Burning Pages

Letter to Tim DeChristopher

2011-08-17T18:28:00.000-07:00

What follows is a letter to Tim DeChristopher. If you haven't heard of his case, I recommend you look through the news. I also suggest that, in solidarity, you write a letter to him as well.

Dear M. DeChristopher

I have loosely been following your story in the media. I think it is amazing what you have done. I am also facing some legal troubles. I was arrested with the Drone Resisters in Syracuse, NY 22 April. That was my first “real”¹ activism outside of local issues and High school organisations. I want to assure you, as I'm sure it's already very clear to you, that there are many people out here in support with you.

The Anarchist Recipe Book (Crimethinc) states that all who face arrest or jail are heroes. They are the Joe Hills, Saccos, Vanzettis, and Haymarket martyrs of our movement. Luckily, martyrdom these days doesn't usually entail execution. Just reminding you that you are indeed a hero.

In his book We Have Been Invaded by the 21^st Century, David McReynolds writes that “every last mother's son and daughter among us, rich or poor, wise or foolish, has the inalienable right to be jailed for his beliefs.” With that understanding, I'd like to thank you for your will and your boldness to defend the Earth and protect the human species from the dangers our society is creating.

Reminding you that you are a hero,

and in Solidarity,

Ian William Schlom

1Viz. national.

More notes on Proudhon

2011-08-17T13:28:00.001-07:00

I went back to the library after I had returned What is Property?, and transcribed all the notes I had made in it. For some reason I am going to post it up here. While I was scanning it, I forgot to make a picture scan, so it's just a pdf and available here. So that's that.

Notes on Proudhon

2011-08-12T14:34:00.000-07:00

I had to give back What is Property? to the library, and thus tear out the notes I had put on the pages. In an effort not to lose them, I am posting them here.

Then Proudhon was not free, for he was a "victim of erroneous opinions."

This is about Proudhon being racist. In What is Property? he says that people with an erroneous opinion are not free, ergo Proudhon is not free from his Anti-Semitism, not to mention all the other European Chauvinisms.

The capitalist is stealing the value the laborer created... Property is theft.

This is about the part in Chapter 3 where Proudhon creates the picture where by calling wages a proper exchange for the value that workers create, the capitalist steals from the workers the values they had added to whatever substance they labour on. Thus while it is not exactly accurate to say that Property is Robbery, the contemporary system of property is indeed theft.

St. Simon coined this maxim!

This refers to where Proudhon quotes a version of the popular maxim "to each according to his capacity; to each capacity according to its results!” Of course, this is not the Socialist form of "From each according to their ability; To each according to their need." It caught my eye nonetheless.

Chomsky - [On] The IWW and Anarcho-Syndicalism

2011-08-07T17:41:00.000-07:00

This is some email communication I had with Mr. Chomsky. I'm putting it up here because it ought to be up here. I sent this while I was reading the Industrial Worker, and also wondering about the Cornell ISSE and if it could play any role is actually contributing to any change in workers' rights in Ithaca NY, or just be another college reading circle. Chomsky's response follows.

Ian Schlom ...

Sun, Aug 7, 2011 at 5:23 PM

To: Chomsky...

Dear Professor Chomsky,
I've heard rumor (Wikipedia) that you are a member of the IWW.
Do you think that the IWW is a viable means for bringing worker justice or even anarcho-syndicalism?
If it's not too much, I'd also love to hear your position on strategies that are openly socialist, like Socialist parties or organisations, if those tactics are "too early" and put off people.

Thank you,
Ian Schlom

Noam Chomsky

Sun, Aug 7, 2011 at 5:51 PM

Reply-To: chomsky...

To: Ian Schlom ...

Yes, I’m a member. The IWW was quite significant a century ago, before it was wiped out by Woodrow Wilson. It’s be slightly resuscitated in recent years, and is doing some good things, but it’s a collection of very small groups.

The problem with Socialist organizations right now is not choice of strategies, but bringing them into existence. Right now most of the battles are defensive: trying to preserve what was once achieved. If that doesn’t change soon, it will be too late.

The New Age and Sherman Alexie's Reservation Blues

2011-07-16T14:43:00.000-07:00

I have endeavoured to make a post every month for this blog. Today, I have finally gotten around to picking something up to publish on this blog. This is an essay I wrote in an independent study. Since I don't really make a distinction in my school work and my political activity and thinking, I think it's be fine if I published this here.
I was once part of the New Age movement. I was a Wiccan and performed rituals (Mainly sabbats at the end of the year). I then became Asa Tru and believed in my interpretation of the Norse Gods. I then became a materialist, first a deist, then what I called an Apatheist - convinced that spiritual beliefs are purely cultural and psychological, and that the existence of a spiritual being didn't matter to anyone. I now identify as a Secular Humanist. Since the cop didn't know what a Secular Humanist was, it says on my first arrest report than I am an Atheist.
So, in writing this, I was casting away the New Age that had made a strong impact on my development.
P.S. I still am interested in Norse mythology and the allusions to it in poetry are very easy. I recommend the Poetic and Prose Eddas, as well as the sagas and lays that form the litereary manifestation of the Norse. It's good reading.

The New Age and Sherman Alexie's Reservation Blues 28 March 2011

By Ian W Schlom

Reservation Blues by Sherman Alexie has a theme that addresses the New Age movement. In it are Betty and Veronica, two white women from Seattle who are obsessed with what abounds in the New Age movement – an Indian Fetish.ⁱ This can be very insulting and harmful to Native Americans. For instance, in one point of the book, Thomas Builds-the-fire, after hearing a song by Betty and Veronica, collects all that he has in his house and puts it in a pile to watch and make sure no one else steals anything from him any moreⁱⁱ (Alexie 1995 pg.296).

Walking in a New Age aisle of a book store one can find a shelf of prominent New Age gurus discussing the deceased tribes and how the special wisdom of those Native Americans can enhance your livelihood, power, finance, sexual prowess, and save the world as we know it. This is often condescending, as if selling the idea of their culture and establishing an 'Indian' idol,ⁱⁱⁱ as if forming a new New Age cult stealing from tribal customs can be considered reparations or earn forgiveness. Stereotyping of Native Americans began with the first encounters. First the Puritan conception of the 'Ignoble Savage', the barbaric murderer who scalps women and children and burns the villages of innocent whites. Then with the wave of European romanticism came the 'Noble Savage', who's intimate knowledge of the wilderness gives him a spiritual connection and becomes the first conservationist.^iv Respectable yet dumb, the noble savage usually plays the side-kick to the white hero who gleams the info from the noble savage's interesting lessons from the tribe.

Trying to assume the identity of the idolised Native Americans is a failure at the beginning. Many whites find out they might have had Native American ancestry and spend a vacations at reservations, calling themselves Indians.^v As Sherman Alexie remarks through several of his key characters, “You can't be an Indian unless once you wished you weren't.” This suggestion strikes the heart of the 'Indian fetishist' tendency in the New Age, which proclaims as Betty and Veronica did “My skin is white/ But I'm Indian in my bones.” (295) This movement that acknowledges the genocide against their idols ignores the insensitivities of its worship, putting forth the idea that 'anybody can be an Indian', just as anybody can be an ancient Celt or German, assuring New Age customers of their legitimacy and authenticity.

This brings me to the quote of the 'Cavalry Records' businessman, which exemplifies the propellant of this Indian Fetishism: “...There's been an upswing in the economic popularity of Indians lately...” (92) With large companies recognising the genocide that took place, and the rediscovery of their cultures, they capitalise on this opportunity and give consumers a chance to give their lives meaning by supplying the 'Tool-kit to be Like the Hopi' and the 'Little Big Book of Indian Wisdom'. Given the unfulfilling lifestyles of today, access to an alternative lifestyle for a short time supplies the illusion of meaning and the impression that your life is interesting and worthwhile. Thus Indian Fetishism is used to escape from and invent meaning within Capitalism, which has in general alienated its members, instead of directly challenging the system and raising the Social Question. Indian Fetishism, along with other currents that exoticise foreign cultures, presents the façade of anti-capitalism because it is alternative.

This industry fuels and solidifies the cultural colonialism that is Indian fetishism. Idolisation and fetishism is still part of the colonial enterprise to destroy and assimilate Native cultures, perhaps inadvertently, by generalising, glamorising^vi, as well as inventing Native cultures, the truth of those cultures becomes twisted. Also, making these generalisations allows for a fabrication of myths and imposed culture, for both native Americans and New Ageists to enter and adopt, for instance Builds-the-fire and Victor's attachment to an eagle feather when boarding an aeroplane. In an article, Sherman Alexie writes that “after reading such novels, I imagined myself to be a blue-eyed warrior nuzzling the necks of various random, primitive and ecstatic white women. And I just as often imagined myself to be a cinematic Indian, splattered with Day-Glo Hollywood war paint as I rode off into yet another battle against the latest actor to portray Gen. George Armstrong Custer.”^vii The loss of true and original cultural traditions are replaced by the mythical/stereotypical and fabricated traditions. It is in this way that the New Age Indian Fetishism assimilates Native Cultures.

