{"id":1655,"date":"2009-01-27T10:28:52","date_gmt":"2009-01-27T00:28:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/slackbastard.anarchobase.com\/?p=1655"},"modified":"2009-01-27T10:28:52","modified_gmt":"2009-01-27T00:28:52","slug":"anarchism-an-ideology-for-fuckwits-bums-lowlifes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/slackbastard.anarchobase.com\/?p=1655","title":{"rendered":"Anarchism : an ideology for fuckwits, bums & lowlifes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Melbourne (…Australia!)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Squatters, fuckwits, bums, lowlifes<\/a>
\nPublished by @ndy January 20th, 2009 in State \/ Politics, History<\/p>\n

A reply to John Surname<\/a>, principally, but also an opportunity to review some of the recent history of squatting in Australia. S is for SHACking Up, Soul Train & Squatting<\/a> (January 16, 2009) was a previous post responding to some criticisms of SHAC, but on squatting, property and housing issues more generally. John wrote on the subject of Diddly-Squatters<\/a> on January 14…<\/p>\n

Mexico<\/strong><\/p>\n

[Word on la calle<\/em> is that LASNET<\/a> gonna be organising something about the Zaps over the weekend of February 20–21–22. Stay tuned for more deets.]<\/p>\n

Beyond Resistance: EVERYTHING!<\/a><\/em> An Interview with Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos by El Kilombo Intergalactico<\/p>\n

According to what the Zapatistas have stated, one can never ascertain a belief in or vision of the future by looking at a situation from the position of \u201cneutrality\u201d provided for you by the existing relations of power. These methods will only allow you to see what already is, what the balance of the relations of forces are in your field of inquiry. In other words, such methods allow you to see that field only from the perspective of those who rule at any given moment. In contrast, if one learns to harness the power of the periscope not by honing in on what is happening \u201cabove\u201d in the halls of the self-important, but by placing it deep below the earth, below even the very bottom of society, one finds that there are struggles and memories of struggles that allow us to identify not \u201cwhat is\u201d but more importantly \u201cwhat will be.\u201d By harnessing the transformative capacity of social movement, as well as the memories of past struggles that drive it, the Zapatistas are able to identify the future and act on it today. It is a paradoxical temporal insight that was perhaps best summarized by \u201cEl Clandestino\u201d himself, Manu Chao, when he proclaimed that, \u201cthe future happened a long time ago!\u201d<\/p>\n

Given this insight afforded by adopting the methodology of the inverted periscope, we are able to shatter the mirror of power, to show that power does not belong to those who rule. Instead, we see that there are two completely different and opposed forms of power in any society: that which emerges from above and is exercised over people (Power with a capital \u201cP\u201d), and that which is born below and is able to act with and through people (power with a lower case \u201cp\u201d). One is set on maintaining that which is (Power), while the other is premised on transformation (power). These are not only not the same thing; they are (literally) worlds apart. According to the Zapatistas, once we have broken the mirror of Power by identifying an alternative source of social organization, we can then see it for what it is\u2014a purely negative capacity to isolate us and make us believe that we are powerless. But once we have broken that mirror-spell, we can also see that power does not come from above, from those \u201cin Power,\u201d and therefore that it is possible to exercise power without taking it\u2014that is, without simply changing places with those who rule. In this regard, it is important to quote in its entirety the famous Zapatista motto that has been circulated in abbreviated form among movements throughout the world: \u201cWhat we seek, what we need and want is for all those people without a party or an organization to make agreements about what they don\u2019t want and what they do want and organize themselves in order to achieve it (preferably through civil and peaceful means), not to take power, but to exercise it.\u201d Only now can we understand the full significance of this statement\u2019s challenge.<\/p>\n

