> Pretty sure anarchists were (...) shot (...) for setting off bombs And you would be wrong. In the USA, you can look up the Haymarket Square affair or Sacco &

> Pretty sure anarchists were (...) shot (...) for setting off bombs And you would be wrong. In the USA, you can look up the Haymarket Square affair or Sacco & Vanzetti trials, for example. These are just the most famous examples, but obviously not the only ones. More recently (1950-70s) you can take a look at Cointelpro which oversaw the assassination of dozens (hundreds?) of revolutionary militants. In the history of France, the Paris Commune (and other Communes) have been repressed in blood by the government, killing dozens of thousands of civilians. Defecting from a military draft was also punishable by death, eg. during WWI when "decimating" was the norm. But beyond that, the rule of law explicitly states that you have basic human rights that should be respected no matter what. In a democratic country, you don't execute people because they may have killed someone else previously; you arrest them to stand trial. > I get the romantic appeal of anarchism I don't see anything romantic about it. In my view, it's just the only fair system (or rather, systems) we can come up with to ensure freedom and equality for all. It's very pragmatic: changing chiefs has not helped us, so why not change the rules of the game entirely and let everybody decide? > It was unions, not anarchists, who were advocating for 8 hour work days Some unions are anarchist. Famously, IWW was founded by anarchists (such as Lucy Parsons) and they for sure advocated for the 8 hour work day: not as a great solution to all problems, but as a rallying point for further social change through a global revolution. General strike was articulated by Émile Pouget and other anarcho-syndicalists back when the CGT (in France) was anarchist, as a tool for the exploited to demonstrate their power and help topple the capitalist system. > attacking strike breakers and immigrants Not saying it couldn't happen, but i'd be interested in sources and numbers. Especially in regards to immigrants, considering labor unions and anarchist circles in the USA were especially populated with immigrants who published propaganda in their own languages. > some of them were pretty violent themselves What does that say? Desperate people calling for justice will defend themselves against the oppressors crushing them. It cannot be compared to the cold violence used by bosses and politicians to silence any form of opposition. Or, put as a meme: https://i.imgur.com/LMCJBpU.jpg https://i.imgur.com/LMCJBpU.jpg