Throughout the novel the characters are harsh towards New Age believers. Both Chess and Builds-the-fire repeat “You can't be an Indian unless once you wished you weren't,” and other characters also repeatedly make fun of Betty and Veronica, asking where their crystals were, exposing the general hostility towards the New Age movement. This may be just ridicule of the New Age movement, not exclusive to those Native Americans, but the antagonism is made clear the way Sherman Alexie crafts the story. Take the above mentioned part, where Builds-the-fire collects his things to prevent them from being stolen. When the band and Betty and Veronica meet, Veronica is surprised to find that the idol she'd been praising as an holy or grand thing, coerces her into performing a sexual act (43). Veronica's case can provide the omen that the Indian Fetishism does not provide the meaning or satisfaction it's supposed to for those in the New Age movement, and obviously provides inaccuracies through stereotypes.

Ultimately, this Indian Fetishism is harmful and insulting to Native Americans, and it does not serve to actually give meaning to those who would seek it through Indian Fetishism. This is one of the points provided in Sherman Alexie's Reservation Blues. The best way to go forward from here would be to stop searching for meaning through sensational avenues, cut off the demand for those sensational avenues, and harness some manner of sensitivity and awareness of how behaviours and actions can effect the flesh behind the idol.

iI will be referring to the New Age stereotyping and idolisation of Native cultures as Indian Fetishism and actual American Indigenous peoples and cultures as Native Americans.

iiAlexie, Sherman. Reservation Blues. New York, NY: Grove Press, 1995. Print.

iiiBy which I mean an idol to the idea of their culture.

ivBarnes, Michael. "1665-1860: The Development of Two Savage Stereotypes." Authentic History Center. The Authentic History Center, 17 Sep 2010. Web. 27 Mar 2011.

vOne website declares the benefits of Native American ancestry, taxation exemption. "Uncovering your Native American Ancestry Entitles You to Tribal Benefits." Native Net. Native-Net.Org, 2011. Web. 27 Mar 2011.

viThat is by making the human “Indian Chief” into some kind of messiah.

viiAlexie, Sherman. "I Hated Tonto (Still Do)." Los Angeles Times 28 Jun 1998: n. pag. Web. 24 Mar 2011. .

Bibliography

Alexie, Sherman. "I Hated Tonto (Still Do)." Los Angeles Times 28 Jun 1998: n. pag. Web. 24 Mar 2011. .

Alexie, Sherman. Reservation Blues. New York, NY: Grove Press, 1995. Print.

Barnes, Michael. "1665-1860: The Development of Two Savage Stereotypes." Authentic History Center. The Authentic History Center, 17 Sep 2010. Web. 27 Mar 2011.

"Uncovering your Native American Ancestry Entitles You to Tribal Benefits." Native Net. Native-Net.Org, 2011. Web. 27 Mar 2011.

Proudhon - 1840 - What is Property

2011-06-30T06:43:00.001-07:00

Proudhon is the philosopher who coined the term "anarchy" as most anarchists today understand it. Although Godwin founded the tradition of political anarchism, Proudhon gave the movement its title and its socialism.
So although he says "I can claim no merit save that of priority of utterance," he cannot even claim that. Nonetheless, his book, What Is Property?, is worth reading, especially if one would like to be well read in the anarchist tradition and history. Since prior formatting is annoying, with horizontal lines in the middle of a sentence, or the pains in reading a Google Book (although they can be cool! what with being scans of ancient books stuffed in old libraries), I have decided to format a PDF of this book. It's uploaded in my files and available for viewing here.
In chapter five, he discusses anarchism, and defines the new term.

Nestor Makhno Addition to the Burning Library

2011-06-03T19:37:00.000-07:00

I just finished formatting another PDF. It can be downloaded here and of course is available in Makhno's own aisle of the Burning Library.
The PDF is My Visit to the Kremlin. It's his account of interviews with Lenin and Svernlov, two important Bolshevik leaders. The eBook is quite short, only 23 pages - good for summer reading.
I'm not certain why I am making so many PDFs all of a sudden... Oh right - it's less trying than actually writing.

Hancock 38 Drone Resisters

2011-06-03T05:32:00.001-07:00

Just let me waste some time and distract myself from homework.
37 people were arrested in civil disobedience to the use of drones in warfare. They did this because the use of drones in combat and surveillance scenarios is real fucking illegal. Really, 38 people were arrested, since someone's truck left tire tracks on Hancock airfield's lawn - even though he was advised to park their by the authorities for the demo.
I am going to be finishing and hopefully publishing an article about drones in war. When I am finished, I will post a PDF or links on this blog.

The Conquest of Bread

2011-06-01T11:46:00.000-07:00

I just finished formatting a PDF of the Conquest of Bread. It's available here and in the Burning Library for download.
This is a very quick and inspirational little book.

Noam Chomsky Page Added

2011-03-29T04:28:00.000-07:00

Check it out, the Noam Chomsky Page!
I will soon add the few RSS links I have related to Noam Chomsky, so, be ready to have fun with that...

Noam Chomsky has written so much, it fills up too much of the page on the Burning Library, so I decided to create a page dedicated to his works alone. Hopefully, if anyone reads or uses this site, they will find this helpful.
note: right now it's just his bibliography from his page, but I am slowly going to start building it up, starting with what's in the burning library.

Walk-Out and March in Ithaca NY

2011-03-12T14:42:00.000-08:00

students from the Lehman Alternative Community School walked out at 2p.m. in solidarity with Wisconsinites and democracy, and in unison with students in Portland. During lunch the protesting students made signs for which to carry while marching. At 2p.m., teachers gathered to see off the high school students, and after hearing a speech by the principal Joe Greenberg, telling them that those who signed out to protest would be getting community service credit, the students left.
They marched down State st. to the Commons to gather, in which two students spoke on why they were there. They decided to march the entire commons chanting their chants: "We love our teachers, and their union too!", spelling UNION, "Ithaca Fights for Union Rights", "Ithaca Fights for Teachers' Rights". After, they chanted at the Ithaca Journal, trying to get media exposure. Then, went to New Roots charter school to get anyone who would come out, marching then down to Ithaca High School (IHS), chanting all the way (although the back of the long line was less intense in chanting). When they got to IHS, chanting on campus while the school was in session made officials come out telling the protesters to come back after school was over, at 3:32.
The protesters retreated to the bridge. Three IHS students joined them on the bridge. In total, according to a count by a member of the protesters, there were roughly 95 students there. At 3:32, the protesters came to the bus lot, and chanted on their lawn, in accordance with ICSD officials. As it was disbanding, students with signs met with IHS students and asked them if they would like to know why they were protesting.

Peak Oil and a Changing Climate

2011-02-01T20:37:00.001-08:00

The Direction

2011-01-20T13:31:00.000-08:00

With the additions to this blog's capabilities, the pages that can be added and my crude news analysis, I am thinking about what the direction of this blog will be. Given that I have an extremely small readership (although blogspot tells me that I have a mini readership in Russia... how strange) I am thinking about what direction I want to take this blog. I have put up writings, given my not so well-thought out opinions, and provided some of my well-thought out opinions. But on this blog, I've written about what I've done enough. I'm gonna write about this blog's future. I've been busy. I've been thinking of utilisation and purpose. Combined with this, I am thinking about how useful this blog is to the success of my purposes. Among my goals, both long- and short-term, are campaigns on utilising a listserve for an LACS family group and creating a student group at LACS to help with community outreach for the IC Living Wage Campaign, broadly finding fundraising opportunities for an LACS Family Group, getting signatures for a petition, popularising the Anarchist idea, and in general disseminating information and resources for those who would like to read about anarchism or what it is. The Burning Library has accomplished some of that. This blog would not help with the listserve situation, although if you would like to see any posts from afar, you can subscribe to the RSS here, and if you have any ideas on fundraising in Ithaca or the surrounding area, please forward me and my FG any info. To popularise the Anarchist idea, you need to first have an arable soil, there is little that my blog can reach. Dissemination is what the Burning Library and part of what the blog is about. The Living Wage issue, however, might be something I can use this blog to help with. I'm just not sure how this blog will help with that.

Democracy Now! November 30th, 2010

2010-12-02T20:08:00.000-08:00

Very intriguing is the cuts in federal workers Obama is imposing. The cuts have been happening to workers all thorughout public sector workers in Europe. Maybe I've been dreaming most of the time, not unlikely, but this is the first of cuts in public sectors I've heard of. The European cuts evoked from workers strikes and tumult. I'm interested in what the response will be from American workers. I was happily surprised at Richard Trumka's response

Embedding shit, woo hoo.

2010-11-02T05:36:00.001-07:00

The Nestor Makhno Archive.

2010-10-30T11:03:00.000-07:00

I updated the Nestor Makhno section. I left the nestormakhno.info link, but just added another page, adding from other sites and cancelling redundancies. A note of redundancy: I have two editions of the Platform. One from the MIA and another from NMA. This is because the MIA version contains the conversation of the Platform with Makhno and Malatesta, and the NMA has recent conversations on the Platform. Also, for further conversation on the Platform, there is more in the misc. links below the Platform links.
If you like Nestor Makhno, the theoretical discussions of Platformism, or Anarchism in the Russian Revolution, enjoy.

