Even anarchists have rules.

Damn, that "punk/anarchist" shit is still around?

I think the world finally needs it's first Steam Punk society, "Diamond Age"-style.

Wow. The transformation of passive-agressiveness is Portland is now complete. Even the "punk rockers" have gone soft.
I'm positive Henry Rollins would have actually shoved the beer down the kids throat. (You do know who Mr. Rollins is don't you?)

Those young whipper-snappers and their gall-darn rules. I'll drink my damn Old German if I want and who cares if my drinking causes the city to shut down this show space cuz there's tons of other over 21 clubs I can go to. Boo hoo if some underage kids can't see punk shows; cuz you know punk's only for those over 45 right, OG punks, yeah?

XXX

At fist I was surprised at this, due to I find it appropriate to drink a beer at an anarchist bookstore of all places. But if the Portland punk scene get interrupted by cops popping by, the posers literally start 'running' and "who are you?" to tell a person to quit walking around like I can remember you're fucking?

So, you're drinking in a bookstore. Awesome. Please tell me where i can go browse books as i consume my booze, 'cause, i'm there!!!
Anyways! So, your problem is that you used to drink at this place, it is now not legal ( i'm surprised it ever was ), and someone younger than you informed you of that fact. And that is not in the anarchistic way of things...oh! and you go to punk shows. Soooooo...You should be able to drink wherever you want? i certainly try to adhere to that "punk rock/anarchistic" way of living/drinking. Or is it that you feel that the youth are somehow usurping your ultra punk anarchy by telling you that you can no longer swill booze in the book store? What's your gripe? And are there other bookstores like this in Portland? Because, Damos, if you're out there....THAT sounds like a good time :)

Punk Rock is not all safety pins, syringes,hard grade liquor& death sticks. It's about standing up for your self & the youth is doing it right!
Good for that straight edge punk for showing you that your fucking done for it. Crusty& burnt out are things of the blown out stereotype that is not hard core by any means. I'm glad that your crying to I,A about such an awesome person that actually has what it takes to have a un-crusty/burnt out life& make change happen. Unlike you! What have you done to change things for the better?

i like to smoke death sticks as i pour hard grade liquor into my syringes & shoot that shite into my veins. i also stick safety pins into random places on my body, because i am 12. Glad i have figured myself out!
Who the hell defines what is what? Just curious. What is a hipster? i genuinely do not know. What is Punk? You genuinely do not know. Why define? To define any subculture genre is to watch it disappear. Language, fashion, music...it is ours for a moment & then it is sucked into the machinations of culture. i mean, yuppie moms in Vancouver wearing knee-high motorcycle boots?
i have no tattoos. That makes me a rebel in my own community & in the weird sterile world of shopping malls & $60 pants. i don't live there. And when cheerleaders have "plugs" & tattoos, i am really sitting pretty & feeling so "punk rock"...so whatever. happy days, folks.

This idiot just doesn't get it. "Anarchist" doesn't mean you get to do whatever you want -- far from it. And countless all-ages venues and punk spaces have gotten shut down due to people breaking the rules and drinking in them. I've seen it happen. People are telling you not to drink not because they want to be in charge but because they don't want something they like ruined by your irresponsible behavior, your sense of being entitled to drink in places where it's not allowed, where if there's a bust it would affect everyone, not just you.

That kid was in the right for at least three reasons

1)If the young anarchists are running this store wish to do wo, they can, through consensus principles, prohibit things in the space or impose whatever rules about conduct within the space that feel to be necessary to make it an oppression-free environment(this is why rules about anti-oppression language towards POC's and LGBT people are often prominently posted)in the workspaces and venues they are self-managing(as others above this have pointed out, anarchism isn't nihilism, bro(and/or sis). Anarchists do not believe that ALL rules are oppressive, only those rules imposed from above and without the consent and participation of those affected by them.

2)It's possible, even likely, that at least some of the other people who share this space are in recovery, and keeping alcohol and/or drugs out of the space is not repression, but simply a statement of respect for their process in doing so.

3)The kid had every reason to be suspicious about your motives in drinking in this place...how could she or he know for sure that you weren't a police or Homeland Security infiltrator assigned to create a pretext for the state apparatus to close the space down? What happened to Occupy a few months ago(and continues to happen to them) should have made you aware that Portland is one of those "liberal" cities that is always looking for a pretext to suppress alternative and dissident people. It's the sort of city whose municipal politics constantly act out the last verse of the classic Phil Ochs song:

"Once I was young and impulsive,
I wore every conceiveable pin.
Even went to socialist meetings,
learned all the old union hyms.
Ah, but I've grown older and wiser,
and THAT's why I'm turning you in.
So love me, love me, love me,
I'm a Liberal".

Why does it matter that there is a drug and alcohol clinic next door? It's not as if this guy got those losers hooked on drugs and alcohol, it's also not his problem that some people are weak.

I,A wrote: "Now I've been drinking at this book store ever since I can remember, due to myself being in the Portland punk scene."
That's such a stupid sentence on so many levels, one of which is that Laughing Horse hasn't even been doing shows for all that long. It's sad when people try to front like they're old-school and have authority on that basis when really they're just idiots risking screwing things up by breaking laws in a venue that's already holding on by a few threads.

it's like that movie with the 14 or Fight song...Wild in the Streets. And IA is one of those about to turn 30 types who hasn't realized it's time to be shipped out to an old age home.

I find it shameful & self centered that you value having a beer over their desire to be open & available for all people

These punk dudes should quit the drugs and alcohol post-haste. I have yet to see one of these types that didn't look like a piece of beef jerky by the age of 40. Enjoy dialysis, dudes.

R.I.P Punk Rock - Saturday, December 31, 1988 (the day we all moved on)