National or Notional Anarchists?

So what are the different kinds of anarchists? Well, here's my list of all the ones I could find, and in no particular order.....

Indivdualists Anarchist; Autarchism; Collectivist Anarchist; Anarchist Communism; Anarcho-Sydnicalism; Anarcho-capitalism; Agorist; Christian Anarchist; Orthodox Anarchist; Punk Anarchist; Green Anarchists; National Anarchist; Market-left libertarian; Crypto-Anarchism; Analytical Anarchism; Left Anarchy; Right Anarchy; Insurrectionary Anarchy; I'm sure the list goes on.....

My personal favourite, Anarchism without adjectives is an ideology which tolerates the coexistence of different anarchist schools. I wanted to do a post about this as there seems to be a lot of talk lately about what constitutes an anarchist, and the right for one group or person to call themselves an anarchist, and their dismissal of alternative schools of thought as not.

"Intellectual property and the title anarchist" by Royce Christian

It's amazing that while most Anarchists, of all stripes, reject intellectual property laws as simply a construct of the state, the most extreme among us have this tendency to enforce their factions ownership of the term 'Anarchist'. Truly, it is amazing to see. Fanatical Anarchists unquestioningly support their own brand of Anarchism denounce all others as somehow 'fake'. They are in fact the largest hypocrites among us. These are the people who have a unyielding confidence in what they know is the truth, the way and the light. Anything that doesn't accept this obvious truth is deemed false and thus statist. Unfortunately for the rest of us, this kind of unreasoned fanaticism has many proponents within the Anarchist movement.

Let's consider the National Anarchists, as they seem to be the most polarizing of all the different factions. National anarchism has its origins in the UK, and is largely the brainchild of Troy Southgate, an individual with a long history of involvement in the British neo-Nazi movement, including organisations such as the National Front, the International Third Position, the English Nationalist Movement and the National Revolutionary Faction. Critic Graham D. Macklin notes that “When put into its wider context… ‘national-anarchism’ appears as one of many groupuscular responses to globalization, popular antipathy towards which Southgate sought to harness by aligning [his activities]… with the resurgence of anarchism whose heroes and slogans it arrogated, and whose sophisticated critiques of global capitalist institutions and state power it absorbed…”. In essence, ‘national anarchism’ is an attempt to use anarchist rhetoric and imagery in order to better advance the cause of reactionary, racist and fascist politics.

So, we've established that national anarchism itself was created by fascists and is thus considered a racist form of anarchism (because it's anti-state). Wikipeadia has a lot to say on the topic of the history of Anarchism with Nationalism , so in reality, the idea isn't particularly new, and is really just the rehash of an old story.

But are they really racist, or just exclusionary? I believe the later, but I'll come to that in a moment. I believe that national anarchism isn't just for Europeans, but rather national anarchism embodies the idea that people can form communities based upon lines that suit their interests.

Each type of anarchism which I've listed above is just that. A group of anarchists who have come together along an issue which they believe to be important. Be it, social (communism anarchists), economic (agorist), religious (orthodox or christian). These are all anarchists who have formed a group with similar ideas.

In the words of a famous european anarchist; Pierre Joseph Proudhon

Whoever puts his hand on me to govern me is a usurper and a tyrant. I declare him my enemy.

My conscience is mine, my justice is mine, and my freedom is a sovereign freedom.

Under anarchist doctrine, people have the freedom to form groups based along whatever issues are important to them. Further, freedom includes the freedom to hate, the freedom to offend, and the freedom of self-expression, on the basis that there is no physical harm impacted upon another.

From my point of view the killing of another, except in defense of human life, is archistic, authoritarian, and therefore, no Anarchist can commit such deeds. It is the very opposite of what Anarchism stands for...
Joseph Labadie

"Government is an association of men who do violence to the rest of us."
Leo Tolstoy

Therefore, so long as there is no violence against another, the principle of national anarchism is a principle of freedom of association. National Anarchism is really something in which we all practise with our different forms of anarchism. Instead of the term National Anarchism, we can change the name to "ideas based anarchy" or "community anarchy". It seems to me, that each group of people organicly formed will be based upon principles agreed upon by that community. Be it religious doctrine, racial, cultural or sexual orientation homogeneity. That is, communities can form along homosexual lines, along identity politics or economical politics. Regardless of your particular opinion as to the validity of these communities, the reality is, that they will form, and in fact, your allegiance to a particular school of anarchistic thought, is by it's nature exclusionary and a form of national anarchism.

