It’s that holiday time of the year again where things seem to slow down a bit for a moment and we try and look back on the year in review. This has without a doubt been the year of the antifa and all the social media posts, podcasts, book reviews, and interviews are full of the pundits pontificating making and selling their latest books of concisely curated content.
One such writer who recently dropped their new book into the marketplace of ideas is Shane Burley, who describes themselves as a “filmmaker, educator, and writer”. Going alongside the book he published “Twenty-Five Theses on Fascism” via The Institute for Anarchist Studies which was shared as a story on ANEWS recently. Paul Z. Simmons wrote a response text and then Alexander Reid Ross wrote a rejoinder to Simmons, coming to the side and perspective of Burley. Among Burley and Reid Ross, Mark Bray also seems to be the other big name in writing about antifa, fascism, and the surrounding world of ideas for an anarchist audience. I haven’t had the time to digest the writings of Burley, Reid Ross, and Bray but as a fellow traveler (I mean, they’re anarchists right?), I’m sure there is a lot of good things to digest within their respective texts.
I’m sure there are also some things I may strongly disagree with. For example, ANEWS is directly called out by Reid Ross in their rejoinder text as being an infiltration point for “anarcho-fascist” tendencies because “fascism, in its earliest phases, relies on insinuating itself within subcultures and left-wing factions to grow, those tendencies must remain actively aware of these basics, or else fall prey to its machinations.” So basically, what I understand from this statement, because honestly it seems confusing enough on its own, is that the people behind ANEWS, which includes yours truly are in bed with “anarcho-fascists” or worse we are the “anarcho-fascists”…? Jesus. Well, thanks for letting me know. Taken another way, could not the exact same statement cover every single anarchist website/space in the world theater? What’s so specific about ANEWS that you really dislike? Be honest.
For one, I’m not sure I’ve heard a bigger oxymoron recently than the term “anarcho-fascist”. An anarchist that is a fascist? Well, I’m sorry but that just doesn’t make much sense similar to the much maligned and totally contradictory term of “anarcho-capitalist”. Perhaps, I’m taking things too literal in my reading and need to be more creative like you. Two, if these people who you are calling “anarcho-fascists” believe they’re anarchists (which they’re not), why are you giving them the benefit of the doubt by using their terminology? Three, why are you lumping ANEWS, which is a non-sectarian anarchist news site, into the likes of people we all despise? Why is it that the other “anarchists” hating on ANEWS so much also seem like the most partisan actors in everything they do and at the same time extremely popular? Is this how you sell books? 2017 could also be the year in review of anarchists attacking other anarchists, but I’m pretty sure that happens every year unfortunately. Not only is it sad to hear ANEWS and projects you work on and put your heart into attacked, but it’s also extremely upsetting to see it being done by other so-called anarchists with an axe to grind. Critique is healthy, but this kind of mud-slinging is just lazy asinine sectarian capital P for Politics.
While I’ve never spoken personally to Reid Ross, I have had the overwhelming displeasure of having a private conversation with some other well known antifa writers, where I was absolutely shocked by their opinions of other very successful and popular anarchist projects (and I’m not talking about ANEWS anymore). I wonder if they know that their publisher AK Press has also published some other writers who we may deem bad? Among the handful, did you know that Noam Chomsky recently gave a bunch of money to Bernie Sanders? I recently learned that the Chomsky’s co-writer of “Manufacturing Consent” Edward S. Herman who just passed away held some controversial positions on the Srebrenica [sray-bren-nitz-ya] massacre. Where is the outrage? This is mostly a tongue-in-cheek critique to make a point about the complexities of everything. I actually don’t mind AK Press, but seriously this kind of drama is a huge turnoff for people coming into anarchism and those of us who have been here for many years, just tiring and a distraction to who the real enemy is.
Let’s dig a little deeper and visit another controversy from some years ago that has recently been brought up on our Twitter feed. In George Ciccariello-Maher’s 2014 essay for Roar Magazine entitled, “El Libertario: beware Venezuela’s false ‘anarchists’”. He wrote:
“Not everyone who calls themselves anarchists are worthy of the name, and before revolutionaries in the U.S. or elsewhere re-post articles, translate books, or organize speaking tours, we should be clear what it is we are supporting. Especially in Latin America, moreover, we must be attentive to the thousands engaged in revolutionary anti-state activity that don’t even call themselves “anarchists.” To support middle-class, liberal anarchists like El Libertario is to be against the revolution, against concrete popular struggles of the Venezuelan poor, and even against anarchism itself.”
