What it is, and what it aint...

ANARCHISM:

from the occupied territory known as grand rapids, mi // www.sproutac.org

INTRODUCTION.
This pamphlet is a reprinting of an essay by Lawrence Jarach titled Instead Of A Meeting: By Someone Too Irritated To Sit Thro gh Another One!" #e share the a thor$s fr stration in dealing with the conf sion s rro nding anarchism% incl ding that coming from some anarchists! Most simply% anarchists are against the state and the go&ernment and do not s pport them in any form and see their e'istence as an obstacle to liberation! #e appreciate the a thor$s attempts to pro&ide a short introd ction to the anarchist principles of direct action% &ol ntary cooperation% and m t al aid! S re% there is m ch more that co ld be said on the topic of anarchy% b t this is a decent introd ction! Moreo&er% we appreciate how it differentiates anarchism from the political philosophies of the left" and the steps it ta(es to separate anarchist strategies and tho ght from the left!" )or total liberation% Spro t Anarchist *ollecti&e ++ www!spro tac!org

Anarchism is not extreme Leninism In the economic sphere% Leninism is the most e'treme form of Social 1emocracy% while in the political sphere% it more closely resembles conser&ati&e 2ep blicanism! Leninists don3t waste time with any sort of pri&ate ownership4 the State owns and controls all prod ction 5and most other realms of social acti&ity6! The principle of 1emocratic *entralism limits the n mber of people who ha&e decision7ma(ing power to a small gro p! The &ario s deri&ati&es of Leninism 5from the infinite &arieties of trots(yism thro gh stalinism and maoism6 all ha&e as a goal a strong centrali-ed and b rea cratic State! The goals of Leninism are the e'propriation of pri&ate property% the sei-ing of State power% and the e&ent al global tri mph of their ideology! Tactically% Leninists don3t care if their methods are compassionate or nasty! Leninists want to win% and that3s all that co nts4 anyone who stands in their way is an enemy and deser&es no mercy! All Leninist parties and go&ernments ha&e a record of br tality and repression against percei&ed enemies 8 especially anarchists! Anarchism is not any form of Statism #hat all these different forms of 2ep blicanism ha&e in common is a belief that the State can and m st control its citi-ens! The Leftist tra.ectory from Liberalism% thro gh Social 1emocracy% and p to Leninism is a contin m of increasingly intr si&e go&ernment! The principles of these forms of Statism &ary only slightly% and all of them ha&e m ch more in common with each other than anarchism has with any one of them! Leftists rely pon legislation and representation4 anarchists% adhering to the principle of direct action% are the ob.ecti&e opponents of Liberalism% Social 1emocracy% and Leninism 8 and the Leftists (now it! If anarchists forget 5or worse% don3t e&en (now6 what their principles are% it3s all too easy for s to get s c(ed into manip lati&e alliances in which these principles play absol tely no part! #itho t (nowing and sing anarchist principles% we can3t recogni-e a thentically anarchist tactics or methods% so that when non7anarchists adopt anarchistic methods 5li(e affinity gro ps and spo(esco ncils6% many anarchists become conf sed! They thin( that the liberals or socialists ha&e transformed themsel&es into / asi7anarchists beca se of the se of familiar tools! B t Leftists se these tactics beca se they f nction well% not beca se the Leftists ha&e s ddenly become promoters of anti7 statism! Anarchists% being history3s most consistent losers% need to approach non7anarchist oppositionists with s spicion% not solidarity4 we need to loo( beyond form% ref sing to be hoodwin(ed by familiar7loo(ing tactics! Anarchists need to (now% remember% and maintain anarchist principles! )rom that position of strength% we can then decide when 8 or whether 8 to enter into short7term alliances with those who3d rather see s disappear!

ANARCHISM: WHAT IT IS, WHAT IT AINT...

There is a great deal of conf sion among anarchists in terms of what anarchism is and% more importantly% what anarchism is not! It is all too common for anarchists to mista(e tactics for principles! ,&en worse% some mista(e opponents for allies! Many anarchists need to be reminded that we are against the State and go&ernment% and that this f ndamental stance is the main characteristic that differentiates s from others who promote social change! It is my hope to begin a process of analysis and disc ssion abo t this nfort nate condition by pro&iding a sort of reminder of anarchism! My se of the term we" refers to anarchists!

