One of the most recognizable aspects of the G-20 Summit held on Sept. 24 and 25, and indeed of every G-20, World Bank, and International Monetary Fund (I.M.F.), meeting is the number of protesters who turn out to demonstrate against such organizations.

While many of these protesters arrive peacefully, a few engage in destructive tactics that alienate the public and give all protesters a bad name. I speak of the black-clad anarchists in organizations such as the Pittsburgh G-20 Resistance Project. Let me preface by saying that I consider myself an anarchist, though on a personal level. I firmly believe that humans would be happier leading self-reliant, sustainable lives. However, I whole-heartedly condemn methods such as vandalism and cop-baiting, and the ideologies that justify these activities.

Forceful anarchist actions at diplomatic meetings are based on the theory that nonviolent protests don’t work. They assume that world leaders will only pay attention to the roar of a crowd if it’s accompanied by glass shattering.

Yet, if that assertion is true, why is India now free of British rule? How did Ukrainians overturn the result of a fraudulent election in 2005? How did African-Americans gain equal civil rights under the U.S. Constitution? This violent philosophy is the antithesis of the tradition created by Thoreau, Gandhi, and King.

The fetishizing of violence generates a parallel self-righteousness visible on the G-20 Resistance Project’s Web site. This conceit, above all else, is what creates the divide between the anarchist groups and the rest of the activist community, as well as with the public at large.

One article on the site, in describing a vision of an anarchist revolution says, “everything that can be destroyed is destroyed.” On the same site, several pages encourage G-20 protesters to report police abuses. Somehow the site’s administrators failed to grasp the disconnect between declaring an intent to destroy a society by force, and voicing surprise when those sworn to protect said society use force to do so.

The image of martyrdom at the hands of faceless police is a seductive one, one that obstructs far more peaceful, legal, and construction anti-capitalist protest methods such as unionization and community organizing.

And despite the nightmare rhetoric of capitalist dictatorship, America remains a democracy. The most effective way to change the system is from the inside, from the position of elected office.

In protesting events like the G-20, demonstrators must remain wary of a mythology whose only goal is chaos for chaos’ sake. It behooves us as human beings to look past the illusions of “takin’ down the System” and see how we can transform the worldwide capitalist system through patience, community, and hard work.