“In the midst of the flood of conflicting sources of information and analysis, one of the collective members of the new journal, “Abolition: A Journal of Insurgent Politics”, [1] George Ciccariello-Maher, recently wrote an article titled: “El Libertario: beware Venezuela’s false ‘anarchists’”. [2] It is not irrelevant that Ciccariello-Maher is an unashamedly Chavista government and “Bolivarian Revolution” supporter, as is clear from his book, We Created Chavez: A People’s History of the Venezuelan Revolution, and several articles and interviews. Reading what he writes it becomes clear that we cannot take him seriously as a significant critic of centralized rule from the top down, nor as an advocate of anarchist goals or methods of egalitarian self-governance from the bottom up. The article is meant to convince us of the revolutionary credentials of the state he supports by discrediting El Libertario in the eyes of anarchists and anti-authoritarians, and to convince us that those “false anarchists” are endangering this good state and the gains made through it.”
In all of this, who do you believe? I can honestly say I’m not well versed enough in the Venezuelan space to tell exactly who is being the most dishonest here. Ciccariello-Maher is a pretty well-respected professor who just left their job and Charlatan Stew is a long-time writer who also seems to make some convincing points. I’m sure many people already have their minds made up and have chosen their side in the battle of ideas, between the good and bad anarchists. Obviously I have my research cut out for me. Maybe I’ll write a book about it.
I guess that’s 2017 for me. Welcome to the hate factory, where people on the same team treat their co-conspirators like the enemy. Of course, this is not everyone, but I must say it feels more and more prevalent nowadays, at least online, than the previous occasional snide comment in a meeting somewhere. Happy New Year everyone!
The exact same words we use to tell a story, also tell a story of their own. The idea that each war or conflict generates its own lexicon – some of it military, some of it political, some of it cultural, and from that vocabulary we define our own views and those of others about such conflicts is easily transposed into anarchist discourse; so ripe and full of its own wars, conflicts, and struggles. As Nietzche wrote, “words dilute and brutalize; words depersonalize; words make the uncommon common.”
There are a handful of well-known anarchist thinkers who have written about language including John Zerzan, Noam Chomsky, Max Stirner, and some writers from CrimethInc. On anarchistnews dot org one can find the frequent commentator Emile discussing the finer points of languages impact on everything related back to certain stories, often ad nauseam. Moving only a few degrees away from this anarchist focus we can also find thinkers like George Orwell and Jacques Derrida who have had and continue to have a large influence on anarchist ideas surrounding language.
Orwell, never short on words himself wrote that “Our civilization is decadent and our language – so the argument runs – must inevitably share in the general collapse.” His book 1984 captures the decadent and depraved nature of what language and society can become. I remember curiously digesting this book for the first time back when I lived in Cuba under Fidel and passing it along to my friends there, where we would carefully discuss our lives in a place that often limited our own narratives. Of note, during Orwell’s time he wrote of meaningless words like that of fascism. He said “fascism has now no meaning except in so far as it signifies ‘something not desirable.’” Thus one is lead to ask as Orwell did, “Since you don’t know what Fascism is, how can you struggle against Fascism?” Perhaps we need to be more specific in our definitions and naming, but as some have said the act of naming is also an act of domination. The prison of language is not so easily escaped.
Derrida and others see language as the origin of history. So the history of language is also the history of society. The origins of language exist within the struggle for power relations and this violence is closely intertwined and can be traced back in linguistic history. Humans are not only dominated by language, but also dominate by language. Perhaps now is as good as time as ever to thoughtfully consider the impact our words have on each other, if in civilization all meaning is ultimately linguistic.
Many years ago, someone I know asked me about how I would write instructions for nuclear disposal. It appeared easy at first, just follow the instructions of the scientists, of course. Then they reminded me of the English of Shakespeare’s time and before. How would you write instructions for someone to read 1,000 years from now? Perhaps this is easier than expected, but the point remains that languages transform and the remembrance of things past is not always what it appears to be.