So why national anarchism? Based on my assumptions above that it's not neccessarily racially based, but based on any idea or principle important to individuals, "National" is the description of what the community is. After all, each community can be considered a "Nation unto itself". One of the most influential doctrines in history is that all humans are divided into groups called nations. It is an ethical and philosophical doctrine in itself, and is the starting point for the ideology of nationalism. These nations - as described are anarchistic schools of thought. So, in essence we are all national anarchists - but what about the European National Anarchists? These are the National Anarchists who wish to form along racial lines, or upon identity politics.

My answer - remains the same. Freedom. Freedom from co-ercion is the highest form of anarchy. The ability of a "nation" (as described in this post) to self-determination. Further, there are other racially based anarchists out there who believe identity politics is important. Power 2 the people is an African American Socialist Anarchist, with a strong emphasis on anti-racism, and yet has strong support for the Black Panther Party, and the struggle for his African brothers under their current dictatorship and imperialism. If this is not racist, how can Europeans with the same strong ethnocentric community ties be considered to be racist? While this isn't the main point of the article, and needs much further investigation, I think it's important to note, that National Anarchism, the rise of "nations" of anarchy, are a central doctrine of any true anarchist. The fact that we disagree on certain ideas and principles, which gives rise to the different factions only further supports the principle that:

"Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet."

- Rudyard Kipling

and thus, National Anarchism is one answer to such a dilemma.

We the people will not be chipped

RFID or Radio-Frequency-Identification tags have been used to track product shipments, enable digital payments on transport systems and tollways, identify animals such as cattle, migrating birds and pets, protect fleet or privately owned motor vehicles. But are we becoming a surveillance state?

The use of RFID technology has engendered considerable controversy and even product boycotts by consumer privacy advocate Caspian (Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering) refer to RFID tags as "spychips". The two main privacy concerns regarding RFID are:

1. Since the owner of an item will not necessarily be aware of the presence of a RFID tag and the tag can be read at a distance without the knowledge of the individual, it becomes possible to gather sensitive data about an individual without consent.

2. If a tagged item is paid for by credit card or in conjunction with use of a loyalty card, then it would be possible to indirectly deduce the identity of the purchaser by reading the globally unique ID of that item (contained in the RFID tag).

In a corporate consumer spy incident, which was uncovered by the Chicago Sun-Times, shelves in a Wal-Mart in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, were equipped with readers to track the Max Factor Lipfinity lipstick containers stacked on them. Webcam images of the shelves were viewed 750 miles (1200 km) away by Procter & Gamble researchers in Cincinnati, Ohio, who could tell when lipsticks were removed from the shelves and observe the shoppers in action.

.... and just to make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, the FDA has approved the use of the chips in humans......

In 2006, Cincinnati, two employees for the company citywatcher were forced to be micro-chipped with an RFID tag for improved security access to valuable data storage areas. The Baja Beach nightclub in Barcelona reportedly uses RFID implants to track regular patrons and allow them to pay for drinks electronically, while the Mexican Attorney-General's Office implanted 18 of its staff with tags to control access to a secure data room. Other suggested uses for the RFID chip include their inclusion into National Identity cards and replacing soldier dog tags with the implantable chip.

Although, not all tags are implanted within the body, in Japan and the U.K there is at least one active school where children are micro-chipped (on their bags or name tags) in order to track their movements in the interests of security. Ah, yes, the old propaganda technique "What about the children?", "do it for the children" and my personal favourite "But, we must protect the children".... kinda of reminds me of Labour (tweddle dee) and Liberal (tweddle dumb)'s education revolution... but alas, I will save this for another time. The United Sates is already undergoing biometric data collection of children at primary schools in the interests of finding them quickly if they are abducted or assaulted, but then, isn't it easier to introduce a National I.D card when you already have all the information, you just need to wait a generation or two.....

Getting back to the real matter at hand - Japan is looking to create an Island where everything is RFID chipped.

The nation is looking to set up an "experimental landmass" where a smorgasbord of sensors will "allow doctors to remotely monitor the health of the elderly," and in another instance, "monitor the movement of pedestrians and notify nearby drivers." Additionally, IC tags could be implanted into produce in order to divulge information such as where it was grown to a shopper's mobile phone. Reportedly, the government is talking with local telecom carriers, electronics manufacturers, automakers, and several "other companies" as it attempts to assemble the pieces, and while no specific test site has been nailed down just yet, "the northern island of Hokkaido or southern island chain of Okinawa" are currently the most likely candidates

(so much for the "size of a grain of rice" propaganda)

Makes you want to join the amish really.....