Discontinuation or Transformation

2010-10-17T00:04:00.000-07:00

The, quite literally, dead press (pun!)
I feel obliged for some reason to make a post. I don't have many things to say or many topics to explore, aside from news for the blog. Upon certain realizations I've been pondering discontinuation. But one of the reasons this blog may find value is its digital library, which serves as the blog best defense for its self-preservation.
The digital library is something I want to elaborate and evolve. When I did the Chomsky dissemination binge, I found that it was a total pain in that ass, and that with so many articles, it clogged up the library. Therefore, I am going to create a page for all the articles, and then provide a link to that page in the library. Thus, one article of Chomsky, or anyone else, for a large compilation.
Regarding discontinuation, the blog has seemed to come to halt. A halt to what would seem to be underdeveloped thought, largely influenced by people much clearer than I. There is one blog post idea, yet it is a transcription of something I wrote on a receit about Nestor Makhno, likely from last year. The problem would seem to be that, since I have few original things to say, and since most original things to say, I don't make public (although this would be the place to make it public, so I'll remember to jot it down when something comes on), this is either a waste of time, a vacant blog, or something to be molded into something else.
Initially I had wanted this to be something of a reporting journal (high in the sky, I realise), particularly focused on the activist movements. There's really no reason I should exclude myself from this, since it would be disempowering otherwise to dismiss my opinions of events, however there are others who's opinions, being far more richer and informed than mine, who would better replace my initiative.
Thenceforth I wanted to have a blog in which I would explain theories and concepts. My reasons for turning away from this have already been stated.
And now we come to here, a collection of links calling itself a library next to a vacant blog, without or unaware of material to fill. So the drive for transformation becomes apparent. What may perhaps happen is a commentary or critique of writings by others, such as The Coming Insurrection and what not. This is informal, so likely a combination of many things.
If anyone would have any suggestions of any kind, please comment.

p.s. Perhaps the reader was annoyed by the part of 'original things to say'. Perhaps not, regardles I will explain: Those original thoughts I do have are fairly small or detatched, and happen only every other while, so that is why they rarely find their way to the blog.

The Stranger creates emptiness and paints it with colours in vain, yet colourful empitness created by the Stranger, must necessarily be strange colourful emptiness...Ultimately strange fake visions...

2010-09-24T13:47:00.000-07:00

I'm sick, but I felt like doing something. So I went on a dissemination binge, I got a bunch of Noam Chomsky books for the 'Burning Library'. Some of these are incomplete. I don't exactly remember, I had it remarked but because of a mistake it got erased.I got:
Year 501: The Conquest Continues
The Prosperous Few and the Restless Many
Keeping the Rabble in Line
Secrets Lies and Democracy
What Uncle Sam Really Wants and a flaming review
9-11 and on 9-11
Preventive War: The Supreme Crime
The New War Against Terror
Anarchism, Marxism, and Hope for the Future
Class Warfare (audio)
Failed States
Fateful Triangle +
Hegemony or Survival
-?
Imperial Ambitions
(incomplete) Media Control
Necessary Illusions
On Miseducation OR
On Osama Bin Laden
The War in Afghanistan
Philosophy and Public Philosophy
Pirates and Emperors, Old and New
Powers and Prospects
The Culture of Terrorism
The Propaganda System
Turning the Tide U.S. intervention in Central America and the Struggle for Peace
Who are the Global Terrorists
Understanding Power
You Are Being Lied To
Deterring Democracy

If any of these links somehow fucks up, please let me know.

Said the Pot to the Kettle

2010-09-19T15:11:00.001-07:00

This is one of the first zines I read about anarcha-feminism.

Response to a neoliberal

2010-08-16T12:56:00.001-07:00

This was from a conversation I had with a staunch Ayn Rand enthusiast. In retrospect, I should commented on the superb welfare state that funds the corporations that he and Ayn Rand adore, and the 'socialism for the rich; capitalism for the rest'.

"My definition of human rights is this: http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/
Your "definition of human rights" is the usual individualist oriented ideology that supports neoliberal doctrine. In turn justifying hegemonist corporate/capitalist atrocities and obviously in violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. That's probably the different premises that is making this clash, from one that emphasizes property and the worries of the wealthy, to one that emphasizes universal welfare and the needs of the poor.

"But the fact remains that government has made it clear that they will be expected to continue to shoulder more and more financial burdens to pay for some politician's wet dream. That is what they seek to escape."

Oh boo hoo, the multi-billion dollar machine is expected to pay the federal government to help single mothers feed their children.
I think that your understanding of this situation is pretty flawed, not surprising considering the apparent neoliberal indoctrination. In this situation there are three entities: the corporations, the political entity (government), and the poor people. In this situation is John Dewey's efficient observation that "Government is the shadow cast on society by big business", most accurate and fitting. For one thing, big businesses, or as Chomsky appropriately calls them, "unaccountable private tyrannies," pretty much control the government to do the bidding of the "National interests," namely the interests of the rich and the strong. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels effectively illustrated the use of the government in the Communist Manifesto (I'm not a Communist BTW): "The executive of the modern state is but a committee for managing the common affairs of the whole bourgeoisie." The poor people are left out of the decision-making process, which is not democracy, but in this case a plutocracy. But there is sometimes a burst of democracy where people try to force the government to care about them. The people try to realize material security, and pretty much Article 23.
Therefore that "politician's wet dream" you speak of is the guarantee of education, healthcare, in effect, material security of the people.
The real "politician's wet dream" you speak of is when the government is paid to ensure that the rich stay rich, the people are not heard, the Universal Declaration is ignored, and that the people who are powerful enough to pay the money to control the government live comfortably.

"Here's another fact: I don't care.
Taxes are a form of theft, done under the threat of force (e.g., give us your money or face the law). Regardless of their alleged uses (sorry, but I don't support punishing the wealthy for the problems of the poor. They earned that wealth and it is theirs to use as they please), it is immoral. And forcing more taxes on businesses that are already struggling to get money isn't going to help them expand, which is what leads to more employment."

That's funny, I took you for a patriot American exceptionalist.
Taxes aren't a form of theft. I want to pay taxes because it will go to the welfare of my community (in a just society, but we live in a hegemonist society so it goes to keeping the rich rich and to killing strangers to secure "National interests"). If you want to go around making bold pronouncements based in ideology like "Taxes are a form of theft", how about this? Wages are a form of slavery, and slavery is immoral (not to mention a violation of the UDHR). Today, the rich don't pay taxes, they live in comfort. Using the system above, the government (in the ‘80s, when troubles in the economy started off) lightened taxes on the rich, and laid heavy taxes in the poor. Taxes stopped going to the welfare of the people, but the luxury of the rich. To illustrate, the poor work as slaves to the masterly rich, and pay taxes which go to paying for the perfection of the military state or the limousine.
Let's look at one of the good things that taxes fund - education. Public education allows for the economy to become stronger. A more efficient education allows for the learning of skills which is crucial to the strengthening of an economy.
Where do the problems of the poor come from? The worker is only paid enough to survive. The sick are denied treatment because they are sick poor. The young are denied excellent education because their parents are blue collar and are meant to dwell within the caste. The poor don't receive the money to live in dignity (which, by the way, violates Article 25). America is not a meritocracy. There is an illusion that is common among citizenry (because they've been indoctrinated) that if you're rich, it's because you've worked very, very hard. It's true for the small business, but for the giant, they are rich because of ruthlessness, violation of treaties with workers, and working in the system above of socialism for the rich, capitalism for the poor. Essentially, the rich are so rich not because of honest work, but efforts toward vicious class war and inheritance.
Taxes may be immoral when it goes to war and fraud, but they are not at all immoral when they go to funding education and welfare, eventually healthcare (which is a human right). What is immoral is that some drive expensive cars, while many live hardship and submit to others because ‘they work harder', and it is declared that there is equality.
Now imagine a world where the plutocracy has total control of life, there being no obstacle such as a potentially democratic political institution to impose accountability. No social security, no medicare, no institutions sponsored by tax to protect people's material security. Not hard to imagine, especially in the Third World (where this reality exists). People would be given only enough money to survive and propagate more slaves to serve the lavish masters. Not to mention the horrifying working conditions.
Behind the colorful patriotic, and nationalist preaching in neoliberal doctrine, this is the goal, the victory of the class war.

"Land has no value in and of itself (honestly, you're talking about DIRT); its value is based on how it may improve the life of man (e.g., growing food, providing natural resources, etc). Also, if the land in question is privately owned, the owner has the right to do whatever he wishes with it, as the right to property includes the right to use and disposal."

I am not talking about dirt, I am talking about water. Take for instance hydrofracking, where thanks to dismantling laws to protect water, companies use unsafe drilling methods that pollute water. Let's imagine that someone allows a company to drill on their land, it poisons their water, and their neighbor's groundwater. What right does someone have to ruin someone else's water? Watch Gasland for the account.

"I would like to see you show me proof of what you're claiming. I've seen what the people like you define as slavery and how you blow things out of proportion."

Read Profit Over People by Noam Chomsky
Read No Logo by Naomi Klein
Watch : http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4513202692382805096
Watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8firb73r67g&feature=related
Watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYaDY-xTzZ0&feature=related
Watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvnEc48A7yM&feature=related
Watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4se4jYI9KAc&feature=related
Watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0tIB9m_BBg&feature=related
Watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yf2CSUoxyOk&feature=related
Watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUmyevPS2cY&feature=related
Pilger does pretty good movies, and Chomsky is refreshingly objective.