We can also find various governments around the world writing about the ideas of language, like the January 2005 document from the USA Department of Defense entitled “Defense Language Transformation Roadmap”. In the document, the DoD classifies language as important as the latest weapon systems. They say that “warfighting in the 21st century will require forces that have foreign language capabilities beyond those generally available in today’s force.” A historic example of such ideas is that of the Navajo “code talkers” in World War II. The document goes on to state that “Language skill and regional expertise are not valued as Defense core competencies yet they are as important as critical weapon systems.” Here you can see that language is a tool as vital as the bombs dropped from up above on those using language to create their own narratives.
What is the solution to language as war, if any at all? Some have gone as far as creating an artificial language, like that of Esperanto. While I don’t think this is the answer or even a practical solution, it’s definitely worth considering all of the complexities of language when in dialogue, especially within the terrible community. As a parting thought, here is a note taken from the darkest of places – “In prison camps and torture blocks, the achievement of communication and recognition through an undetected note or an answered whisper is the first step in rebuilding the world.”
A lot has been said over this past week in regard to publishing all the bad things, which is just the latest hubbub to strike the infamously drama-ripe North American anarchist space, at least according to the comments from everywhere else. You’re probably as sick of it as I am, but maybe not – and if so, in that case here you go. In the text “On No Platform and ITS” by William Gillis they not only call out Anarchist News and Little Black Cart, but The Anarchist Library as well for publishing texts related to eco-extremism. A simple DuckDuckGo search reveals that these are far from the only three websites to have published so-called eco-extremist material. Oh well, let’s grind the axe on the most hateable of all. As the old fishing saying goes, the only certain things in life are death, taxes, and leaky waders – one could probably add bad things on ANEWS.
Fortunately, one of the beautiful things (and often one of the ugliest) about Anarchist News is the comments. And an anonymous author has already replied at length to the William Gillis text along with many more well thought-out bits of commentary to be found on the site and in the long comment forum. Curiously, what really grabbed my attention was the attack on The Anarchist Library project for having published these bad texts. Before writing your call out, I wonder if it’s ever a practice to first try to engage those in question privately, maybe have a dialogue before going full public? I don’t recall seeing any texts by pinche ITS on the library since 2014, although related hanger-ons and similar topics is perhaps the problem? To the reader, these are more anarchx years of ITS and not related to the much more recent bad news that isn’t published there or on this site. Sorry, I forgot you already addressed this point in your text. Do you know who else is still published on the library? Michael Schmidt!!! GASP.
Although, not a lot of texts were ever submitted by Schmidt, it also turns out he really didn’t write many parts of “Black Flame” (wink wink, nudge nudge) and you can still find a text or two by him on the library. Does continuing to share text by Michael Schmidt mean the library is evil? Did you ever try asking them? I wonder what the response might have been… Dialogue with the people and projects you share affinity with, but also question and disagree with seems like a much more rationale approach to finding an understanding and possible solutions than writing reviews that fail to take into account previous replies. Then again, if all else fails – just make stuff up and go public like real anarchists in North America do said some comments from everywhere but North America.
Anyways, moving on into the other direction of all things ANEWS, we have the recent text “Perfect Black #2” by shadowsmoke where we find out that “One of the problems with anarchist discourse right now is that we tend towards being assholes with one another – or at least, it often feels that way.” I couldn’t agree more, and think this problem goes all the way back in anarchist discourse, as was there ever not a time? As the member of thecollective that wrote the comment described by shadowsmoke as being unexpected and that made them feel bad, I’m sorry – but, at the same time what did you expect in writing such a critique? A non-response? To be clear, I think they are talking about what I wrote, but it could be the other comment by another member of thecollective as well. In the end, nothing but support for being that force in the world that works to counter the tendency towards being assholes with each other and towards all hanging out doing the things we love, find fun, and worthwhile. This is what drew me into anarchist discourse years ago, continues to keep me here, and is nice to hear.
One quote that resonates a lot with me over the years is the opening quote from “Choosing Relations” by Liana Doctrines published in AJODA #63, which was then uploaded to The Anarchist Library. It says: “If there is one place that anarchists have the power to shape our lives to our desires, it is in our personal relationships. So why don’t we have all the community, solidarity, and lifelong affinity that we articulate so beseechingly?”
This past week well known ANEWS commentator Emile wrote a new forum post on the “‘Realist’ bias (intolerance) in Anarchist News Editorial policy”. They’re seemingly upset because thecollective has been “deep sixing” their 500+ word responses to articles posted on the website. Not only have we been doing this continually for some time now, but we’ve also communicated with Emile multiple times about why their comments are being moderated to the dust bins of time. Unfortunately, the message doesn’t seem to have gotten through as they keep writing exceedingly long responses and complaining when they are unpublished.