But for those of you who are more fight than flight, here is a legal company in America McKenna Long & Aldridge pushing to change the laws to encourage the uptake of the RFIP chip. http://rfidlawblog.mckennalong.com/ Bastards!

Which just goes to show, companies might be pushing for these things to happen (micro-chipping the population), but someone is actually doing the bidding of these companies, because of the pressure to conform to the organisational culture (or they have bought the propaganda hook, line and sinker). We need to bring back social shaming! The excuse that you were "Just doing your job" just doesn't cut the mustard. Stand up for your rights, stand up in your workplace when the wrong thing is happening. Don't assume it's someone else's problem. We all have a responsibility to expose the truth. If you work for a company that is pushing this agenda, expose them!

References:

http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,,22785408-5013038,00.html

http://rfidlawblog.mckennalong.com/

http://www.privacy.org.au/Campaigns/ID_cards/HSAC.html

http://personallifemedia.com/blogs/living-green/2007/08/03/16-million-study-human-rfid-implants/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RFID

http://www.engadget.com/2007/05/15/japan-looking-to-establish-wireless-island/

Anti-Cap Christians? Hallelujah!

Normally I don't have a lot of time for your typical Christian, instead I feel much like Jesus in the temple with the money changers. (lots of frothing at the mouth going on). So i was pleasantly surprised when I came across The Church of Stop Shopping. Finally some Christians who seem like they've actually read the bible. After all, didn't Jesus say "It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven". Which is why I particularly love this Reverends anti-consumerist message. Here is the article I particularly liked, and if fact, I think it's time we started to see street theatre in Australia. Enjoy.

Here I am at Zombie-con last Saturday. 100 of us went on a bloody disgusting rampage of NYC. Bloomingdales was our first stop. We entered the mega store groaning and limping, arms outstretched in search of brains. Gaylen and I inserted blood capsules into our mouths at the escalators and drooled in close proximity to the stunned costumers. Some people, especially the workers, were smiling and I suddenly worried that we were entertainment, endorsing this company with our playful antics. But then I saw what was really happening around us; People had stopped shopping! The were staring at us, interacting with us, looking at the fellow living and wondering what the hell was going on. Near the makeup counter I yelled out to a group of them in my lowest, freakiest voice, “I NEED A FACIAL!” Laughter erupted from the living and the undead. I was proud. I called the Reverend to tell him of our successes in the first mall reminding him of his call to the congregation to, “Disturb the customer!” We continued on to many stores that day. The Disney store was my favorite. Screaming children and little creepy dolly eyes surrounding the rampage. One mother hid her child’s eyes as I posed for a picture with Mickey’s hand on my crotch.

To continue reading the article from The church of Stop Shopping click here

Dont forget to check out the youtube video of Reverend Bill and his followers in starbucks.

But if you want a really good belly chuckle, check out my favourite comedian George Carlin.... on materialism and consumerism... "The table is tilted folks, the game is rigged" and "nobody seems to notice, nobody seems to care", "it's called the American dream, because you have to be asleep to believe it!"

Practical Revolutionary Economics - Part II

(Following on from the previous post The Economics of Revolution, we now have the concluding part II, with acknowledgements to Royce Christian for his assistance).

Undergound currency or counter economics is a non-violent means to undermine capitalism. The term was originally coined by Samuel Edward Konkin, who defined it as

"the the study and/or practice of all peaceful human action which is forbidden by the State".

The main reasons I suggested we encorporate counter economics in our daily lives was for the following;

Reduces demand on currency by providing an alternative (reduces inflation, consumption)

Ensures a social infrastructure capable of autonomous function with redundancy protection from State failure.

Companies
While not a true anarchist example, I personally believe that a simple way to give back to employees is to engage them in the business through shares. Instead of privatising the company where shares are sold on the market, employees are given shares in the company. Unlike normal shares these cannot be privately sold and are retained only while the person is in employment with the company. Call them an employee bonus scheme or something, where the business profits go back into those who worked hard for the business profits in the first place.

