Posted on May 8, 2023

Anarcho-Tyranny and the Tragedy of the Subways

Gregory Hood, American Renaissance, May 8, 2023


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Let’s talk about anarcho-tyranny.

Anyone familiar with American Renaissance should know one of our most influential writers, Sam Francis. He coined the term anarcho-tyranny, which he said was when the government refuses to punish criminals, and instead punishes the law abiding.

This brings us to the New York City subway system and what will be a major test to see if anarcho-tyranny is our true system of government.

New York City is in serious decline. Major crimes were up 22 percent last year, and that’s after the already major increases in crime following the Summer of George Floyd.

Crime and squalor on New York City subways are a national punchline. The subway cars are filled with trash and food. Mentally disturbed vagrants wander through the cars disturbing people, and videos of people being harassed or even attacked are commonplace. The city has been putting more police on the subways, but it’s still a long way from the days of Mayor Rudy Giuliani. The New York Post reported in March that even after a recent drop in crime, the per-capita violent-crime rate is still nearly twice that of 2019.

We all know the routine on a New York City subway. When people start screaming, or dancing, or begging, look at the ground, don’t make eye contact, hope you aren’t the one they seize on today. Essentially this means that ordinary people must give up their sense of honor and decorum. Take for example this video from 2022.

You can probably think of other cases in New York and in other cities. Many people will say, “Why doesn’t someone do something?” In a serious country, you could. But why would you do that “something” in New York City? After all, the man acting out in this case was black. Who wants press outlets screaming for police action because you “attacked” a black man? Who wants to trust a New York City jury if you go to trial?

Am I being too extreme? Consider the case of Jordan Neely. Mr. Neely was reportedly threatening people on a New York City subway. He reportedly said, “I’m not taking no for an answer,” “I’m ready to go back to jail,” and “I’ll hurt anyone on this train.”

In response, it appears a group of people on the train tried successfully to restrain him. A white man — an ex-Marine — put Mr. Neely, a black man, in a choke hold. He died. Police initially did not file charges, presumably because it was considered self-defense.

The passengers had good reason to feel threatened. Mr. Neely was not kidding about his experience in jail. Neely died at just age 30, but had the rather impressive record of 42 prior arrests, including four for alleged assault, transit fraud, and criminal trespass.

The New York Post reported: “By 2018, police were seeing Neely frequently — four times in February and twice in March, sources said. Sometimes they brought him to a hospital or a shelter. Sometimes he refused to go.” In July of that year, police took him to the hospital after he threatened the conductor on a train and scared passengers. CBS reported that he had an active warrant out for a felony assault charge — apparently police were too busy to enforce that.

Nonetheless, Neely apparently still felt free to go on the subway and yell at people. People on Reddit claimed that he harassed them in the past.

He was so raucous and threatening this time that several people felt it necessary to restrain him. As you’ll see, it wasn’t just a white man restraining him.

Obviously, no one wanted to kill him. But what were they supposed to do? The police were nowhere to be found. If police can’t enforce loitering laws to physically remove bums and derelicts, apparently passengers must tolerate this.

The men restraining him released him a few seconds after he stopped struggling. According to a journalist who took the video, who said he had mixed feelings about the encounter: “This would never have happened if the police had shown up within five minutes. Then we’d be talking about a real hero.”

There’s precedent for this. In Los Angeles a few years ago, a man began screaming on a subway car. He didn’t directly attack anyone. Nonetheless, another man subdued him with a chokehold. Local media called him a hero.

In the case of Mr. Neely, politicians and activist groups are calling the actions murder — not manslaughter, which might be arguable, but murder. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez bluntly declared he was murdered and “crying for food.”

Even New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a black man, said that her comments were not “very responsible at the time where we are still investigating the situation.”

Ayanna Pressley said he was “lynched” — he was just having a “mental health crisis.”

The black journalist calling himself Toure said that a homeless man yelling on the subway is “normal.” He thinks the Marine should be charged. He had a very different reaction, however, when a black man killed a white man for calling him the forbidden N-word.

Elizabeth Sherman claimed whites are allowed to murder anyone who makes them feel unsafe.

There are protests for the so-called victim of course.

One person even compared Mr. Neely to Jesus Christ.

The worship of suffering, squalor, and victmhood is not “like a religion.” It is a religion.

The NY Working Families Party tells us “Jordan”— they’re on a first-name basis with him apparently — “needed care.” “Instead, he was brutally murdered.” “This is not who we are as New Yorkers,” it said.

Who are “we as New Yorkers”? If the recent past is any indication, New Yorkers are people who stare at their phones as the most repulsive and violent behavior takes place right in front of them. Some people might want to stop that behavior, but if the press and elected officials are going to come after you, why bother?

By October 2022, people had been violently shoved from subway platforms at least 25 times that year, with two people killed. Since March 2020, 27 people have been murdered on the subway. At least 11 were killed in 2022. Where are the protests? Where’s the outrage?

It’s not just the daily humiliation of having to stare at the floor while lunatics threaten and beg. It’s not just having to be aware of the possibility of a violent attack. Just a few months ago, video footage was released from the April 2022 rampage when black shooter Frank James wounded 10 people on the New York City subway. People are on edge for good reason.

Mayor Adams is right. We should wait to see what the police conclude. Yet the Left already has its line — that citizens need to tolerate aggressive, threatening behavior just because the person doing it is black. If there are charges brought now, it will be difficult not to conclude media and political pressure is responsible. The message will be clear: Bravery and civic spirit are not welcome in New York.

The New York City subways aren’t just disgusting, they are dangerous. Historically, progressives have touted subways ass property of the people. The Soviet Union famously had beautiful subways, the so-called Cathedral of the People. Even North Korea can do it. But New York City can’t — and apparently, progressive leaders don’t think New Yorkers deserve it.

Instead, they need to sit still and tolerate violent black criminals. They’ll mourn when something happens to one of their dangerous pets, but they don’t care about the victims of all races who are humiliated or hurt just for the crime of trying to get to work.

I say New York and America deserve better. But we’re not going to get it until we say that basic standards of civilized behavior apply to black people too.