Surveillance is sold to us on the grounds that ‘the innocent have nothing to hide’, but the reluctance of the watchers to also become the watched-the police will plead ‘operational security’ to excuse themselves from disclosing even the most trivial points of detail about themselves, such as canteen menus, etc-shows this as both a transparent excuse to extend surveillance way beyond the point where it should be socially acceptable and a disguising of what is in the interests of the powerful with reference to what is supposedly ‘in the interest of all’.
Once upon a time there was a continent covered with beautiful pristine wilderness, where giant trees towered over lush mountainsides and rivers ran wild and free through deserts, where raptors soared and beavers labored at their pursuits and people lived in harmony with wild nature, accomplishing every task they needed to accomplish on a daily basis using only stones, bones and wood, walking gently on the Earth. Then came the explorers, conquerors, missionaries, soldiers, merchants and immigrants with their advanced technology, guns, and government. The wild life that had existed for millennia started dying, killed by a disease brought by alien versions of progress, arrogant visions of manifest destiny and a runaway utilitarian science.
In just 500 years, almost all the giant trees have been clear-cut and chemicals now poison the rivers; the eagle has faced extinction and the beaver’s work has been supplanted by the Army Corps of Engineers. And how have the people fared? What one concludes is most likely dependent on how well one is faring economically, emotionally and physically in this competitive technological world and the level of privilege one is afforded by the system. But for those who feel a deep connection to, a love and longing for, the wilderness and the wildness that once was, for the millions now crowded in cities, poor and oppressed, unable to find a clear target for their rage because the system is virtually omnipotent, these people are not faring well. All around us, as a result of human greed and a lack of respect for all life, wild nature and Mother Earth’s creatures are suffering. These beings are the victims of industrial society.
The New Tribes Mission are a right-wing Christian missionary organisation, who have spread themselves all over the world. From their modest, though violent, beginnings they have never looked back. NTM’s purpose is to make contact with every ‘uncontacted’ tribe on earth and plant churches in the areas where these tribes live. They use coercion and force, having no regard for the peoples’ cultures and lives they are imposing upon.
The Revolt of Adam & Eve: A Green Anarcha-Feminist Perspective
It doesn’t take a health food nut to see that modern society has a dysfunctional relationship with food. As in almost every other arena of life, our priorities are elsewhere — if not in wage slavery and staying out of debt, then in escapist entertainment or selfniumbing addictions. Even among radicals and anarchists, healthy and mindful dietary practices are often considered a luxury reserved for that mythical post-revolutionary era that we are supposedly laying the groundwork for, when our children’s children, or their children, can enjoy safe, pure, nutritious food. Continue reading Witch Hazel (two texts)→
For most it means some form of socialism, despite the fact that there are plenty of leftists who are not opposed to capitalism (clearly from the actual history of socialism, not all socialists are opposed to capitalism either). Plenty of other arguments can be made about that, but let’s just keep things simple and assume that the two terms are synonymous. As is the case with most vague terms, however, it’s easier to come up with a list of characteristics than a definition. Leftism encompasses many divergent ideas, strategies, and tactics; are there any common threads that unite all leftists, despite some obvious differences? In order to begin an attempt at an answer, it is necessary to examine the philosophical antecedents to what can broadly be termed Socialism.
Work, now? Never, never. I’m on strike. – Arthur Rimbaud
Depersonalization and alienation from our deepest desires is implanted during childhood via school, church, movies, and TV, and soon reaches the point where an individual’s desire is not only a net of contradictions, but also a commodity like all the others. “True life” always seems to be just a bit beyond what a weekly paycheck and credit card can afford, and is thus indefinitely postponed. And each postponement contributes to the reproduction of a social system that practically everyone who is not a multimillionaire or a masochist has come to loathe. Continue reading The Psychopathology Of Work (en/fr)→
I chose the term “Volunteers” because it is apropos to combat. “Comrade” or “comrades” is another term that I like to use a lot in conjunction with combat. I feel as though the two terms are genuinely applicable to Anarchists. I am an Anarchist. As an Anarchist I try to frame my thoughts, my mode of Life, my spirit, in terms of Anarchism. My Anarchism. My Anarchism is what I believe it to be, not what I am told it should be. Still, my Anarchism is fluid. I constantly thirst for, and seek out, Anarchist literature and comraderie, from anywhere and everywhere that I can. As a prisoner in the Oregon gulag, all contact with outside Anarchists was gradually being choked off. More on that in a moment. Let me close this opening paragraph by stating that “Volunteers” and “combat” extend beyond the confines of Anarchism. “Volunteers” and “combat” encompass the struggle to move the revolution forward. Given this very simple request, both “Volunteers” and “combat” will tolerate and seek extra-Anarchist support.
Many people desire an existence free of coercive authority, where all are at liberty to shape their own lives as they choose for the sake of their own personal needs, values, and desires. For such freedom to be possible, no individual person can extend his or her sphere of control upon the lives of others without their choosing. Many who challenge oppression in the modern world strive toward their conception of a “free society” by attempting to merely reform the most powerful and coercive institutions of today, or to replace them with “directly democratic” governments, community-controlled municipalities, worker-owned industrial federations, etc. Those who prioritize the values of personal autonomy or wild existence have reason to oppose and reject all large-scale organizations and societies on the grounds that they necessitate imperialism, slavery and hierarchy, regardless of the purposes they may be designed for.
“There is no more profound way of understanding the course of history than in terms of this effort to escape from one’s own ‘sweating self’ and to experience even temporary states of euphoria or relief of discomfort regardless of the cost.”
– Nathan S. Kline
From its earliest inceptions, sedentary life brought with it a drudging misery for its inhabitants, and with such misery quickly arose the need to placate the unruly and desensitize the weary. As social beings, the disassociated conventions of civilized life have never come naturally, and these impositions into and upon our lives have induced massive, collective trauma. The infrastructure of civilization surrounds, envelops, and teaches us to embody its qualities. It’s modern totality is the magnum opus of the domestication set out upon less than a dozen millennia ago, and we are it’s equally insane offspring, each generation’s pathology more dysfunctional than the last. Continue reading A Short Anarchist Essay on the Domesticating and Colonizing Effects of Addiction and Intoxication Culture→
There are many people pulling out — rejecting society as we know it. The numbers of these people are growing everyday, some may see this as a good thing, however I don’t see this as a solution to the growing environmental crisis. While these people who pull away from civilized society are one up on those who take part in this death race called civilization, many are doing nothing to dismantle the machine that’s killing all of us. As I see it, the people who flee from consumer society and don’t fight it are cowards. Continue reading Destroying Industrial Society→