This method has two functions. Firstly, it redistributes the earnings of the business (not neccisarily in a socialist manner, rather contribution means tested). Secondly, the employees feel better about themselves and their jobs knowing that they are working not just for a nameless facless company, but also their own livelihood. I think it makes people more proud of their work. Finally, instead of there being a direct contradiction between an employee and the shareholders (people being laid off because of reduced profits), there is no contradiction between the two. The shareholders are the employees who retain stocks only while they are in employment with the company, and are returned to the company on the employees departure. It's private ownership, so it's not anarchist per se, but it's not capitalist either.

Barter or Trade

I rememer years ago family and friends decided to clean out their wardrobe of their old clothes and shoes. I don't generally like giving to charity because of the lack of control once you hand over your money or your items to their final location. Instead we put all the clothes in a bag and they went around the group. When the bag eventually came back to you, anything of yours still in there was removed and given to charity or thrown out. Instead of doing this with just clothes, why not do it with all sorts of items? If you don't want to setup your own group, you can use Freecycle instead.

I have also heard cases of tradesmen swapping their trades for mutual benefit. This is especially true in country towns. Generally alcohol is used a counter currency, otherwise, straight out bater is done, where a plumber will do a bathroom in exchange for electrical re-wiring. The funny thing is about these sorts of trades is people place more emphasis on quality and professionalism because instead of trading money, they trade their name and reputation.

Alternative Currency

I remember when I was younger my mother belonged to this baby-sitting group. They didn't pay each other, instead they had these cut up pieces of laminate flooring (weired I know). The would exchange one piece of this laminate flooring for every hour that they baby-sat. No money exchanged, and no tit for tat with a large group involved. If you only have one or two people, the onus is that if you do 5 hours of babysitting, you expect the other person to do 5 hours. With the laminate flooring system, you didn't have to do baby-sitting for the person who did it for you. It was a great system, unusual, but it worked.

Alternative currencies available on the market include liberty dollars, Pheonix dollars, Ithaca Hours and digital gold currency like e-gold. These alternative currencies are denominated by weight and backed by a commodity (unlike the U.S or AUS $). Thus, these currencies are designed to be absolutely free of any financial risk. (I.e. assume something happens to the Australian economy and it goes bust, having your money backed by gold means you have little to worry about). There is also no debt or contingent liabilities associated with these systems. However, "the use of these gold and silver NORFED "Liberty Dollar" medallions as circulating money is a Federal crime in the US". Oh well, you've been warned.

Before anyone decides to swap all their cash for e-gold, just remember "Caveat Emptor" Buyer Beware as it has been suggested that some of these guys only say they have gold backed dollars, in reality it could just be a virtual currency.

Establishing the Neighbourhood

Growing your own fruits or vegetables can be a great way to get to know the neighbours. We've all seen the lemon tree in the font yard, and we've all gone and asked nicely for a few lemons. I read in the paper a while back about a Reverend who grew tomatoes next to his picket fence that people would help themselves to. He said he didn't mind because that was the whole idea. While probably not cost effective monetarily speaking, there is no value on the forging of relationships with those around you. This is social infrastructure.

Another thing you have to remember about counter economics, is that not everyone has to be an anarchist to participate, you will find people are likely to participate because it benefits them, unwittingly contributing to the free-market, making it stronger. So go out there and get involved, and if you have any ideas to add to this, or any feedback send us an email at anarchistalex@yahoo.com

Is it possible to be an Anarchist in an Authoritarian world?

Having, as I have, a long and heavy past of political idealism it’s easy to notice that, each year – or even each day, it’s becoming harder and harder to remain truly an Anarchist without drawing negative attention to oneself. Given that the Anarchist creed implicates that we stand up for freedom of speech, a freedom that is ever more threatened by either restrictive laws pushed by national governments or by Bruxels regime (1), or even due to the ideological obscurantism that painted our world in Black and White, divided in “good” and “evil”, resulting that true Anarchists – those that stand up for absolute freedom of speech and opinion for all – end up being accused sometimes as “fascists” and others as “communists”, depending on the political guidelines (the artificial Right/Left) of those that disagree with your point of view.

Given the Portuguese example, we have ever more governmental decisions that are taken without the approval of the people (most recent cases being Flexi security and the European Treaty). We have a regulating governmental entity that rules over the press – something that does not seen all that democratic. In the colleges, political parties youth wings and in the opinion columns of the newspapers we witness what Joaquim Letria (2) labeled as “self censorship”, when people restrain themselves to voice publicly certain opinions that might look bad or raise a cloud of negative suspicion over its authors by their professors, editors or even some parcel of the public that might be organized as a lobby.

