An interesting work of art

Taras Smereka — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 00:54:50 GMT

This piece of artwork was drawn by an authoritarian leftwing reactionary. His views might be best described as "State socialist". This is a brilliant insight into the way individuals of this mindset think, as the artist sets up a strawman caricature of libertarians.

The first thing that one notices when looking at the picture is its title caption, "Internet Libertarians". There is only one "Internet Libertarian" in this picture, likely a gross distortion of a very small handful of "internet libertarians" that this individual has encountered. However, the stereotype depicted here is assumed to be accurate and is stretched to include all "internet libertarians". This shows the tribal mentality of leftists.

The backdrop is the basement of a house. There are few decorations on the wall. A single bare bulb hangs from the ceiling, dimly lighting the basement. The clock reads 3:06 AM, as the "internet libertarian" rants long into the night in response to the artist's arguments (which were likely similarly written in the night, as it seems that the internet libertarian is engaging in some sort of dialogue). The only pieces of furniture in the room are the computer desk, a chair, and a plain looking bed.

Upstairs, a parent is calling "Son, your hot pockets are ready". This alone shows off three of the artist's beliefs. First, that libertarians live with their parents in the basement. Second, that libertarians eat *###ty food which is cooked by their parents in the late hours of the night. Third, the libertarian loses track of time ranting into his computer.

The next thing to notice is the books stacked behind the computer. The selections include "Atlas Shrugged", "The Ron Paul Revolution", and "Mein Kampf". These show the artist's belief that libertarians are all Objectivists and Ron Paul supporters. It also shows how he links libertarianism with the authoritarian right, especially !!!#ism. He employs a "poisoning the well" fallacy, and does not recognize that it is a fallacy, rather he clings to it as a fact.

Finally we see our "internet libertarian". He is drawn as a stick figure (possibly demonstrating his thinness, or the artist's haste) with long hair and a beard. He is looking at infowars.com. Again, this is conflating libertarians with conspiracy theorists and poisoning the well.

In the chatbox he says "Damn that B. Hussein Obama taking MY wealth and giving it to lazy PARASITES. And @%#! that con al gore. Everybody knows "global warming" is just a cycle. THE SUN IS RIGHT THERE IDIOT". Obama's middle name seems to be emphasized just as pundits on authoritarian right demagogues often do, conflating libertarianism with the authoritarian right. The libertarian refers to people on welfare as "lazy PARASITES", showing the artist's perception that libertarians lack concern for the poor. The libertarian then apparently uses the appeal to majority fallacy saying "everybody knows global warming is just a cycle" (Ironic as self described libertarians are a minority), implying that ALL libertarians disbelieve in global warming.

All in all a fascinating work of art and window into the artist's mind

General

An interesting work of art