bad activist Amon
Yup, still coordinating with my tumblr stuff--
It’s starting to seem like I’m the only person who thinks the Equalist movement most likely would collapse after the events of the finale. Now, agitation for non-bender civil rights might (or might not) continue to be a thing, but the Equalists specifically? Nah, I think they’re pretty much over.
A lot of people (like, a ton) have pointed out that Amon or no Amon, non-benders had a legitimate gripe. They’re ruled over by benders. They’re vulnerable to the bending triads, and more casually to any bender who happens to get pissed at them/wants something from them/whatever. There are ways (and technologies) to defend themselves, but these seem mostly available to the wealthy, until Amon. And even uninvolved non-benders get lumped in with Equalists and are unjustly treated because of it.
Yes, this is all true. There’s a lot of shitty oppressive stuff going on in Republic City, at this moment. The Equalist rhetoric, however, is that it goes on everywhere, and always has, and bending is the sole cause of everything bad in the world, and without it tralalalalalala utopia.
The thing is, it’s not remotely clear that this is a long-standing problem. The Council’s representatives are all benders right now, but at least one previous Council included two non-benders (the Air representative was a non-bending Air acolyte rather than the only adult surviving Air Nomad, Aang; the Southern Water Tribe’s representative was the non-bender Sokka). From what we saw of the wider world in ATLA, benders and non-benders alike constitute the world’s ruling, upper, and/or warrior classes. In the war-which Amon casually blames on bending-earthbenders, waterbenders, and especially airbenders were specifically targeted by the Fire Nation.
Personally, I think the oppression of non-benders in Republic City is largely a matter of here and now. There was undoubtedly some real discontentment before Amon came along, but it doesn’t seem there were even any movements until the Equalists, nor any besides the Equalists. That is: the Equalists are not some grassroots movement that arose naturally out of shared oppression. They exist because Noatak, prodigy waterbender, took it upon himself to exploit the injustice experienced by an oppressed group that he is not a member of-his personal history does not negate the fact that, within the context of modern Republic City, he’s part of the privileged class-and made it all about him.
The Equalists are pretty much Amon this and Amon that. It’s Amon plastered all over the signs and it’s Amon who’s the ultimate authority and it’s Amon’s tragic story that’s the centerpiece of every rally. Amon is their Chosen One, divinely called to bring about their utopia…by psychically maiming their oppressors for increasingly minor crimes, from extortion to cheating at sports to existing, thus eroding any support they might have had from less extreme sympathizers.
I mean, seriously. Amon is the worst ally ever.
However sincere his convictions (it’s really up to personal interpretation, though it seems unlikely that his thirst for power wasn’t at least part of it), he turned himself into the focus of the movement. It was Amon’s charisma, authority, leadership, abilities, personal myth, and general cult of personality that turned a bunch of discontented people into a fearsome revolutionary army. The Equalist movement was his baby. With Amon gone and disgraced, I think it really would crumble.
Oh, I suspect most former Equalists will retain their ideals and aspirations. They might even form a new movement. But if they do, I suspect it’ll be something very different.
It’s starting to seem like I’m the only person who thinks the Equalist movement most likely would collapse after the events of the finale. Now, agitation for non-bender civil rights might (or might not) continue to be a thing, but the Equalists specifically? Nah, I think they’re pretty much over.
A lot of people (like, a ton) have pointed out that Amon or no Amon, non-benders had a legitimate gripe. They’re ruled over by benders. They’re vulnerable to the bending triads, and more casually to any bender who happens to get pissed at them/wants something from them/whatever. There are ways (and technologies) to defend themselves, but these seem mostly available to the wealthy, until Amon. And even uninvolved non-benders get lumped in with Equalists and are unjustly treated because of it.
Yes, this is all true. There’s a lot of shitty oppressive stuff going on in Republic City, at this moment. The Equalist rhetoric, however, is that it goes on everywhere, and always has, and bending is the sole cause of everything bad in the world, and without it tralalalalalala utopia.
The thing is, it’s not remotely clear that this is a long-standing problem. The Council’s representatives are all benders right now, but at least one previous Council included two non-benders (the Air representative was a non-bending Air acolyte rather than the only adult surviving Air Nomad, Aang; the Southern Water Tribe’s representative was the non-bender Sokka). From what we saw of the wider world in ATLA, benders and non-benders alike constitute the world’s ruling, upper, and/or warrior classes. In the war-which Amon casually blames on bending-earthbenders, waterbenders, and especially airbenders were specifically targeted by the Fire Nation.
Personally, I think the oppression of non-benders in Republic City is largely a matter of here and now. There was undoubtedly some real discontentment before Amon came along, but it doesn’t seem there were even any movements until the Equalists, nor any besides the Equalists. That is: the Equalists are not some grassroots movement that arose naturally out of shared oppression. They exist because Noatak, prodigy waterbender, took it upon himself to exploit the injustice experienced by an oppressed group that he is not a member of-his personal history does not negate the fact that, within the context of modern Republic City, he’s part of the privileged class-and made it all about him.
The Equalists are pretty much Amon this and Amon that. It’s Amon plastered all over the signs and it’s Amon who’s the ultimate authority and it’s Amon’s tragic story that’s the centerpiece of every rally. Amon is their Chosen One, divinely called to bring about their utopia…by psychically maiming their oppressors for increasingly minor crimes, from extortion to cheating at sports to existing, thus eroding any support they might have had from less extreme sympathizers.
I mean, seriously. Amon is the worst ally ever.
However sincere his convictions (it’s really up to personal interpretation, though it seems unlikely that his thirst for power wasn’t at least part of it), he turned himself into the focus of the movement. It was Amon’s charisma, authority, leadership, abilities, personal myth, and general cult of personality that turned a bunch of discontented people into a fearsome revolutionary army. The Equalist movement was his baby. With Amon gone and disgraced, I think it really would crumble.
Oh, I suspect most former Equalists will retain their ideals and aspirations. They might even form a new movement. But if they do, I suspect it’ll be something very different.