To continue reading the Article by Flavio Goncalves click here

A similar story at The Gerilla Capitalist.

Shun the Non Believers

Red Anarchists, as has been stated, have a tendency to shun everyone who does not subscribe to their particular brand of Anarchism. Their street level activism is highly important to the movement as a whole and should not be forgotten nor overlooked. This is their strength and the strength and a huge force for the Anarchist movement as a whole. The same applies to Anarcho-Capitalists within their own sphere of influence. Though they may not be working the streets to the extent of Red Anarchists, or other older brands of Anarchism, it is undeniable that they work hard to deal with and rebuff statists at the intellectual level on a regular basis. I would hope Red Anarchists can accept this and congratulate Anarcho-Capitalists for their work. Both sides excel at the others weakness, with the opposite being true for their strengths. This should not be forgotten.

To continue reading the Article by Royce Christian click here

The Economics of Revolution - Part I

The current political system is robust because of it's strong economic model, so the old axiom, "the larger they are, the harder they fall" comes to mind. So what is the best way to bring down capitalism, and re-institute a more socialist, communitarian model? To do this, we need to look at economics and currency under the current model.

Money is an aid for barter, and in reality a piece of paper where two people have agreed upon the value for trade (that is the purchase of goods or services). Money is a valuable resource only because it is used by the state to pay taxes and fines, it is a commodity that is forced onto the community.

So, let us assume that we live in a tribe and rare shells are used as currency. Suppose that only one person in the tribe knows where the shells are found. This person then has a monopoly on the economy. They are able to trade more than their share, by injecting more currency into the economy, which long term makes the shells worth less. (that is, you need more and more shells to trade for the same amount of goods). So this one individual becomes quite wealthy at the expense of the other tribesman.

While a simple example, this effectively describes the function of the Reserve Bank. The Reserve Bank is a privately owned company with a monopoly on the production of local currency, effectively, making your dollar worth less and less. It is assumed by most people that the Australian Government produces Australian currency. This is untrue. The Australian Government has debts owed to the Reserve Bank who produce the currency, and it is our taxes that pay the loan.

As anarchists, there are a few options for us.

Firstly, lets look at radical change. If everyone in the country withdrew all their currency at one time, the economy would collapse. The fractional lending system is based on the fact that 10X more money is loaned out than what the banks actually have. If everyone went at one time to collect their money from the banks, bankrupcy would ensue. The economy would collapse, however, this would only be a temporary measure. Due to the global nature of the economy now, we would find that within 24 hours, the economy would be running again thanks to injections of "liquidity" from overseas. (This just means some rich arsehole realises his system is about to collapse, so he puts his own money into the system to keep it running). Hence, for a radical change, we need a mass critical number to withdraw their funds globally.

However, I have some grave concerns over the plans of our global NWO. If capitalism failed and all currencies became de-valued, money would become concentrated in the hands of a few. As people sell off their assets and liquidate into cash assets, things like houses and businesses are sold for pennies on the dollar. (The great depression of 1929), resulting in people with vast wealth increasing their wealth. So while for you and me the economy is bad, inflation is high, food is scarce, the very wealthy become exceedingly wealthly.

The trick is once the economy falls, not to re-instate their (statist) currency.

I believe the follow on effect from a global economic collapse will be the establishment of a global currency. A currency that is able to handle the ebs and flows of local market fluctations due to civil war or the like. At this point, we need to limit the use of the new currency to prevent it's uptake. Again, this is difficult when taxes and fines are used to pay the state.

So then, what is the best method to subvert the capitalist system?

The best thing you can do, is to start networking with people. They don't have to be anarchists, they just need to be able to offer you something.

Try instituting a barter system, or trading your skills. Anything that doesn't reqiure the exchange of state supplied cash, which is also referred to as "underground currency".

Underground currency systems already exist, like the exchange of alcohol or cigarettes in prison. We need to start implementing systems outside the current socio-political model, to start building our own de-centralised communities. This serves two functions, the first; with a mass critical number you can cause the economy to collapse (which is less likely), but the second, is to have in place our own economic system for when the currrent system does collapse. What we need to do is start building social infrastructure, which places more than a dollar value on our relationships with the economy.

coming soon... part II - Practical Revolutionary Economics