A cafe was opened in Toronto last March that claimed to be “anti-capitalist.” However, the cafe discovered that being anti-capitalist while trying to operate a successful business does not go hand-in-hand. The Anarchist recently announced it would be going out of business and closing at the end of the month.
The cafe describes itself as being “anti-capitalist, anti-colonial cafe, shop and radical community space on stolen land.” Owner Gabriel Sims-Fewer said, “I hope by openly declaring the business as anti-capitalist I can motivate people to think and ask about what that means, and let those who are already anti-capitalists of one kind or another know that this is a place for them, where their politics, ideas, and identities will always be welcome.”
The Anarchist claimed the business had been a huge success over the past year despite its impending closure. Perhaps anti-capitalists have a different understanding of ” success ” when running a business. Traditionally, a successful company operates perpetually and sustains a profit yearly.
The Anarchist released a statement on its website:
It’s been an amazing experience, connecting with so many great community members, sparking desperately needed debate, raising the blood pressure of Conservatives (that includes you, “anarcho-capitalists” and “Libertarians”), fulfilling the dream of most service workers by not having to tolerate the presence of professional class-traitors (pigs and military), and experimenting with living and working in ways that don’t enthusiastically embrace the pure misanthropy of Capitalism. Unfortunately, the lack of generational wealth/seed capital from ethically bankrupt sources left me unable to weather the quiet winter season, or to grow in the ways needed to be sustainable longer-term.
I’d like to say a huge thank you to Pop Coffee Works, my coffee supplier and landlords, for their generosity and patience; they could easily have sold this space, or rented for more than twice what they’ve charged me, so this place wouldn’t have existed without them. They roast the best coffee in the city, so please continue to support them if you buy coffee beans. I would also like to thank my partners, friends, and family for their huge amounts of support, without which I’d honestly be dead, or at least unhoused by now, my awesome suppliers for providing the books/art/merch that have been such a huge part of what this place is, and all the customers who have given their very vocal, and of course financial, support over the past year.
The Anarchist has been a huge success in every way I hoped, and has given me so much inspiration and education that I plan to put to use in future projects. Keep an eye on the instagram page to see what I end up doing next!
Fuck the rich. Fuck the police. Fuck the state. Fuck the colonial death camp we call “Canada”
One user in the comment section of blogTO said, “I mean I’m not surprised if it is ‘anti-capitalist’.” Another user added, “Well, when your entire existence is being ‘against’ something, it may generally appeal at the start, but you only get true followers and supporters if you have something positive and good to look forward to; a goal. No one wants to raise a family, sustain a community, or set-up long term roots under a banner of chaos forever.”