For a while there, thecollective was doing Emile a solid and unpublishing their comments on the main articles and reposting the comments to the more open ended forums. One can imagine that such a task can become increasingly routine, let alone actually trying to engage and dig into what each comment is saying – as I was not thecollective member doing this, I can’t say much – but bet it felt a lot like having a full-time job. To be honest, I could personally count on my fingers the amount of times I’ve tried to read an entire long winded comment by Emile. Of those times, I’d say that 9 out of 10 of them the language was beyond overly complex for the text in question. Don’t get me wrong, the long-form essay is a beautiful thing, however there is also an art and way of engaging in a conversation and dialogue, especially over the Internet (and on ANEWS).
In the past, thecollective has even go so far as to publish a 60 page zine of Emile essays and comments, not because we love it, but it’s just the way we roll. Hopefully, for Emile’s sake, they’re saving all of their comments somewhere and perhaps one day can complain no more, as their magnum opus largest book of all time is published and then maybe they can add another over 9,000+ comment about their own writing. The Cuban writer, José Martí comes to mind with his 28 volumes of published material one can find stacked in the low lit dusty bookshelves of a sweltering Habana city, with the pages blossoming flowery texts, although to be honest Martí is much more of a digestible read.
I think I could go on talking about Emile, their comments, and all of that – but that’s just part of the thing, especially the focus on one person. It holds no interest for many when stacked up against the totality of anarchist writers and texts. ANEWS has always been a place where the big tent of anarchist ideas are shared and discussed, whatever that discussion may look like. If one is upset about the poor discussion, please try and chime in and make honest comments about the text or redirect the conversation towards something interesting. Believe it or not, we are human and do our best to moderate out really shitty comments. You should only see some of the shit people talk about ANEWS as a project and its caretakers, some of it is even enough to make it through the fire, even though the comments are still witness to the common critique of being terrible. A funny, but somewhat sadly disturbing story is the time a new friend mentioned that if ANEWS was a real thing, it should be burned to the ground because of a comment they read there that upset them. That friendship ended pretty quickly. Trust me when I say, that I find a lot of comments upsetting as well, especially those by the infamous regulars. We’re continuing to have conversations and discuss what comments look like.
Part of the problem is that we’re an anarchist website that publishes original content, aggregates anarchist counter-information, and allows anonymous comments – plus, perhaps most importantly we’ve made a name for ourselves. To many this recognition is the burden and huge wooden cross we carry while crawling down a jam packed city street with cars breathing exhaust into our lungs. It’s not for the faint of heart to view.
Time often doesn’t allow for reading all of the things, but when it does the comments leading down a winding forking path of lulz, hilarity, seriousness, anger, and a 1,000 other emotions. Here is a cheers to having good conversations and intriguing anarchist thoughts. For more information, please have a look at the ABOUT US section linked in the sidebar. #smashthelikebutton
It’s that time of year again when students, teachers, professors, and the related faculty of workers are returning to school again at the elementary, secondary, and collegiate levels. The day after this labor day holiday here in the States, many young and old wild glowing eyes will awaken with excitement, dread, uncertainty, and a thousand other emotions about what this coming year means to them. A few weeks back, CrimethInc. published a topical text about the anarchist relationship to school. It covered the efforts of a small group of anarchists to use collegiate level student funding to maintain an anarchist group at their university. These kind of creative projects that spring out of the depths of institutions and environments often at odds with the anarchist idea, inspire us to take a closer look at those involved. Those coming back from vacation, “the place where only dreams can be realized”, are witness to the energizing and turbulent situations of Charlottsville and Hurricane Harvey, to name just a few world-changers currently unfolding in the American landscape.
The University and school are often fleeting events in the lives of the student, whirlwinds of those working in such places, and a constant in the life of the townies just watching everything pass by. I fondly remember my first introduction to anarchism being around the age of 15 and finding an anarchist magazine and quickly trying to absorb and make sense of these particular ideas. Stumbling upon those anarchist ideas and friends at a young age completely changed my life and future relationships, and more than 15 years later here I am remembering some of the life inside the institutions of school as someone from Generation Y (or millennial from the early 1980s into the mid 90s and early 2000s).