What Anarchism Is
Anarchism as philosophy Anarchism deri&es from the philosophical premise that instit tionali-ed power and enforcement% especially in the form of the State% is a negati&e method of trying to create and maintain social cohesion! The defining aspect of anarchism is a categorical re.ection of the principle and practice of go&ernment! ) rther% anarchism entails a radical criti/ e of the e'ercise of a thority and power! 0olding to the con&iction that cooperation is a better and more . st way of attaining social harmony than competition% anarchists ha&e promoted

answer is whate&er helps to ma(e the goal5s6 a reality4 whate&er is e'pedient at the moment depending on who3s in&ol&ed and what e'actly we are trying to accomplish! Of co rse o r tactics m st be in (eeping with o r principles! B t it is important to remember that tactics are not the same thing as principles! 9on7 &iolence is not an anarchist principle4 it is a tactic! 1epending on the sit ation% we decide when it3s con&enient or not to adhere to non7&iolent g idelines! At times we may decide that it ma(es more sense to fight bac( with force! Morality plays no part in deciding pon which tactics to se in a gi&en sit ation it only matters what is compatible with o r strategy and principles!

&ol ntary cooperation% egalitarian relations% and m t al aid! Anarchism as politics In the political realm% anarchism begins from the premise that in order to be tr ly free% people need to dispense with go&ernment and its instit tionali-ation in the State! The politics of representation% being hierarchical% is also considered a thoritarian! Instead% anarchists promote direct action% which means any action nderta(en in one3s own interest witho t as(ing for permission from the State and its agents! The ltimate &ision is a classless and stateless society% free from all forms of e'ploitation! Anarchism as resistance Anarchists promote self7organi-ed alternati&es to hierarchical instit tions! This doesn3t mean opening a collecti&e b siness or starting a collecti&e li&ing space! It means the creation of indi&id al and collecti&e pro.ects that challenge the legitimacy of go&ernment and other instit tions of social control% not . st pro.ects where people ha&e the opport nity to become acc stomed to ma(ing and carrying o t all the wor( and play decisions in their li&es! Anarchism as methodology *ritical thin(ing leads to theory% where life is e'amined with a mi't re of ob.ecti&e and s b.ecti&e analysis! Ideology% on the other hand% leads to pat answers that ha&e been pre&io sly form lated according to partic lar agendas 5while anarchism can easily become ossified into an ideology% the constant se of critical theory can wor( against that6! Anarchist critical thin(ing pro&ides a challenge to conformity and mediocrity in social and political relations! This challenge enhances the place of the indi&id al in relation to the collecti&e!

What Anarchism Is Not

Anarchism is not extreme Liberalism Liberalism is based on the theory of the Social *ontract% where citi-ens gi&e p f ll liberty in e'change for political and economic sec rity! This sec rity is s pposed to be pro&ided by the State% which reg lates% mediates% and enforces the Social *ontract! More generically% Liberalism can be e/ ated with 2ep blicanism% which stands for the r le of law! The liberal wing pays lip ser&ice to r le of the people% while the conser&ati&e wing is more honest in wanting r le of some people! The principles of Liberalism incl de ma.ority r le% &ario s ci&il liberties li(e free speech% tolerance% and e/ ality before the law% as well as free enterprise and pri&ate property! These principles are legislated and g aranteed by the State% which is seen as the same thing as the :eople! Liberals who are nsatisfied with certain policies and wish to remedy them se tactics that are compatible with liberalism: petition and demonstration! Liberals belie&e that whate&er in. stices e'ist within the Social *ontract can be fi'ed by electing better or wiser legislati&e representati&es who will enact better laws to be enforced by better cops! Anarchism is not extreme Social Democracy

Anarchist Principles
The realm of Social 1emocracy is not really that m ch different than that of Liberalism4 the main aspect that has differentiated the two sed to be a commitment to socialism 5meaning social" ownership of property% b t really meaning state ownership6 instead of capitalism 5pri&ate ownership6! Since the mid73;<s% howe&er% almost all social democrats ha&e abandoned this commitment in fa&or of what they call a mi'ed economy! Social 1emocrats also consider that they are carrying o t the will of the people thro gh the State% only the Social 1emocratic State has e&en more reg latory power than the classical Liberal State! Social 1emocrats are committed to the tactics of peacef l and legal changes within a parliamentary State4 li(e Liberals% they see the sol tions to in. stice coming from the election of better and wiser representati&es! ,&ery political philosophy contains a set of principles! These are perspecti&es and practices that are not negotiable4 they are the fo ndational definitions that ma(e the philosophy distinct from others! Anarchist principles are deri&ed from the premises and theories of anarchism% as well as the methodology of critical thin(ing% and they reinforce each other! The principles that come o t of anarchist theory are the following: Direct Action This term has become twisted and mis sed by &ario s political acti&ists in the past =< years! In its original anarchist meaning% the term refers to any action