"And what kind of governments do those countries have?"

These countries have dictatorships that obey the companies that fund them. Without these dictatorships, there would be labor laws, and the effort to out source would not have happened.
Now justify it for me =)"

This thing.

2010-08-16T08:25:00.000-07:00

For fun I'll examine what this blog has been used for, how it's purposes have evolved, perhaps mainly because I long to post, and I have nothing else to use. First off, it was gonna be an amazing underground news source blog. Then I found a bunch of Anarchist news papers at Silent City Distro, and a Socialist news paper at Autumn Leaves. Didn't really have any sources to make news anyway. Then I started ranting. Not as proud of those rants as I am today, my animosity towards the police is a bit more evolved, more sophisticated. Then it became a place for my political writings, that was cool. That's probably what it should be for. I have a few things that I am planning on writing, in the process of gathering sources for. I have a CIA memo (That Noam Chomsky used OMG HA THAT'S SO FUCKING AWESOME!), that describes how the state is not at all a representative of the public's wishes, which is what a nice "democracy" should be, that I will use.
So then I stopped being so active in writing. After Wage-Slavery, which I amended (mainly the last paragraph I disagreed with), I didn't really think I could make anything else that could match up to it. But I am working more now. But since there's such large gaps it also turned into a disseminating blog. Real useful, since I have such a large audience to disseminate to...
Finally, I have plans to make it somewhat a library. On the Anarchist Publications/Library, I have slowly been getting more items. So I have decided to expand on this process. One might ask, Dr. Fish, if you do not have any readers, why would you do this? Dr. Fish might say "I have nothing better to do."

So news items for the blog, things to develop:

an article for the Burning Library (1800's)
another article for the Burning Library (American Power and the New Mandarins?)
something on Afghanistan and the campaign to dismantle the media and smother the publics with propaganda.
What is Democracy or The Possibility of Democracy
a rant about Jesus, and why he's so special
a an arguement with a neoliberal
Obama

Urgent! Industry spends $1 million to stop fracking moratorium

2010-07-29T00:58:00.000-07:00

In the past few weeks our combined efforts have brought the
Sweeney/Thompson 11-month moratorium back to life. Last week several
Republicans came out in support of the moratorium, and Senate
leadership took up the issue. Now, as the Legislature returns to
session and many expect the bill to come to a vote, oil and gas
corporations are increasing the pressure on legislators in an effort
to defeat a moratorium. The industry has devoted more than $1 million
this year to lobbying the Governor and Legislature, with $350,000
spent just since May.

Gas corporations are pinning their hopes on politics as usual, but
we’ve come too far to let the industry stop us now! The wind is at
our backs, but we need to make our voices heard in this final push to
get a bill passed.

CALL our leaders in Albany and tell them to stand up to the corporate
bullies. We need them to do everything they can to build and maintain
support for the moratorium in the face of this threat to our water and
public health.

Senate Majority Leader John Sampson
518-455-2788

Senator Antoine Thompson
518-455-3371

Assembly Majority Leader Sheldon Silver
518-455-3791

[read more about industry lobbying in today's Times Herald-Record:
http://tinyurl.com/BackBurnerSenator ]

Please forward widely.

Frack Action
www.frackaction.com
(347) 709-3585

We Are The Dead

2010-07-09T11:42:00.000-07:00

The Third World War is over,
And the Fourth has begun.
You say it's a joke,
But when you see the starving and bleeding,
it's nothing but the war we face.
The piper plays for the plastic audience.
As a theatre screen burns,
And the fire spreads throughout the city,
Throughout the countryside,
Throughout the metropolis,
Thoughout the entire world,
An International Youth stands to speak,
"Theatre! Theatre!"
Our composition is blood,
And our expression is soul.
As the audience melts,
As the hollow dolls leak oil,
As the piper finally dies,
The lycanthropes notice that somethign went wrong.
Maybe it's that their children bleed for nothing.
Maybe it's that their water burns.
Perhaps the soma salesman was finally shot.
Perhaps it has come and gone,
We are already the dead.

July 7th, 2010

Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill - Anything New?

2010-05-15T13:55:00.000-07:00

BP is just another oil company, a capitalist corporation with its capital as oil production/refinery. What is the cause of this oil spill? It is the lack of safety precautions and disregard for regulations that caused the leak. If BP had bought and installed the precautions that would have costed next to nothing for them, we would not have an ecological disaster such as this.
Obama says he is angry at BP for the oil spill. Then why did he not drive for enforcing the safety protocol and regulations that would have prevented this tragedy? The aggression and avarice coupl;ed with the indiffreence towards the survival of the planet as long as their mansion remains uneffected, being allowed to run amok is also the fault of our failed attempt at a Welfare State.
Resolutions from the most collaborationist to Revolutionary:
1-Perhaps this will serve as a wake-up call to the State to remind them of how Privatized Tyranny running amok leads to discontents in the populace, particularly that most affected. Which will lead to a few more safety regulations and restrictions on how said tyrannies will play a role in oil production and extraction.
2-Perhaps this will serve as a wake-up call to the populace to put stresses on the State and the Oil Bourgeoisie to do the functions mentioned above.
3-Hopefully this will serve as a wake-up call to people that States and Corporations are never to be trusted, and that any good is done by the will of democracy, real authentic democracy. And this wake-up call will lead to a bit more of authentic democracy.
4- Maybe this will help point out that Capitalism is a dangerous system, and when looked at from the point of view of the decent human being, a flawed system, as it gaurantees an extreme imbalance of wealth and power, and will culminate towards the desctruction of the Neoliberal-Capitalist regime and the creation of the democratic and egalitarian society everyone longs for.
Who knows? Maybe nothing will happen.

Remember 5/5

2010-05-07T15:41:00.000-07:00

This on the tragedy on Greece. I feel betrayed by these fools who call themselves anarchists, and by this remorseless banker who took property to the extreme and caged his workers to be slaughtered by the former fools.

http://www.occupiedlondon.org/blog/2010/05/07/what-do-we-honestly-have-to-say-about-wednesdays-events/

The text below summarises some initial thoughts on Wednesday’s tragic events by some of us here at Occupied London. English and Greek versions follow – please disseminate.

Κάποιες πρώτες σκέψεις πάνω στα τραγικά γεγονότα της Τετάρτης (5/5) από κάποιους/ες από εμάς του Occupied London. Ακολουθεί αγγλική και ελληνική έκδοση του κειμένου, παρακαλούμε διαδώστε το.

What do we honestly have to say about Wednesday’s events?

What do the events of Wednesday (5/5) honestly mean for the anarchist/anti-authoritarian movement? How do we stand in the face of the deaths of these three people – regardless of who caused them? Where do we stand as humans and as people in struggle? Us, who do not accept that there are such things as “isolated incidents” (of police or state brutality) and who point the finger, on a daily basis, at the violence exercised by the state and the capitalist system. Us, who have the courage to call things by their name; us who expose those who torture migrants in police stations or those who play around with our lives from inside glamorous offices and TV studios. So, what do we have to say now?

We could hide behind the statement issued by the Union of Bank Workers (OTOE) or the accusations by employees of the bank branch; or we could keep it at the fact that the deceased had been forced to stay in a building with no fire protection – and locked up, even. We could keep it at what a scum-bag is Vgenopoulos, the owner of the bank; or at how this tragic incident will be used to leash out some unprecedented repression. Whoever (dared to) pass through Exarcheia on Wednesday night already has a clear picture of this. But this is not where the issue lies.

The issue is for us to see what share of the responsibilities falls on us, on all of us. We are all jointly responsible. Yes, we are right to fight with all our powers against the unjust measures imposed upon us; we are right to dedicate all our strength and our creativity toward a better world. But as political beings, we are equally responsible for every single one of our political choices, for the means we have impropriated and for our silence every time that we did not admit to our weaknesses and our mistakes. Us, who do not suck up to the people in order to gain in votes, us who have no interest in exploiting anyone, have the capacity, under these tragic circumstances, to be honest with ourselves and with those around us.

What the greek anarchist movement is experiencing at the moment is some total numbness. Because there are pressurising conditions for some tough self-criticism that is going to hurt. Beyond the horror of the fact that people have died who were on “our side”, the side of the workers – workers under extremely difficult conditions who would have quite possibly chosen to march by our side if things were different in their workplace – beyond this, were are hereby also confronted with demonstrator/s who put the lives of people in danger. Even if (and this goes without question) there was no intention to kill, this is a matter of essence that can hold much discussion – some discussion regarding the aims that we set and the means that we chose.

The incident did not happen at night, at some sabotage action. It happened during the largest demonstration in contemporary greek history. And here is where a series of painful questions emerge: Overall, in a demonstration of 150-200,000, unprecedented in the last few years, is there really a need for some “upgraded” violence? When you see thousands shouting “burn, burn Parliament” and swear at the cops, does another burnt bank really have anything more to offer to the movement?

When the movement itself turns massive – say like in December 2008 – what can an action offer, if this action exceeds the limits of what a society can take (at least at a present moment), or if this action puts human lives at danger?

When we take to the streets we are one with the people around us; we are next to them, by their side, with them – this is, at the end of the day, why we work our arses off writing texts and posters – and our own clauses are a single parameter in the many that converge. The time has come for us to talk frankly about violence and to critically examine a specific culture of violence that has been developing in Greece in the past few years. Our movement has not been strengthened because of the dynamic means it sometimes uses but rather, because of its political articulation. December 2008 did not turn historical only because thousands picked up and threw stones and molotovs, but mainly because of its political and social characteristics – and its rich legacies at this level. Of course we respond to the violence exercised upon us, and yet we are called in turn to talk about our political choices as well as the means we have impropriated, recognising our -and their – limits.

When we speak of freedom, it means that at every single moment we doubt what yesterday we took for granted. That we dare to go all the way and, avoiding some cliché political wordings, to look at things straight into the eye, as they are. It is clear that since we do not consider violence to be an end to itself, we should not allow it to cast shadows to the political dimension of our actions. We are neither murderers nor saints. We are part of a social movement, with our weaknesses and our mistakes. Today, instead of feeling stronger after such an enormous demonstration we feel numb, to say the least. This in itself speaks volumes. We must turn this tragic experience into soul-searching and inspire one another since at the end of the day, we all act based on our consciousness. And the cultivation of such a collective consciousness is what is at stake._

Thank you Occupied London.

Wage-slavery

2010-05-02T18:51:00.001-07:00

Wage-slavery is what is wrong with capitalism. It deprives a worker of who she is, and what she could become. Workers are always at odds with eachother, competing to sell the only resource available to them (us), their labor. This is why wages can be so small, and struggles are made to survive on them, particularly in 'the third world' where labor law is pretty much non-existant and unions have been eradicated along with what semblance of a republic was remaining there. Wages are only as high to allow for the worker to still be a worker, that is to keep her alive and docile to serve her master, the capitalist.
Mean while... As the worker suffers from the plight of political disenfranchisement, an absence of economic liberty, a continual drop in her focus by the charade of the mass media, and ultimately a humiliating defeat for her dignity, the capitalist who owns her, reaps the benefits of her labors as a capital, and enjoys the luxuries of that capital through economic subsistence, political power, a decent education, and an elevation of his status. In this setting, we see the likelyhood of the persistence of class, that is the inheritance of the class a child was born into. The child of the worker has fewer chances of a decent and excellent education than the child of the capitalist.
Surely someone will respond alike Milton Friedman and attempt to quote Adam Smith out of era (18th century, and 21st century are different centuries) to say that the worker has as much freedom as the capitalist and has the option to quit her job from the capitalist if he treats her unfairly. Regarding the former, to consider the material conditions of the worker, and the wealth of the capitalist, this is a ridiculous and condescending lie. Regarding the latter, Bakunin said it best,
"Easier said than done. At times the worker receives part of his wages in advance, or his wife or children may be sick, or perhaps his work is poorly paid throughout this particular industry. Other employers may be paying even less than his own employer, and after quitting this job he may not even be able to find another one. And to remain without a job spells death for him and his family. In addition, there is an understanding among all employers, and all of them resemble one another. All are almost equally irritating, unjust, and harsh." (Bakunin)
So it is seen that the worker is always in a sort of serfdom to her masters, the capitalists. No matter the turbulance of the economy, the worker suffers more than the capitalist.
Someone may say, yes I see that capitalism can be oppressive, but is it true to call it 'slavery'? Again, Bakunin says it best,
"M. Karl Marx, the illustrious leader of German Communism, justly observed in his magnificent work Das Kapital2 that if the contract freely entered into by the vendors of money -in the form of wages - and the vendors of their own labor -that is, between the employer and the workers - were concluded not for a definite and limited term only, but for one's whole life, it would constitute real slavery. Concluded for a term only and reserving to the worker the right to quit his employer, this contract constitutes a sort of voluntary and transitory serfdom. Yes, transitory and voluntary from the juridical point of view, but nowise from the point of view of economic possibility. The worker always has the right to leave his employer, but has he the means to do so? And if he does quit him, is it in order to lead a free existence, in which he will have no master but himself? No, he does it in order to sell himself to another employer. He is driven to it by the same hunger which forced him to sell himself to the first employer. Thus the worker's liberty, so much exalted by the economists, jurists, and bourgeois republicans, is only a theoretical freedom, lacking any means for its possible realization, and consequently it is only a fictitious liberty, an utter falsehood. The truth is that the whole life of the worker is simply a continuous and dismaying succession of terms of serfdom -voluntary from the juridical point of view but compulsory in the economic sense - broken up by momentarily brief interludes of freedom accompanied by starvation; in other words, it is real slavery." (ibid.)
I admit that times have changed, and that technological advances and class mobility has increased, but it must not be forgot, that class mobility in one country, is at the expense of class mobility in another.
Hopefully I have helped to clear away the delusions of liberty and equality in Capitalism. But what hope does the worker have in achieving her liberties and rights? A Social Revolution would be most appropriate in gauranteeing the rights of all, maintaining that it is led by the people and not a vanguard (such as a militia or a party).

Bakunin, Mikhail. "The Capitalist System." Anarchy Archives. Pitzer College, 28 oct 2001. Web. 9 Dec 2010. .

The Capitalist System by Mikhail Bakunin

Fuck The Police

2010-04-18T10:19:00.000-07:00

The Root

If you read the article, you'll see how the police and the city care nothing about its inhabitants. The DA has put the incident off, and plans to postpone serious investigation for a while. Sadly, police brutality and thug persecution against the LGBT community, or any community is not surprising. Power easily corrupts, and this is evident with the entirety of history. When racists and homphobes, in essence, fascists, are given weapons to fully embody fascism, and serve the interests of the State or the Bourgeoisie, what else can be expected? Pig violence against people is what some might call, institutional violence, or institutional terrorism. The established institution, that of the police department, whether directly satisfying their own fascist instincts, or assaulting people based on a bourgeois' whims, uses the powers that it has available to attack and persecute the people.
Personally, I deny that any kind of police should have a right to exist (I'm not saying that the individual police officers should be slayed regardless of action, that should be saved for the climate of the cool and objective court). An institution that gives weapons and the right to assault is an evil institution, and I would oppose such institution even in the Post-Revolutionary Order, because that institution would inevitably become its own aristocracy, or obedient to the aristocracy that gave them the power to be professional thugs.
I am sure that someone will say to me, "Sure, power corrupts, but I have met police officers that have been courteous to me and reasonably fair and kind to me before. Not all cops are pigs." I agree. Not all cops are pigs. But those cops who aren't pigs, aren't real cops. [The policeofficer's job is to keep the rabble in line. A "liberal police officer" is not quite qualified for the job. Ergo, they are not necessarily real cops/pigs.]
I personally believe that there should be no institution as the police, and that people can handle themselves without the meddling of trigger happy thugs. I am absolutely sure someone woulkd respond "Don't be a fool! Police can be aggressive, but they are a necessary evil for the other thugs, the drug pddling gangs that also patrol our streets!" The latter is true. But what I suggest, a quake of democracy to rid our cities of the tyranny of the institutional terrorists, why should such a quake stop at the destruction of the police department? First of all, the drug peddlers are their own underground capitalists, as capitalists and thugs, uncaring to the damage they cause to the people. No, this quake would destroy every institution of tyranny that plagues the Human Race.
"But how would be deal with our conflicts, as assuredly we would have them."
Certainly, conflict is a part of human nature (as is any criminal act). I propose that we use forms of mediation and courts of reasonable democratic and objective jurors, courts in the immediacy of the incident. Accountability and punishment, will be minor (or major, according to the severity of the crime), amounting mainly to dialogue with the victim (with the consent of the victim of course) and forms of rehabilitation.

some poll: Capitalism, '10 edition

2010-04-05T16:31:00.000-07:00

I made a poll about Capitalism... It's a bit of friendly mocking to comrades who work at The Revolution Script. But as everyone can see, it ends at the end of the Month of May, a month of revolution, so there is a sense of seriousness.

The life I can stand living

2010-04-04T19:34:00.000-07:00

a poem I wrote a few days ago. I was kinda depressed at the time, but it still bears political spirit, so...

I'm tired of being lower on the class strata, and missing out on advantages my peers have, and being a proletarian!
I'm tired of being betrayed (by my brothers), my sex-organ used as a weapon to dominate our sisters (&others)!
I'm tired of my skin being acquainted with oppression and discrimination, and the evil of the world!
I'm tired of stale and static relationships!
I'm tired of always searching for the answer above me!
I'm tired of searching for the answer below me!
I'm tired of seeing the answer brought away to cynicism when I see the beautiful minds of my people turn toward their inner death!
I'm tired of this fragile fucking world, and the disease it has sprung upon itself.
I wish to awake to the Human Revolution tomorrow, where we all are equal, regardless of ability, sex, gender, race, and history. I wish to wake up tomorrow, and see friends and families restored to what they should have always been. I wish to wake up and see prosperity for us all. I wish to wake up tomorrow and see... the life I can stand living.