I can fondly remember being a student in secondary school and absolutely despising almost everything about such a life, except for the friends and relationships made. Funny enough, here I am thinking about the younger generation. I heard a podcast the other day about the new so-called “I-Generation” (I-Gen) or roughly adolescents born between 1995 and 2012, or the first generation to spend their entire youth with a smartphone. Some of these same data has previously been covered here and related anarchist podcasts, but it’s worth noting. According to the data, some scholars have determined that the I-Gen is having less sexual activity, less binge drinking, and physical fights have decreased. So basically they’re having less fun? These same data sets also said that the I-Gen is more depressed, lonelier, less rebellious, and at greater risk for suicide and self-harm. Teens are spending less time with their friends in real life and tend to spend their leisure time in fundamentally different ways than before.
Accordingly, social media and cell phones seem to be one of the issues related, be it causally or correlated, and a reflection of a much deeper problem. The podcast goes on to say that many in I-Gen spend a great deal of the day enveloped on a screen with limited face-to-face interactions, while these face-to-face interactions that are missing are often linked to a better mental health; sound familiar? As Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple put it recently, “sometimes the very technology that is meant to connect us, divides us.”
On the other side of things, the I-Generation tends to be less religious, less spiritual, and less likely to believe in a god or gods. On the political spectrum and possibly most interesting for anarchists is that I-Gens tend to be more politically independent, have no party affiliation, an individualistic approach to culture with a focus on the self, and appear to be very liberal on social issues, yet more conservative in other areas like gun control. At base they are libertarians. However, according to the data with this political approach comes a stronger work ethic than previous generations (possibly out of fear and vulnerability) with a lack of taking action towards their beliefs, related perhaps to their low level of optimism. Damn… kids these days.
So basically smartphones have ruined a generation of youth, and it was not everything else, like student loan debt and the changing job market? Whatever it is, I-Gen has become known as a generation of thinking without consequences, people thinking more along computational lines, and the rise of artificial intelligence. We are looking at the effects of technology on a child’s brain development, the dopamine levels, the screens everywhere one looks, and often the resulting deprivation and lack of sleep. I-Generation is being characterized as more vulnerable, having a stronger desire for validation and need for instantaneous feedback via the ubiquitous social media and connected apparatuses.
While data is just data and the question of such overarching generalities (plz don’t generalize), it does hold up with some personal experience. The idea inside and outside of many education circles today is that technology can save us, these unknown places to go; and here we see data sets about what is going on with the youth today. Science and the race of the State to be all: certainly a dark, but intriguing thought experiment.
Back to school, work, play, whatever it is you’re doing. One can find inspiration in encountering anarchist ideas and practice in the unknown places of everyday life outside of the weeknight / weekend / vacation. Outside of that and everything else, to a time of everything – “maybe what’s happening is that we’re all becoming children again. Our rigid roles and characters are dropping off like dried skin. We’re fascinating to each other because each one of our acts might be a total surprise, at any instant our personalities might change completely. Like children, we’re not exhausted by what we’ve been and are; life is ahead of us; we’re no longer dead.”
Heroes and heroines. The important people and loved ones in your life, inside and outside of the anarchist space. This has been a monumental week of solidarity for the anarchist heroes and heroines we have come to love. July 20th thru 27th was a week of solidarity to support defendants arrested while protesting the inauguration of Donald Trump, six months prior on January 20th (#disruptJ20). July 25th also marks the International Day of Solidarity with Antifascist Prisoners that originated in 2014 in support of an Australian friend. Our lived philosophies and endeavors, whether successful to some degree or not, will often steer us toward trouble and into the roughest spots of the sea. After the storm has passed, we’re often faced with the brutal results, friends and loved ones hurt in need of long-term care and others facing long stays behind bars.
As anarchists, I think one of the things that we have learned to do well is support our friends in trouble or at least aim for such heights. In many ways, the sole praxis of being an anarchist means perpetually being in sights of those who wish to see us fail. It’s terrible enough that often it seems, the feelings we express towards other anarchists and their projects, people on the same team, is the harsh sectarian reality of real life, like a mirror reflecting the worst of society back onto us. Over the years, the regional and international solidarity efforts have made a large impact. In the United States over the last years, some IWW branches have went from organizing in the factories to organizing incarcerated workers (Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee), to the delight of many red anarchists. Prison solidarity work is often one of those thankless projects for those involved. It’s tough to keep up the steam at times, especially when directly dealing with your enemies, the jailers, the police, the courts. It’s nice to see the growth of new projects, groups, and events year round to support not only anarchists in trouble, but for the total abolition of all prisons and prisoners.