nderta(en witho t the permission% and o tside the interest of% go&ernmental instit tions! It can refer to &ol nteering with )ood 9ot Bombs% going on stri(e 5especially witho t the appro&al of a nion6% shoplifting% or setting p a micro7 powered radio station! It doesn3t mean engaging in ci&il disobedience in cooperation with the police4 it doesn3t mean brea(ing the law or brea(ing a window if the intention is merely to register p blic disappro&al of some go&ernmental policy! Brea(ing things can be e'amples of direct action b t the intention behind these acts are what is important% not the acts themsel&es! 1irect action has nothing to do with press ring any part of a go&ernment to alter a policy4 it is by definition anti7statist! Attempting to alter a go&ernment policy is called lobbying4 it is aimed at representati&es% and so cannot be direct action! :resenting a list of demands or protesting a partic lar policy% in the hopes of getting noticed by the state 5whose r lers will then somehow change something abo t the way it operates6% is ne&er direct action% e&en if the means sed to press re legislators are illegal! 1irect action is when we do things for o rsel&es% witho t begging% as(ing% or demanding that someone in a thority help s! Voluntary Cooperation Anarchists belie&e that cooperation is more beneficial than competition! ) rther% we belie&e that cooperation% in order to be a thentic% m st be &ol ntary! > idelines and c lt ral norms are agreed pon and adhered to by the indi&id als who are interested in creating and maintaining them% and there are no coerci&e instit tions to enforce them! ?ol ntary cooperation incl des &ol ntary association! ,ach indi&id al retains the choice to .oin or not to .oin any partic lar association of people4 and the people in any association reser&e for themsel&es the ability to as( another indi&id al to .oin them% or to ref se her+him admittance! Mutual Aid There are perhaps as many mis nderstandings concerning m t al aid as there are abo t direct action! M t al aid doesn3t mean a tomatic solidarity with whoe&er as(s for it% nor does it mean that anarchists ha&e an obligation to enter into relationships with other oppositional forces! It doesn3t mean a tit7for7tat arrangement4 rather it means to be able to gi&e freely and ta(e freely: from each according to her+his ability% to each according to her+his need! M t al aid is only possible between and among e/ als 5which means among friends and tr sted long7term allies6! Solidarity% on the other hand 5since it is offered to and as(ed for by ad hoc allies6% needs to incl de the reality of reciprocation4 otherwise it is nothing b t charity!

It is important to loo( at how critical thin(ing operates in terms of de&eloping a co rse of action in the real world! The cr cial components to critical tho ght are the following: Critique #e notice that there is in. stice and s ffering in the world% and so we as( the / estion% #hat3s wrong@" #e loo( at the mechanisms% instit tions% and social dynamics that create and perpet ate in. stice% and analy-e them thoro ghly% down to their root ca ses hence the term radical! )or e'ample% there is &iolence in the world! #e need to e'amine what we mean when we se the term and what other people mean when they se it4 an anarchist definition will probably be different than that of a statist! #e need to fig re o t why that is! 9e't we need to try to disco&er the main ca ses of &iolence% and who benefits from its contin ed e'istence! Analysis #e try to nderstand how a partic lar in. stice is created and perpet ated% and why it3s wrong! #e st dy% disc ss% and interpret the rele&ant facts and history of the problem% and begin to form late a reasonable sol tion based on those facts! Asing the e'ample of &iolence% we de&elop o r analysis by tracing its widespread practice by the &ario s instit tions that e'ist in the AS% and what they ha&e in common with other formal and informal instit tions aro nd the world! #e will probably disco&er that% as the world has become more dominated by ind strial capitalism% it has become increasingly more &iolent! A possible sol tion to the contin ed e'istence of &iolence% therefore% might begin with the idea of abolishing ind strial capitalism! Strategy #e de&ise a set of goals for how we want to change the sit ation into one that fits o r principles and analyses! This is where o r o&erall &ision is based! #e try to fig re o t how to implement o r ideas practically! A ma.or goal of an anarchist strategy is to ndermine people3s belief in the legitimacy of the State% to ma(e it possible for all people to gain confidence in reta(ing control of all aspects of o r li&es! Is one of the goals of anarchism to create a world where &iolence is minimi-ed% or to create a world completely witho t &iolence@ This will depend on how we define &iolence with o r criti/ e and analysis! Tactics #e come p with actions that are compatible with o r strategy! The main / estion to as( is #hat methods+tools can be sed to achie&e the goal@" The

Critical Thinking as Anarchist Methodology