In the distant past, the anarchists had to rely on faulty methods of communications. Letters took weeks to arrive, travel by train was the only way to get across country, and phones were a new invention. While the people of today realize that, in some ways, there were advantages to slow communications, they sincerely appreciate (for the most part) that these methods of communications.
However, after over ninety years of going downhill and losing ground, anarchists use these methods of communication ineffectively and, very often, to denounce one another and weaken their own strength.
It is time that anarchists and their allies begin to cooperate, collaborate, communicate, and converge. Fear of centralization, whether it be power or groups, is intrinsic to anarchists, but with total voluntary cooperation a centralization of communications can occur in anarchist ranks without any significant risk. Centralized communication would make it easier for anarchists to find and communicate with each other, especially over the internet.
It is also time that there was a series of convergences of anarchists, the like of which hasn't been seen since the 1800's. Gathering, communicating, educating, networking, and planning needs to happen, and our first step is to create a web of people, to create a tightly-woven tapestry of anarchists of various beliefs and philosophies across the globe.
My hope is that we will see both. My sincerest hope is that it begins to happen soon. And, to my knowledge, there will be convergences soon, in the dead center of a land that sees very little water while still having abundant life.
6.23.2008
1.07.2008
Movement. Destruction. Creation. Coexistence.
The anarchists aren't and weren't the only benevolent force that has existed. Even among the legions of the oppressed there were those who sought to make the world better. And for a long time, things did improve.
Now, however, there are many, many who wish to make things better. Fighting and vying for some way to step in and make their particular improvement more valued than the others, the number of improvements have died down. Even worse, these reformists, anarchists, and any who wish to benevolently improve find themselves faced by the oppressors, who have secretly and covertly directed all positive efforts into a shredder. Now we are all faced with two things: that which has been labeled "hyperpluralism" and futility.
And so what we need is not millions of quick fixes and improvements to a system that was broken to begin with, that was intended to remain broken from the very start, but a new system created by a vast movement.
How do we get this movement started? First, we destroy all of our previous constructs and conceptions and look at the world for what it really is. Next, we destroy the control the oppressors hold over us and everyone else. Finally, we find people dedicated to truly making the world better, not just trying to make somebody make the world better (*coughs* activism *coughs*).
Once we have removed ourselves from the corrupt foundations we stand upon and fight against, we can begin to actually take steps forward in a very real, very meaningful way. This is by creating things anew, making new and better systems among the liberated and the anarchists in which the same things are accomplished (for the most part) as were in the old ways, but in a way that doesn't require us to destroy ourselves. Theatre and acting need not be a cutthroat, competitive industry where thousands starve and fail, for example, when we could have the wandering theatre troupes of old, or steady theatres composed of dynamic actors who trust each other and put together performances paid for by the community (or not paid for at all, and simply supplied).
We don't need to fix or amend one thing. We need to create, anew, anything and everything.
My recommendation: start with the community and the arts.
With strong foundation and close connections, communities of any size spanning any distance can be the proper and best foundation for any movement anybody can dream of. With the arts in the hands of the artists, and not that of industries or competition, thought and beauty can flow freely and vastly improve everything, all at once.
But, finally, I fear, there has to be some sort of disaster, some sort of struggle, to allow this new creation to exist. Ideally, something beautiful like an affluent, benevolent, cooperative society consisting of strong communities could simply exist or co-exist with what already stands today, and eventually peacefully replace it. But it is rare to have such a peaceful creation and transition, and nearly impossible to bring about at all, so therefore we need organizing and, inevitably, be prepared to fight.
If it's not sad that we have to be prepared to fight to exist, to help each other and ourselves freely without obligation, then I don't know what is. However, we know for certain that we will have to fight, especially if we have the plights of the Zapatistas and the Russian Anarchists to look to as a precedent.
Most importantly in all of this comes the role of the organizers, however. If there is a way to create something anew that does not rest on the corrupt foundations of old, it will take dedicated time, thought, and planning by people inclined to initiate them through organization and direct action, and if it is possible even in our dreams to do this without conflict, then it will be their task.
It will be our task: organize, act, unite.
Now, however, there are many, many who wish to make things better. Fighting and vying for some way to step in and make their particular improvement more valued than the others, the number of improvements have died down. Even worse, these reformists, anarchists, and any who wish to benevolently improve find themselves faced by the oppressors, who have secretly and covertly directed all positive efforts into a shredder. Now we are all faced with two things: that which has been labeled "hyperpluralism" and futility.
And so what we need is not millions of quick fixes and improvements to a system that was broken to begin with, that was intended to remain broken from the very start, but a new system created by a vast movement.
How do we get this movement started? First, we destroy all of our previous constructs and conceptions and look at the world for what it really is. Next, we destroy the control the oppressors hold over us and everyone else. Finally, we find people dedicated to truly making the world better, not just trying to make somebody make the world better (*coughs* activism *coughs*).
Once we have removed ourselves from the corrupt foundations we stand upon and fight against, we can begin to actually take steps forward in a very real, very meaningful way. This is by creating things anew, making new and better systems among the liberated and the anarchists in which the same things are accomplished (for the most part) as were in the old ways, but in a way that doesn't require us to destroy ourselves. Theatre and acting need not be a cutthroat, competitive industry where thousands starve and fail, for example, when we could have the wandering theatre troupes of old, or steady theatres composed of dynamic actors who trust each other and put together performances paid for by the community (or not paid for at all, and simply supplied).
We don't need to fix or amend one thing. We need to create, anew, anything and everything.
My recommendation: start with the community and the arts.
With strong foundation and close connections, communities of any size spanning any distance can be the proper and best foundation for any movement anybody can dream of. With the arts in the hands of the artists, and not that of industries or competition, thought and beauty can flow freely and vastly improve everything, all at once.
But, finally, I fear, there has to be some sort of disaster, some sort of struggle, to allow this new creation to exist. Ideally, something beautiful like an affluent, benevolent, cooperative society consisting of strong communities could simply exist or co-exist with what already stands today, and eventually peacefully replace it. But it is rare to have such a peaceful creation and transition, and nearly impossible to bring about at all, so therefore we need organizing and, inevitably, be prepared to fight.
If it's not sad that we have to be prepared to fight to exist, to help each other and ourselves freely without obligation, then I don't know what is. However, we know for certain that we will have to fight, especially if we have the plights of the Zapatistas and the Russian Anarchists to look to as a precedent.
Most importantly in all of this comes the role of the organizers, however. If there is a way to create something anew that does not rest on the corrupt foundations of old, it will take dedicated time, thought, and planning by people inclined to initiate them through organization and direct action, and if it is possible even in our dreams to do this without conflict, then it will be their task.
It will be our task: organize, act, unite.
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