It is important to note how this insight sets the Zapatistas apart from much of the polemics that has dominated the Left, be it in \u201csocialist\u201d or \u201canarchist\u201d camps, throughout the 20th century. Although each of these camps has within itself notable historical precedents that strongly resemble the insights of Zapatismo (the original Soviets of the Russian revolution and the anarchist collectives of the Spanish Civil War come most immediately to mind), we must be clear that on the level of theoretical frameworks and explicit aims, both of these traditions remain (perhaps despite themselves) entangled in the mirror of Power. That is, both are able to identify power only as that which 6 comes from above (as Power), and define their varying positions accordingly. Socialists have thus most frequently defined their project as the organization of a social force that seeks to \u201ctake [P]ower.\u201d Anarchism, accepting the very same presupposition, can see itself acting in a purely negative fashion as that which searches to eliminate or disrupt Power\u2014anarchist action as defenestration, throwing Power out the window. 18 Thus, for each, Power is a given and the only organizationally active agent. From this perspective, we can see that despite the fact that Zapatismo contains within itself elements of both of these traditions, it has been able to break with the mirror of Power. It reveals that Power is but one particular arrangement of social force, and that below that arrangement lies a second\u2014that of power which is never a given but which must always be the project of daily construction.<\/p>\n

In sum, according to the Zapatistas, through the construction of this second form of power it is possible to overcome the notion (and the practice which sustains it) that society is possible only through conquest, the idea that social organization necessitates the division between rulers and ruled. Through the empowerment of power, it is possible to organize a society of \u201cmandar obedeciendo\u201d (rule by obeying), a society that would delegate particular functions while ensuring that those who are commissioned to enact them answer to the direct voice of the social body, and not vice-versa. In other words, our choices now exceed those previously present; we are not faced with the choice of a rule from above (we would call this Sovereignty), or no rule at all (the literal meaning of Anarchy). The Zapatistas force us to face the imminent reality that all can rule\u2014democracy (as in \u201cDemocracy, Liberty, and Justice\u201d).<\/p>\n

Nepal<\/strong><\/p>\n

Crack Pot Kin, May 2nd, 2008 at 7:10 pm<\/a><\/p>\n

So how is \u2018Anarchy\u2019 doing these days\u2026which revolution are you lot leading in the world, must be everyone is too dumb for ANARCHISM?!<\/p>\n

I notice you didn\u2019t mention Nepal – but reality doesn\u2019t really suit you does it?<\/p>\n

What a pity that the Nepalese haven\u2019t taken up your \u2018First World\u2019 petty bourgeois Anarchism and instead have opted for \u201cAuthoritarian, Stalinist, Leninist, blah, blah, blah\u201d.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Nepal: victory turns sour<\/a>
\nSubmitted by Ret Marut on Jan 22 2009<\/p>\n

Paris (France… apparently)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Eating without paying? Scum!<\/em><\/p>\n

French left pioneers a radical new tactic: the picnic protest<\/a>
\nActivists take food off the shelves and invite shoppers to dine with them to highlight the plight of ‘Generation Y’<\/em>
\nJason Burke in Paris
\nThe Observer<\/em>
\nJanuary 25, 2009<\/p>\n

In exactly a week’s time, in a supermarket somewhere in or around Paris, a couple of dozen young French activists are going to choose an aisle, unfold tables, put on some music and, taking what they want from the shelves, start a little picnic. The group “L’Appel et la Pioche” (The call and the pick axe) will have struck again – fruit and veg, dairy or the fish counter will have been transformed into a flash protest against global capitalism, rampant consumerism, bank bail-outs, poor housing, expensive food, profit margins and pretty much everything else that is wrong in the world.<\/p>\n

The “supermarket picnic” will go on for as long as it can – before the security guards throw the activists out or the police arrive. Shoppers will be invited to join in, either bringing what they want from the shelves or just taking something lifted lightly from among the crisps, sweets or quality fruit already on the tables.<\/p>\n

“L’Appel et la Pioche” have struck four times so far and have no intention of stopping what they claim is a highly effective new way of protesting.<\/p>\n

“Everyone is bored of demonstrations. And handing out tracts at 6am at a market is neither effective nor fun,” said Le\u00efla Cha\u00efbi, 26, the leader of the group. “This is fun, festive, non-threatening and attracts the media. It’s the perfect way of getting our message across.”<\/p>\n

Linked to a new left-wing political party committed to a renewal of politics and activism, Cha\u00efbi’s group represents more than just a radical fringe and has been gaining nationwide attention.<\/p>\n