Here are some good sites for more information about Anarchist ideas and practice:
- Wikipedia has a good overview to anarchist communism, from its origins to modern practice.
- Introduction to Anarchist Communism is a pamphlet by the Anarchist Federation giving one of the best short introductions to anarchist communism. Email us if you would like a physical copy.
- Libcom is the primary source of anarchist news, literature, views and debate in the UK. It has an awesome set of introductory guides, and a superb anarchist reading guide.
- An Anarchist FAQ has a thorough look at anarchism and is particularly good at debunking the false arguments against anarchism often posed by Marxists, Leninists, Trots and other authoritarian ”revolutionaries”. It also conclusively shows why right wing “libertarians” and capitalists are not anarchists by any stretch of the imagination.
My thoughts on anarchism;
Anarchists?
Ask the average person on the street what they think of “anarchists” and they’ll all probably say something like “chaos” “violence” “mayhem” or some other negative expression. Ask them what they have read of anarchist history or anarchist theory and they will probably say “nothing.” So where did they get their opinions? Obviously they got those opinions from the propaganda organ of the state and the corporate greed machine commonly called “the media”. Why should the media give anarchists and anarchism such a bad press?
Could it be because they see anarchism as the greatest threat to their desire and ability to rule over and exploit the people of this world? The state is a hierarchical structure set up to control the people and legislates to protect the wealth of the corporate greed machine. Anarchism is a non-hierarchical system of sharing and mutual aid to the benefit of all in society, the two are totally incompatible. The corporate greed machine works to exploit the population and drag all the wealth up to a privileged few, it puts a price on everything and excludes all those who can’t pay the price, be it healthcare, housing, leisure, services or the necessities of life. Anarchism seeks to see to the needs of all in society and for society to be shaped by all those who take part in that society.
The state/capitalist/corporate system produces an ever widening gap between rich and poor, plunders and rapes the planet in an endless drive to increase profits to the shareholders of the corporate beast. Anarchism seeks sustainability through a system based on free association, voluntary co-operation and mutual aid. Given a choice why choose to be exploited, why choose to struggle for the benefit of the privileged few, why sell your children into poverty? We can produce enough to see to the needs of all on this planet, the reason we don’t is not lack of resources it is simply that the system says “NO”, there must be profit in every action, profit for that greedy privileged few who control the corporate greed machine.
We accept a system of winner take all and to hell with the hindmost, our compassion and commonsense surely demand we look at the alternatives. It is only commonsense to attempt to break the downward spiral of the corporate driven consumer juggernaut that destroys the environment and creates the illusion that happiness comes in pretty packaged boxes, at a price. We owe it to our children and grandchildren to try to create a better world of peace and freedom from deprivation for all. Anarchists point the way, anarchism is the tool.
Ann Arky. What’s your thoughts on anarchism?
Have a look at this website. WSM has been around for decades. They are based in Dublin and they’re real anarchists.
Salud!
VIC
NEW SLAVE LABOUR!!
The recent disputes about foreign labour at an oil construction site, has by some, been labelled as racism but anybody with half a brain cell would see that it is all about cheap labour and undermining workers conditions. Desperate workers are literally shipped in and housed in an old prison ship and bused to and from the site. You can only imagine the living conditions after a few months living like this. It probably breaks every health and safety regulation in the book. It is also a lot cheaper and that is the real point as far as the employers are concerned. There are apparently a number of firms who have been granted contracts that UK labour unions claim have been employing non-British citizens, primarily. Polish, Lithuanian, Italian and Portuguese workers. One newspaper recently made this comment, “Behind the rash of strikes in the construction industry lies a concerted attempt by multinational construction companies to tear up hard-won agreements covering the safety, wages and conditions on multi-million pound sites.” Also the Financial Times reported “building bosses admitting to using the subcontracting system to try and hold down militancy in the industry.” This is what the corporate world mean by open borders, the right for them to ship cheap labour from anywhere in the world to any site that suits them. This method of cost cutting in a drive for ever increasing profits by the multinational companies means that health and safety regulations in the construction industry and other industries, will be shredded, death and injury will rapidly increase and living standards will plummet. It is a fact that today you are more likely to be killed if you work on a construction site than if you are in the army. We should not allow these conditions to get any worse, no matter the nationality of the worker. Is this the shape of the future employment under corporate capitalism, workers housed in prison like conditions, away from home and families, with conditions becoming ever more desperate as the corporate world scour the planet in search of ever cheaper labour to ship to this site and that site? The answer is yes, if we allow corporate capitalism to continue. We have a choice, workers control.
This article lifted from “Linchpin” the Canadian Anarchist paper.
Learning from the Greek Uprising
Patrick Murtagh
LINCHPIN
On December 6, 2008 it was not a dark and stormy night when the shot rang out, but it soon became so as a police bullet killed 15 year old Alexis Grigoropoulos. Not that such incidents are unusual. According to a spokesman for the anarchosyndicalist Greek ESE “dozens of Greeks have been killed by the police” since the end of the military dictatorship in 1973.
What was unique was the response, perhaps indicative of the harder times that we have entered. Within minutes the news spread across the country via cell phone, and informal groups of friends had gathered to protest the murder.
