Book Review: Peter Gelderloos' How Nonviolence Protects the State
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Read the review that Peter Gelderloos called "assinine and misleading" and Chuck O called "Bill White Lite." Try to read Pete's book too. It's fucking hilarious. Don't miss out on what 1100 other anarchists have already read!
This book warranted not only a review, but a chapter by chapter review, substantial analysis, ridicule, and countertheory. I bought my copy at Harvard Book Store. It sat on my bookshelf for a week as I finished reading Uberpower by Josef Joffe. Incidentally, Josef Joffe juxtaposes hard and soft power in a credible way, whereas Peter Gelderloos makes a mockery of hard power by posing as a hard power himself and arguing stridently for unbridled violence in the activist community.
As you can see on the cover, he is a douche, but this is no reason not to read his book which at first glance seems to be a Straussian ploy to rally all the stupids with a one centimeter block of paper inked in inflammatory language and taking into consideration all of the salient points and icons of liberal education on the skids.
Ultimately it proves to be a big put on, but the author falls for it. Here is a comprehensive review of the worst swindle since Rock n Roll:
