Would You Rather Live in a Fascist Nation or Complete Anarchy?

You have two choices: either you live in a fascist state, where society ticks along relatively smoothly, bar your leader being the epitome of evil, slaughtering thousands of innocents in their deluded quest for greatness and making you toe the line. Or, you live in total anarchy, where the street you once played on as a child and the meadow where you picked daisies and frollicked with your first love are now both a smouldering wreckage of your crushed memories. But you can do whatever the hell you want.

What do you choose? Actually, I don't care what you choose, because I can't hear your answer. Instead, we asked these people on the street, would you rather live in a fascist nation or complete anarchy?

Gio, 28 (left) Ryan, 28 (centre) and Marco, 27.

Gio: Total anarchy.
Marco: Definitely.

VICE: Why is that?
Gio: Because I don’t even know what a fascist state would be like to live in. What would a fascist state be like to live in?

A bit Nazi-ish.
Gio: Oh, okay. Total anarchy then.

Would you describe yourself as an anarchist?
Yeah, I like to bend the rules a bit. For sure.

And what would you do if you lived in total anarchy?
Pretty much what we’ve been doing all holiday, I guess, but you can’t put any of that in your magazine. It's too crazy.
Ryan: I quite like rules. If I didn’t have rules I’d probably be dead. You need boundaries, I think.

Kerry, 40: Not the anarchy.

So fascism?
You could still break away underground if it was a fascist nation, but, with anarchy, there’s nothing to fight against.

What if there was no room to break away underground?
There’ll always be an underground. Rules are there to be broken.

You realise what you're saying completely subscribes to the school of anarchic thought, right?
No. I'm not an anarchist.

Whatever you say.  

Ben, 25, market-stall owner: Well, I’ve always wanted to live in the kind of post-apocalyptic worlds you see in films when you're a kid, because you always see, you know, Kurt Russell, becoming king of the cage-fighters, or something, and I always thought I’d be pretty good at that.

But an apocalypse means everyone you know has to die.
Not necessarily.

Um…
Okay, well, some people would have to die. I wouldn't die, though.

Apostolos, 19 (left) and Enas, 22, both students.

Apostolos: Busy. The busier the better.

Busy-ness wasn’t an option, I'm afraid. Did you hear the question?
Yeah.

Fascism? Or anarchy?
Enas: I think you have to be in between.

A happy medium? That also wasn’t an option.
Okay, okay. I think anarchy, because everyone would be equal.

Equal, but constantly in fear of their own lives.

Jasper, 20 (left) and Charlie, 21, both students.

Jasper: Am I one of the fascists?

Wow, good question.
Charlie: I’m on the bench.
Jasper: I'm a fascist in disguise.
Charlie: We're in an ambient band, by the way, if you want to put that in your article.

You don’t look very ambient.
Jasper: Yeah, but you shouldn’t dress to fit in, you should just wear whatever you like.

That sounds like anarchy to me.
Please don’t make us sound like racists.

Tom, 52: Fascism.

Why's that?
I just would, alright? We’re heading towards fascism anyway.

What makes you think that?
Well, there are too many foreigners in the country now.

Surely that’s the opposite of fascism.
You’ve had your question, love.

Previously - What's Your Sexual Dealbreaker?