Necessaries for Life: long-term free food

2010-03-21T16:33:00.000-07:00

Short term free food has already been taken care of from various charity organizations, members of Silent City Distro getting crops from where they work and putting them 'out there,' as well as Food Not Bombs and various freegan friends liberating fine food from the dunpsters of supermarkets (ALDI's in Ithaca is the worst, anyone that reads this note should check it out).
But as I was wasting my time thinking about the world, I took the premise that a major goal of civilization is to make food, that entity upon which Humanity survives, free, gauranteeing huge leaps upon the ladder of which our decendants shall call advancement. Food Not Bombs can be too fragile an organization to allow for a constant outlet of free food, as well as it not reaching the entire population.
So it comes down to the farmers to supply the food, as they actually do anyway. I imagined the local farmer(s) being able to supply its nearby city (we'll call that the commune, in the 19th century sense of the word), as is the case in Ithaca. If they were to supply the commune with food for free, then the capitalist or bank that really owns that property (bank extorting mortgage, capitalist as landlord extorting rent) will evict the farmer because they will not be able to pay for the martgage/rent. They will also not be able to maintain their equipment, and so production will falter anyway. [The farmer will not be able to give food away for free in current conditions]
Therefore, it lies in making the land free and the maintainance for equipment available. The only way to make the land free is to initiate a Social Revolution, in which the farmer becomes the true owner of the property, and maintainance becomes available from the local commune. [only revolution will allow the farmer to become true owner of his/her porperty, thus enabling her/him to give his/her produce to the commune free of charge]
Few mintues passed and I realized I had come to the same conclusion every other Anarchist/Socialist had come to. To dispel at least one myth about positivist Anarchy (post-revolutionary period aspect), money, or some form of currency would still exist, just most things would be made so they will be free.
For James Guillaume's 'On Building the New Social Order':
http://marxists.org/reference/archive/guillaume/works/ideas.html
for Petr Kropotkin's Conquest of bread:
http://dwardmac.pitzer.edu/Anarchist_Archives/kropotkin/conquest/toc.html
both are descriptions of positivist Anarchy. (first one's a quick read)

(Legitimate) Authority in anarchy: for dummies

2010-03-02T06:31:00.000-08:00

Anarchy in the very make-up of the word maintains that coercion, hierarchy, and authority are destructive, harmful, wrong, against Liberty, completely adverse to Equality, and dismissive of Fraternity (solidarity). However, this staunch conviction on the part of Anarchists everywhere has created a few myths that misinform people and bring them to ridiculous and completely unrealistic ideas as to what an Anarchist would like to see in the world. Some people seem to believe that Anarchists are against all forms of authority, such as a parent's authority over its child (usually justified), or even someone facilitating discussions (Anarchist panel discussions exists BTW). This is an angering and infantile myth. A myth so apparently strong, I am forced to explain it away by an examination into pseudo-abstract Anarchist philosophic thought regarding Authority and Legitimate Authority.

First I will write about destructive evil Authority and the need to challenge all forms of authority, including a parent's, a facilitator's, and (especially) every police officer's authority. Challenging authority is obviously necessary and important, as well as a tenant of Anarchism. If there was no one to challenge authority life would be a slave-like misery (worse than today, I mean). For some, challenging authority means keeping those in power in check and assuring he rule of law (this includes challenging written law and refers to the ethical humanistic law that resides within us and our culture). For an Anarchist, or at least me, challenging authority also means finding out which institutions of authority can legitimate their existence and determines whether they should be altered or destroyed.

If an authority can make a case for its legitimacy, such as a parent (or any member of society) preventing a child (or any member of society) from using heroine, or a facilitator needed for any discussion to provide any sense of clarity (facilitators really don't have that much power), or a patrol of common folk to make the neighborhood secure against pigs.

Anarchists don't try to hijack events (depending on whether the anarchist is one of those closet commie assholes that wants to control everything...) when another has already organized everything (asking if they could help is nice though). Organizers are given an authority ver creating the unfolding events, but they are legitimate because they fulfill a function necessary to the movement (transparency when possible is moral though). just as a parent or a facilitator performs a function necessary to society.

Then there are people with authority from subjects like knowledge/expertise over mechanics, philosophy, current events, even cooking. These people who hold these skills have a predominant authority when a situation demanding these skills arises. It is pressured that these people explain and share these skills (teach them/distribute knowledge) to others. see: Ithaca Free Skool and Skill Shares

For example, should a group discover a fresh carcass, the cook and the hide-tanner (let's pretend they're meat freegans) would thus become the leaders of the following actions, cooking he eat and tanning the hide. This an Anarchist takes a somewhat tribalistic approach. However, the rest of the group would be involved in the actions, giving them insight into those skills, making the entire group cooks and hide-tanners, eliminating any division of labor. In this way, the "tribe" becomes informed of the variety of skills needed (excluding particular situations where the specifics are important, like medicine, some science, and engineering), limiting the need for authority.

Anarchists, from challenging authority, find most forms of authority coercive, power-hungry, evil, illegitimate. Therefore Anarchists seek to destroy the institution of authority and replace it (or not) with a better institution. Some authorities, such as full-time representatives are not legitimate and therefore should not exists. Police definitely fall into this category.

To quickly sum up and dispel them easily, Noam Chomsky says that should your child run into the street with oncoming traffic, should you not use forceful coercion, grabbing them (authority) to stop them?

(A) Necessaries for Life: Energy (Fuel)

2010-03-01T06:01:00.000-08:00

Nationalizing Energy: I had an idea once of putting control of energy and power in the hands of the state paid for by our taxes. This takes energy control out of the hands o f the private sector, allowing am industry controlled by politicians (or and association of technicians) and maintained by workers (plants). I thought this would make the people afford cheaper energy and would help business develop and spur on the economy.

But the ideal never works out as planned, and material limitations and reality must always be kept in mind. I don't know if Nationalized Energy would work or not. Maybe the Sate would be more responsive to the masses than the capitalists (I think we can see this evident in any welfare state). Without their capital, energy capitalists (fucking NYSEG) will not be able to lobby congress or the government in whole. That just leaves the Automobile industry. Sounds like Marxist-Reformism, yet keep in mind that lobbyists would never allow for such a policy to enter into discussion in the first place.

For the sake of discussion, let's just imagine that some decent radical politicians are elected (ha!) and manage to stay radical and decent politicians (HA! ha!). One thing that could happen is that the energy control is shared between the State, an association of technicians, and the cities and regions. Funded by the State by its tax revenue, the technicians negotiate and study the city and regions to create the energy options/potential as well as the demands/requests needed to be reached. This would allow for the power plants to be transformed from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources, making pleas to the city from its populace more potent, realizing indirect democracy.

Or, the State will just be in control without the sovereignty of the city or association of technicians. Here the city sends its complaints directly to the State and the State may or may not send someone who may or may not fulfill the city's request. This second case mimics the situation of the Soviet Union. In this case the people's needs are not met by red tae and the heartlessness of the State. So it is an issue of caring for it in the birthing process, of whether it becomes bottom-up or top-down (bottom-up being the preferable option).

There is also third case without the State as an intermediary. In the existing conditions there could be a case of one or three technicians who have a group of volunteers devoted and willing to the cause who develop the renewable energy infrastructure (which would be maintained and owned collectively by the community)of the region/community. Or the other case of post-Revolution where there becomes an association of technicians responsive to the Communes/collectives of the federation/Network. Obviously as an anarchist I fully support and wish for the latter of the three, but I do endorse the Welfare State option 1 creation.

p.s. I'll just describe that the post-Revolution energy systems will be owned by the Commune and not necessarily by the technicians that created them. The technicians will be employed by the Commune/collective and the technicians may be a part of the Commune/collective, but the ownership will be in the Commune's, which will mean it is owned by the entire community, or group of communities.

'Petty-Bourgeois, Praise the Coming of the Organic Reformation!'

2010-02-01T06:40:00.000-08:00

The Organic Reformation. This post will possess a background of a Marxist belief that industrialization of a country is dependent on the bourgeois form of society, e.i. capitalist production/exploitation. [On this note I am tempted to speak of the industrialization of other previous third world countries like India, Brazil, and Venezuela being semi-non-dependent on fossil fuels and that the old capitalist/imperialist superpowers are a dieing breed to be extinct by the horizon of the new world, however beautiful the idea, it is not completely so.] Today the profit motive has touched the values of Organic manufacture. Organic production demand has risen over the past few years. Of course, supply follows demand. Organic producers and retailers have monopolized on the opportunities of Organic production.
Yet, the Organic movement has turned into some kind of pompous status to use in the power complex. Our culture assigns some kind of dignity to purchasing Organic foods (that may not be produced with harmful chemical additives, but most assuredly with the more successful, are produced with the labor of classical capitalist exploitation) that the poor are not as able to purchase. The Organic Reformation has turned into the hypocritical social strata despotism that it was started to defeat. The petty bourgeoisie are the only ones that can afford the organic food prices, thus giving them the delusion that they are better than the true proletarians who are too desperate to bother buying the high prices necessitated by the bourgeois system.
The Organic Reformation is growing though. Demand keeps growing as the supply becomes more available, spurred on by the opportunities provided by the growing demand of the organic produce markets, increasing the supply, lowering the prices brought on by the competition essential to bourgeois production, increasing demand, increasing supply, lowering prices, increasing demand, etc. until the organic produce markets begin to be equal to the artificial produce markets and is accessible by the proletariat. This is bourgeois development. Once the Organic Reformation completes, the organic produce markets have spread to numerous industries and the market has become large enough to trump the artificial markets, the Social Revolution would place organic production under the worker's control, networked by industry associations, creating the anarchist economy.
I see this as very possible and good. I also see the Organic Reformation possible under Anarchist production. It just amounts to a question of which method would be best. In my opinion I think the Organic Reformation would happen faster under Anarchist production. Someone else may see Anarchist production as too unstable or hectic to allow such a progress in as fast a time as bourgeois production. Nobody really knows because the problem with theory is that it is based off of fact ascended into speculation.

