Get Your Anarchy On
Some thoughts about anarchists taking action. Get Your Anarchy OnBy C.
for Infoshop News
February 2, 2006
I have to admit that despite the overall growth in the number of anarchists in the U.SA., the anarchist movement has been way to quiet of late. While anarchism is becoming the de facto political philosophy of radicals in the U.S., we are currently missing an opportunity to initiate more direct action, activism, and dissent. In the two years after Seattle, anarchists were key players in setting the agenda of the American left. Right now there are lots of anarchists and they are busy working with other groups and doing local projects, but we just aren't acting as the catalysts for social change that we should be acting as.
Anarchists have always been a bit wary of stepping up and showing leadership. We abhor vanguardism and we detest authoritarian leaders. We anarchists rightfully place emphasis on grassroots activism and decentralized power within our movements. We are good at networking organizations and people. We are good at direct action and not obeying orders, be they police orders or liberals telling us what we can and cannot do. We anarchists are also skeptical of traditional mass-based movements which tend to serve the agenda of a small group of wannabe kings and queens and commissars.
There is nothing wrong with stepping up, getting the ball rolling and serving as a catalysts for social change. I think that we anarchists in the U.S. need to do more of this right now, on everything from anti-war and anti-capitalist organizing to alternative media to workplace organizing and, most importantly, on saving the environment and the planet. This will entail thinking big and will require for us as anarchists to set aside some of our petty differences and work together.
Some of my comrades at this point are thinking "We need more organization." Yes, we need more organizations, but as tools to an end and not an end in themselves. We need anarchist organizations that achieve results, not more organizations whose main purpose is to spread the gospel about their brand of politics. When you get right down to it, most of us anarchists are on the same page, so the important questions involve what we should be doing, how, with whom, when and so on.
I think we need more anarchist organizations at the local and regional level. The purpose of these organizations should not be about mission statements and platforms, rather on action, campaigns, education, coalitions, and acheiving results for their members and the greater community. We need these anarchist organizations as places for anarchists to work together, to share ideas, to enjoy community, and to give us a base to do bigger things.
We also should continue our work with and within other groups. Many anarchists are involved with national and local anti-war groups. We are involved with Indymedia, local food co-ops, unions, environmental campaigns, anti-oppression groups, housing co-ops, and much more. We need to continue this kind of activism, but I think we also benefit by being more out about our anarchist politics. This doesn't mean converting the local peace group to anarchism, but it does mean making it known to people that you are an anarchist or anti-authoritarian. An older anarchists need to be more open, if only to dispel hateful disinformation about anarchists all being "young people who are going through a stage." Have you ever heard of a Democrat or Republican being accused of being young and "going through a stage"?
Anarchists have been smart to not emulate the ineffective tactics of groups such as ANSWER and UFPJ. People have asked us why we don't do the same thing as these groups. The answer--pardon the pun--is that these groups have been implementing really bad, self-seriving strategies. But we anarchists haven't exactly been visible about our alternatives--we haven't supported efforts such as the Anti-Authoritarian Antiwar Network, for example. I think that we anarchists need to put together some more visible campaigns, ones that don't rely on marching around Washington and San Francisco. We need to initiate campaigns that just don't knee-jerk against George Bush, but which aim to end the ENTIRE war machine and rid the world of nuclear weapons. The current anti-war and peace movements are just thinking too small.
I think we also need to organize and re-energize the anti-capitalist movement. Many people screamed that they were tired of summit convergences--which were effective for us and scaring the capitalists--they advocated for more local protests and action. Given that we've seen little to no evidence of this local activism, it's safe to assume that these people who were tired of convergence protests were armchair activists who had no intention of implementing their local strategy.
Of course, local activism and grassroots organizing is very important. Seattle, J18, Quebec City, and other summit protests couldn't have been successful without years of local activism and dissent. But if you aren't doing summit protests or local campaigns, you aren't doing anything, are you?
If you aren't resisting and protesting and disobeying in this capitalist system, then you are merely a privileged American who may be upset about issues, but aren't willing to do anything to change things.
The good news is that there are more people who think like us than ever before. We live in a country with vast material wealth and resources we can tap into. Contrary to the alarmist news you read on this website and other places, the U.S. government is not an omnipotent oppressor of dissenters. We are actually doing less when we have more freedom that our comrades in past eras, such as the 1960s. Many, many people are mad at the U.S. government right now. Many normal Americans. This will make it harder for the government to control us. Sure, the government has put some of us in jail and prisons, but we are still better off than our comrades in the 1960s.
It's easy to write a mess of words, especially the stream of consciousness rant that is this essay. I want to do more to work with other anarchists who want to be catalysts for social change. I'm willing to help set up new campaigns and organizations. Let's think big and take the lead in the anti-war movement. Let's start more campaigns against capitalists, including direct action in workplaces. Let's get more active in Indymedia and publish more newspapers. Let's start our own cable TV network. Let's plant flowers where we aren't supposed to. let's thumb our nose at authority and urge people to skip work and drop out of school. Let's work together and take action.
What do we have to lose?