Protest turned to riot, and for some weeks the conservative government of Greece teetered on the brink of defeat. Dozens of universities and high schools were occupied. Working class demonstrations and a one day general strike coincided with the student revolt. The government was saved, not by its own efforts but rather by a loss of nerve on the part of the socialist PASOK and the communist KKE who ended up criticising the insurgent students and the left-socialist Syriza more than they did the government.
The events didn’t occur in a vacuum. Decades of student militancy have garnered widespread public sympathy since 1973. Tactics such as university occupations are almost routine. Then there is the general state of the Greek economy and society. Youth unemployment and underemployment are endemic and growing. The government has come to be widely seen as both corrupt and incompetent. While recklessly accumulating public debt (foreign debt was estimated to total 93.9% of GDP in 2008) the state has been demonstrably generous to its corporate friends. In various social conflicts over the past decade the state has sometimes emerged victorious, but often has been forced to back down in the face of popular movements.
Few of the factors that underlay the revolt in Greece are unique to that country, aside from the existence of a relatively large and militant anarchist movement. It is no wonder that European governments openly worried about the spread of such revolts to other countries. The Greek insurgents attempted to spread the insurrection internationally, using media events and the same cell phone tactics that had proven successful locally. The response was widespread – perhaps hundreds of sympathy actions worldwide – but distinctly poorly attended.
Then, incredibly anticlimactically, the Revolution was called off for Christmas. When the New Year arrived the usual militant Greek demonstrations resumed, but without the mass participation and occupations of December. An opportunity had been lost.
What happened shows that mass rebellion is possible in a modern state and, given economic conditions, it is almost inevitable. It also showed that modern technology can amplify small scale initiatives into mass movements. It also showed that such movements can be, at best, inspired, never directed. The Leninist dream is over.
It was also demonstrated that such rebellions have to go beyond mere street fighting if they are to lead to anything permanent. The Greeks began this process with their occupations of educational institutions and brief takeovers of media outlets. They were unable to go further, however, because of a lack of response from Greek workers who generally remained passive outside of young workers in the streets. Without such participation, “revolts” will remain limited and inevitably fizzle out with little gained.
Finally, while rebellions are inevitably spontaneous, in the absence of organization and vision they cannot go further to actually change society. This may have been the main reason for the passivity of the Greek working class. Without such a vision and clear ideas on how to achieve it, one cannot depend on any vanguard, whether it is a party or whether it is those most willing to fight in the streets.
Patrick edits Molly’s Blog:
We ban hoodies from the shopping malls, the Greek government wants to arrest them.
Greece’s government said Wednesday it wants to give police the power to arrest demonstrators who wear hoods or masks.
The goal would be to reduce public violence that followed major riots late last year, the government said.
Justice Ministry officials said the draft legislation would be submitted to parliament in the next few weeks.
Greece was rocked by riots in December following the fatal shooting by police of a 15-year-old boy.
Since then, violence by anarchist groups and attacks by far-left militants have generated a debate on policing and privacy rules in a country traditionally tolerant of public demonstrations.
But attacks by local anarchist groups on government property and other targets considered symbols of capitalism have become increasingly common in Athens.
The central Athens office of a conservative lawmaker was targeted in an arson attack, damaging the entrance but causing no injuries, police said late Wednesday.
The lawmaker, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, is the son of a former conservative prime minister and brother of Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis.
On Friday, anarchist youths wearing hoods and wielding axes and sledgehammers attacked an upscale Athens shopping area, damaging more than 60 stores.
“What happened on Friday was the last straw. This cannot continue any longer,” conservative parliamentary spokesman Panos Panayiotopoulos said Wednesday. “It must end now. This means something has to be done: measures must be taken and those measures have to be effective.”
Opposition parties criticized the proposal as an attempt to distract public attention from inadequate policing.
“For goodness sake, do you really think this kind of measure will solve the problem?” senior Socialist official Evangelos Venizelos told parliament.
The government has promised to reorganize parts of the police force, with help from London police, following the December riots.
Many conservative lawmakers are calling for a review of a ban on police entering university campuses — where rioters often take refuge — and broad restrictions regarding the use of surveillance cameras.
From the Seatle Times.
where are the christi an or existentalist anarchists?
Who cares where the existentialists are and why would a persons private spirituality be given special dispensation or presence here?
I’m very much in favour of people being able to conduct their own private internal dialogue i.e transcendental. But not at the cost of imposing those private moments onto other people in a coercive manner. Personally I find it difficult to square anarchism with christianity. Because of submissive issues. However other practices, usually ones that include respect for the environment might be applicable. I repeat the previous I don’t think one’s private practice should be given special privileges.
Anarchism now I must admit too liking the whole idea in it essance but I really can’t see how us humans could make it work as we are by nature a greedy jealous creature, it is the reason we are the top of the pile on this world.
Ok that aside convince me that Anarchy is workable in todays world, how would we make decissions on our lives, who pays the workers and with what. And what would I use too pay for the fuel I put in my vehicle to get too work or play etc…..
There is so many small and seemilly sensless questions that I have not seen answered by anarchy so for me it still seems like a pipe dream of idealists rather than a viable alternative option to the aborted bastard spawn of capatilism and democracy that rules over our daily grind of today. how will Anarchy prove beneficial to my daily grind because no matter what state we live in there will allways be the daily grind too contend with ????????
I’d suggest having a read of The Conquest of Bread and going from there