Albany

2010-01-26T13:08:00.000-08:00

Going to Albany has changed my aspect on a few things. For one, the Shaleshock movement is incredibly important and any sort of action is crucial to the defense of NYS. The movement must be a politically secular movement, where political ideologies are kept out of the way so that a resident of NYS doesn't feel obligated to be an x to join. That doesn't mean that a political culture won't be evolved with the movement. The oil bourgeoisie unregulated by the state rampaging and destroying the environment and livelihood is bound to clear up a few superstitions about capitalism. It's like the International of the 19th century, or the IWW of early 20th century and today. Workers are accepted regardless of backgrounds/identity and shown the sources of their disparity and some solutions to the problem, reformist to revolutionary.

Communists

2009-12-15T02:52:00.000-08:00

ever since... perhaps 1793 to around 1840... workers and peasants alike, all who labour, have gathered under the socialist banner, and have repeated the maxim "From each according to their ability, to each according to their need," wishing to implement it into society. But that is about where it got to. It then started branching off into authoritarian, libertarian, Utopian, and all sorts of crazy names. By the late 19th century, the lines were clearly drawn... The Marxist Communists and the Anarchists. After vigorous competition for control of the international, it all degraded and finally disappeared into the slumber of the 1880's-90's to the early 1900's.
Then, with the result of massive militarization of states, World War broke out. This awakened many citizens to the bullshit of Capitalism, and the State, or the State in the hands of the Bourgeoisie. Then, 1916, Russia breaks, a democratic institution is put in as a provisional government. 1917, Bolsheviks take over with a coup d'etat. Lenin's dictatorship of the proletariat (Lenin's dictatorship of the proletariat being a state of the vanguard to fulfill the interest of the workers) was put in place. A few years later, Lenin's dictatorship of the proletariat is still in place. Rosa Luxembourg tries to make revolution against the Germans... Boom! nothing happens.
After the smoke from the coup is cleared, the Communists try to make another International. While all of this Commie shit was happening, the anarcho-syndicalists had been creating national syndicalist unions which delegated with other national syndicalist trade unions. The Anarchists watched and waited while the Communists formed their Soviet Union. Nestor Makhno, fought both the White and Red armies to defend what collectives he had. Sadly, in the end he fails and writes with his Russian comrades, the Platform.
The Syndicalists are invited to go to the International, and quickly turn away at the way the Soviets handle their matters. It becomes clear in the Syndicalists' eyes that the Soviet Union is a failure. The Syndicalists then try to strengthen their front against, now, both Communism and Capitalism.
People ask, 'could Communists and Anarchists work together in a revolution'. Seeing as they differ completely (aside from believing that capitalism is bad, although you could argue this since Communists try to enlist from the middle classes), I believe not. Anarchists are anarchists for they believe that the proletariat should go from be oppressed by the State and the Bourgeoisie, to oppression under the yoke of the dictatorship of the proletariat (or the dictatorship of the Communist Party). Where Communists do not trust the Working Class to handle matters themselves, the Anarchists do not trust the Party to handle matters of the Working Class for them.
I think the question could be answered in the Spanish Civil War. The Socialists (they are the moderates, the liberals of the Socialist rainbow, not Communists, alike Anarchists in many respects)[POUM], the Communists [PSUC], and the Anarchists [FAI-CNT] had been organizing trade unions for decades (UGT being the trade unions belonging to the PSUC, the CNT trade unions, being syndicalist, the political organ, the FAI belonged to them).
Then, Franco wanted to take power under a Fascist, Feudal banner. He organized an uprising with the aid of the other Fascist countries, Nazi Germany and Mussolini's Italy, and the UGT, the CNT, and the POUM quickly responded with and uprising of their own. So we have the Communists, the Socialists (Left Communists), the Anarchists, and the Fascists, basically the four alternative tendencies to Parliamentary Democracy battling it out. The Government, the FAI, POUM, PSUC, and the liberals united as Anti-Fascists to combat Franco. In the rear of the front line, what appeared to be Worker's States, Anarchists and Communists capitulating and working together to achieve Socialism was created. It was inspiring and magnificent. But in 1937, the Communist PSUC, began to replace the worker patrols and trade union militias, who bravely held the line, with Guards of their own to take power away from the Anarchists and give it to the PSUC, which was controlled by the Communists. This amounted to brawls and street fighting with the Anarchists and Communists, ending with the detaining of the POUM. The jailing of the POUM then continued to the other members of the political parties, ending with the failure of the the Government, and the victory of Franco.
The Communists could have saved the war by agreeing with the POUM and the FAI-CNT that the revolution and the war are inseperable, which would have made support for the Government from the working people of other countries. And if they had won, counting on the malevolent Communists, Spain would be Communist.
If there is a revolution in America, or England, or anywhere, Communists and Anarchist would fight side by side, but after the State and the Bourgeoisie are invisible, they would turn their weapons on each other. It could be possible, with Left Communists and Anarchists to live in a form of harmony, but the Communist urge to dictate and warp destroys the notion that Anarchists and full fledged Communists can get along. The Communists State, in such a revolution where Anarchists and Communists cooperate, would have to be not involved. With the loss of the Soviet Union, it is more plausible that they can cooperate more harmoniously.
Personally, I disdain Communism as nearly as much as Fascism. Communism has failed more then once. The logic that Communism has never been realized and that the multiple times that Communism has come into existence is bullshit. So I am surprised that there are still Communists around. I would do my best to not allow Communism to come about in my area, as it is dictatorship, plain and simple. My revolution is anarchist above all.
Critique of Communism

Whispers to myself on the "facts" of social uprising

2009-12-10T02:49:00.000-08:00

Certainly everyday I think of the supposedly inevitable revolution. I have abandoned the idea that the Social Revolution is inevitable. The Social Revolution needs mass propaganda, mass awakening, and perhaps most importantly, practical stimulation.
This is happening in Greece, the revolution is in Greece. That is the model for all peoples. Commemorating the anniversary of Alexandros Grigoropoulos' murder by the police, riots have broken out to combat the police. It's not just about anarchists. workers and students on all fronts are stepping up against the police. Every occupied building guarantees the freedom of detained demonstrators.
I think that the expanse of the revolutionary spirit says something about the situations of the world movements. In one instance we have the United States. The IWW (Industrial Workers of the World) has under 2000 members. We have a growing anarchist movement, albeit a bit uncomfortably slow (compared to European movements), successful organizing skills when we look at the RNC and DNC (08), and confrontation with the police in some locales. The Shaleshock Coalition is beginning to rise awareness to the incompetence of the state and the insatiable greed of the capitalist (being a human being in an undesirable position of power). This is appreciable but sadly, as said, a bit unprecedented to the European movements.
Next, we have the Netherlands. They are personally one my favorite countries when in comes to anarchism. They and Iceland have a successful squatting movement. They also usually have a successful Food Not Bombs movement (not to say that the US doesn't, Silent City Distro is putting out free food, and Boston FNB is highly successful). The European movement surges of citizen movements (citizen movements is something that the US largely has nothing of), facilitated by anarchists, having the most experience with the tasks. What the northern European anarchists have that the US anarchists don't have is in my humble opinion, a bolder movement, particularly in squatting. what's different about organizing successful events and a squatting movement is that, although important and incredibly helpful, the organizing of events is temporary. The squatters movement creates a stability for the anarchists ensuring a determination to keep and defend the squat and the mode of life, and confrontation with the police. The Netherlands, in Amsterdam, has had a few events to express solidarity towards the anarchists in Greece, something I may be missing in the US.
The situation in Greece gives credence to networks and collectives. Before the tragedy of Alexis' murder, Greece had a network of collectives all in communication with each other. When the murder made news, the word passed through the entire network reaching all the collectives reaching all the anarchists. Thus, when all the anarchists were given the news they immediately organized demonstrations which turned into riots, and the rest is history. Now, on the anniversery of the tragedy, the anarchists, and most of the organizations of Greece are demonstrating and occupying to gain political and economic rights and advantages. It has learned of the mistakes made in last December's insurrection, and has become much more efficient than last time.The state of the country uprising is inspiring to those who wish for the social revolution or people's rights. It is inspiring to all anarchists and all people that we should form an organization and temperament like those of the Greeks.
The question of Greece now is sustainability, and progress. How long with the offensive last, and how far will they have gone?

for info on Greece '09: Riots and Police Brutality on first day, libcom
second day, libcom
consistent in anarchist events on Greek struggle, witness to last December uprising
some revleft threads: one, two

