The strongest antagonist in The Legend Of Korra is Book 3’s airbending anarchist Zaheer.
Zaheer, for me, is one of Avatar’s most ideologically compelling villain because his dialogue is filled with poetic, philosophical, and proactively political quotes. There is a depth to his line of thought that maybe only the protagonist, General Iroh, can match.
Anarchy is Natural
“The natural order is disorder.”
~ Zaheer
For him, the chaos of anarchism is the natural way of things and any attempt at organizing a government is a slippery slope to tyranny. Thus, the only way to maintain freedom is through a world run by chaos.
Anarchism is a political theory, which is skeptical of the justification of authority and power, especially political power. It is usually grounded in moral claims about the importance of individual liberty. Anarchists also offer a positive theory of human flourishing, based upon an ideal of non-coercive consensus building.
By this line of thought, we can deduce that he sees governments as an impediment to freedom. The government’s ability to wield power over its citizens stifles freedom and can be considered as a form of oppression and thus, unnatural. Unnatural in the sense that there is no naturally occuring government systems and that a society can function even without governments.
In this precept, we are asked to choose between having unfettered freedom and oppressive wielders of power.
Revolutions revitalize Freedom
“True freedom can only be achieved when oppressive governments are torn down.”
~ Zaheer to Korra
In Book 3’s ninth episode, “The Stakeout,” while Zaheer converses with Korra in the spirit world, he rattles off examples of tyrannical or inept leaders who’ve broken the world’s balance: Fire Lord Ozai and his forefathers, the incompetent President Raiko of the United Republic of Nations, and the tyrannical Earth Queen Hou-Ting.
Even in the real world, we see examples of tyrannical or inept leaders who leads the downfall of their nations. Thus, we feel in line with Zaheer to think that revolutions are necessary evils to revitalize freedom.
A revolution, as used in political science, refer to “a major, sudden, and hence typically violent alteration in government and in related associations and structures.”
Revolutions happen when the people throw the yoke of their oppressors and revert to their initial state of freedom. Thus, we can say that Zaheer’s actions in the story is indeed guided by a philosophy that is grounded on proper political sciences.
Freedom, according to him, can only be achieved through action. It can never be achieved when people do not work for it. Aspiring for freedom is good, but acting to achieve freedom is a lot better.
“Better to die fighting for freedom then be a prisoner all the days of your life.”
~ Bob Marley
Regarding Several Things 