Silent City Distro and Anarchist Economics

2009-05-17T18:19:00.000-07:00

Silent City Distro is pretty amazing. I talked to a guy on the phone who was busy organizing the North East Anarchist Network General Assembly in Ithaca. It makes me feel all fuzzy and prideful to see the anarchist movement actually moving. Happy to have a collective in the city. If we could get one in every city and establish a free economy then we would have basically realized Anarchy.
I want to start a free agricultural economy in Ithaca at least. The production of vegetables would consist in numerous gardens throughout the countryside. I should hope to produce a surplus, and that should be possible with the ways these freegans get their shit. And the distribution would be through Food Not Bombs. They'd have to have more workers though for it to be realized. They'd distribute every day at most, and thrice a week at least. This could be at the squat, a rented or bought place, or at a park. I think that this would bring a lot of people into the practice and politics of anarchism, especially with the economy today. I also want to start a FREE STORE which I might describe later.
To all the people who say that no one will want to start a garden to feed people, I say to that, FUCK YOU!
A FREE STORE will have to be monitored frequently to minimize shoplifting. It would get it's crap from whatever freegans get and don't need, "shoplifting" "maybe", :), and a drop off box for stuff people would like to sell to the FREE STORE. It's gonna have to have a place so it can exist, and I think that in with a squat, a place rented or bought, it would do perfect. A squat qould go great with the Food Not Bombs, but a rented space might be too small. Though we'd need so much more, it's still a good start.

OM: In frustration of Hindu Terminology

2009-05-14T19:21:00.000-07:00

Tonight I have realized that I am connected with everything, whether through the air I breathe, the water I drink, the stars I look at, the energies I feel, part of the collective unconscious and the psyche we all experience together. We are and we always shall be brothers and sisters, eternally connected, immortal and temporarily in existence with eachother. Spiritually connected with the Allfather, Atman, the spirits, ancestors, and the rocks and algae. Undeniably consistent with eachother, the love dwells under our skin, under the skin of the predator and the prey, the killer, the victim, the monk and the junkie.
Silently, slowly, gracefully moving.

Earth First Meeting

2009-04-29T15:48:00.000-07:00

Today after school I went down to Dewitt park to see the Earth First! folk. The meeting actually began at one, and while lunch I was trying to think whether I should skip the afternoon for it. I got to the meeting at around 4 and they were discussing civil disobedience and direct action. After, they did some weird introduction, where they all said their names and did some weird action, and everyone copied. Must be some weird cult thing... after that I was invited to sit down. On the ground inside the circle I could see food scraps of grape fruit and a melon and an empty box of what I think was doughnuts.I listened to a discussion about direct action and civil disobedience and what they were good for and then it moved into what workshops they wanted to do. I don't really remember what exactly they said because I was eating clover leaves while it all was going on. They decided on building an example tripod for making successful and able road blocks (civil disobedience).

While the team went out to their van and grabbed giant poles and other equipment there was a sort of intermission. Juggling with improvised music of Madeline and banging a spoon on a can. A little after a woman had two boxes full of papers. She told everyone that there were zines, booklets, and leaflets for free and charged with donations (as mysterious as that can sound) I grabbed a bunch of them and I am going to scan them and post PDFs of them on the blog. While I was doing this the woman started explain on how to tie the very special ropes in the tripod and other important things. After I got all the booklets I wanted, I left being strained for time.

Out of what I saw I was pretty interested. And I wanna go to whatever one might be next, if there's one that's next.

A New Turn

2009-04-28T03:57:00.001-07:00

Fuck all that bullshit I talked about in the introduction. My ideas on things have changed, and I am less juvenile and less romantic and misguided about that shit.
For one thing, there already is an "underground" anarchist paper in Ithaca (I'll explain the quotations things later). It's called IthAcaZine, only it has an A-circle thingy in the capital A and it's a magazine.... and this is just a blog, it holds little value compared with something like that.
"Values of an American Revoluti0n"... Who gives a fuck. No one at all. Seeing as I am an anarchist I would mean an anarchist American revolution, and that term is redundant as hell. the revolution is ongoing, wherever there is a squat, free food, or some form of resistance and institution there is revolution... if you could even call it revolution.
Gerald Celente is a prick. He just predicts stuff, and he predicted that America would become a third world nation within three or four years and around 2012 we would experience some form of revolution. if the Hopi or Mayans are wrong, which I won't touch, I expect it to be a fascist revolution, or socialist, pure, oh the beauty.... And being the chaos loving psychopath freak I was or am, I fell in love with the idea. Or, being the rhetorical and political boring SOB I was, in love with idea of squatter's unions, not understanding exactly the meaning behind the words. Sounds pretty damn good still though.... I ramble too much. Anyway, Gerald Celente is a prick.

Now regarding why I put underground in quotes, I mean that I don't necessarily see IthAcaZine as being underground as more as DIY. For those of you who don't know, DIY stands for Do-It-Yourself, which is basically just getting your own damn shit and building what you want. It ties in a lot with direct action which is why it is so present in the anarchist movement. And that's why I'd prefer to say that IthAcaZine is a DIY anarchist [maga]zine. But that's just what I think. Ask Silent City Distro, Ithaca's local anarchist collective...

Yeah, to the point now, I am going to be using this blog more as survival tips and information on DIY or direct action... not that any of my friends are anarhcists. But I'll tell people how to get free food and other nice things like that. As an example, join the local Food Not Bombs on saturdays.

Mortality

2009-04-23T18:50:00.000-07:00

"The way is broken, and the ropes are gone."

The old man sat done by the muddied dusty window of the decaying building the desperate would search for in hopes of relief or shelter. He sat as he had not sat in a longtime. As a boy, he hugged his knees and cried, gazing.

A child in rags entered the building and went up to find the attic, and in the attic he saw the old man with his rough long gray beard, dirty face, and weary eyes.

"The way is broken, and the ropes are gone." spoke the child. And the old man bowed his head in the relief and sorrows of his reluctant submission.

"The way is broken, and the ropes are gone." repeated the child.

Fractured, salvation shall not come to them.

The unreasonable reluctance to die.

WARNING:THIS MAY RUIN THE STORY

DO NOT READ THIS UNLESS YOU WANT TO HEAR WHAT YOU ALREADY UNDERSTAND!

Afterword: I wrote this today in trips. It's a metaphor representing obviously mortality. I chose the scene of a dystopian perhaps battlefield or crashing depression cuz I am just like that. The child and elder represent the stages of our futures and pasts. the attic represents the sentiment involved with death and memory. This is supposed to symbolize the inevitable and our struggle and our please to be free of it... I of course left out our acceptance, because 1) it'd ruin the scheme, 2) acceptance of mortality is too human to be written, and too beautiful to be characterized in something such as this, and perhaps 3) is to remain with the soul in the real world... some things I guess aren't to be expressed through art...
special thanks to Kansas and their dust in the wind.
wooh?

Disregard

2009-04-09T20:20:00.000-07:00

This guy. He's a sexist and a fuckin homophobic jackass who can't get his manners or theory straightened out. I bet he's got some weight, has glasses cuz he's middle aged, is going through a divorce or a lawsuit and is using this as an outlet and just wants to bitch in some kind of "I'm being held back" masochistic pathetic anticipation for nothing. Fucking nerds.
Disregard this.

FOR RENT

2009-02-24T08:42:00.000-08:00

I've been noticing "FOR RENT" and "FOR SALE BY OWNER" signs all over the place. Especially in Ithaca, renting signs are posted up everywhere. Parts of me are conflicted over what I should feel about this. One part of me is worried about the future to come, and another part of me is excited. The latter part is the dominant self. Excited that the world is falling apart, excited that I will be able to survive through the future, excited that a diluted anarchy will be instituted.

Squatting, Low Impact Crashing, Foraging off of the wild plants...
All of these skills will somehow help. All should learn of their own ways to fulfill their necessaries of life: food, fuel, shelter, and clothing (and sanitation).
So, my excitement at seeing FOR SALE and FOR RENT signs, sickly as my mother purchases a house, what should anyone make of it?

I apologize... this entry went on a span of about a month and is incredibly disoriented and disorganized. Over that time I forgot wtf I was saying.

Intro... Hi, Guys... timid-timid

2009-02-02T13:04:00.000-08:00

This post, I want to introduce the blog. With time things may change, but what the hell. I want this to be about politics, like practically everything else I talk about. I will proved basic theory, tips on survival, values of an American Revolution, predications of Gerald Celeste’s “coming Revolution”, and more bits and pieces. Perhaps some interviews to help understand things.

I would have loved to have gathered with some friends and started an underground paper. Getting stuff from papers and local printers. Copying from other papers from the internet. And all the wonderful things that come from working your own paper (I could have been such good friends with office max).

But the printing workshop is for something different. And journalism is coming apart. With the dieing economy people don’t want to pay so much for a peice of toilet paper they don’t need (check the paper recycling bins for free) and can get the news from the internet anyway. Only the problem with the information super highway, people only look for what they want to learn. So I figured I’d get on the mascurade and post info and all the trappings of an underground government.

P.s. I’ll be aiming for bi-weekly at least.