Going back to title of this editorial, perhaps we should use a different word for heroes and heroines. Yes, utmost respect to those facing time and total solidarity, but the word just seems like too much of an idolization of each other. No, I’m not talking about “kill your idols” kind of view either, but that the language of society and heroes is often associated with those of superpowers, fighting against something. Of course, a heroes welcome home is called for, but the hero worship and idolization of each other seems off for anarchists. A quote from the retired NBA player Charles Barkley comes to mind where he says, “I’m not a role model” in an old Nike commercial of all things marketed to the culture of cool.
On such a note, this past week a recent text on It’s Going Down regarding prison solidarity work called-out readers for doing-nothing, nothing-doing. “Dear reader, I do not mean to insult you but chances are the most active you’ve been in the last year-and-a-half is critiquing our president at your favorite bar.” Ouch! This random shelling of dear readers must totally be spurred to action now, leaping from their bar stools to help the revolution throw newspaper boxes in the streetz. As every wise anarchist critic knows, as the old saying goes, if you don’t riot you can’t complain. End text.
Located 25 kilometers [15.5 miles] from Torres del Paine National Park and some 125 kilometers [77.7 miles] northeast of Puerto Natales, on the basin that feeds the glacier Amalia, in the region of Magallanes, stands a mythical volcano. The first record of the volcano, dates to 1879, when the crew of the schooner Alert witnessed its eruption and named it Reclus in honor of the anarchist and celebrated founder of social geography, Élisée Reclus. Afterward, in the early years of the 20th century, the Swedish geologist P. Quense tried to locate the exact location of the eruption. However, they confused it with the hill “Mano de Diablo”.
In 1987 and thanks to helicopter overflights, the exact location of the volcano was pinpointed, 10 kilometers [6.2 miles] from the hill of Mano de Diablo. Due to climate change accelerated by the development of a devastating capitalism, it’s becoming easier for those that come from Amalia glacier to see the volcano. Still reaching the peak of the volcano requires specialized hiking equipment and it’s important to have other assistance and supports. The few who have visited the summit mention that the place is surrounded by a lush nature with huemules [southern Andean deer] walking the paths that were formed by volcanic rocks expelled from the volcano hundreds of years ago.
Reclus was known as an indefatigable traveler, lover of the Earth and meticulous observer of all the elements of the landscape, characterizations that are reflected in his fruitful geographical work. He had the opportunity to travel through Chile and dedicated a book to the geography of the region, a work titled “La Jeografía de Chile” [The Geography of Chile]. As an anarchist theorist he developed distinct analytical perspectives in which he defended a society without hierarchies, a social order that for Reclus would come about through the evolution of humanity, with more anarchism everywhere, – and support – an anarchist society could evolve.
A friend of Mikhail Bakunin and Pëtr Kropotkin, Recluse actively participated in the First International of Workers and in the Revolutionary Paris Commune of 1871. He is also highlighted for being a collaborator with the Modern School of Barcelona [Spain] with Francisco Ferrer i Guardia, with whom he maintained a correspondence, that in order to learn, one must first understand. By this I mean, when reasoning about the inconceivable, we must first start by seeing, and observing. “Above all in geography, it can be convenient to proceed by sight, by direct observation of this Earth that has given birth to us and gives us bread to survive. If I were fortunate enough to be a geography professor for children, without being locked up in the an official or private establishment, perhaps I may not even use the Greek word for geography with them, but instead invite them for long communal walks, happy to learn in their company.”
The real school, Reclus thought, should be the freedom of nature with its beautiful landscapes to contemplate, with its laws to study, but as well as with its obstacles to overcome. Do not educate the spirit of humans in narrow rooms with barred windows. It is in the joy of bathing in the lakes and the streams of mountains, the walks though glaciers and fields of snow, it’s climbing the high peaks where one can find the genuine motivation and reflection in accordance with a life of freedom. In nature we don’t only learn with an ease what some book could say, but we also have encountered the danger and faced it head on.
“For Reclus, evolution and revolution are two closely related concepts, that are not contradictory to each other. And to such a point this relationship generates very few times where one can define the limits of one or the other. In his opinion, the simple addition of violence doesn’t mark a difference between the two terms, since he argues that there are both violent evolutions and quiet revolutions. And what establishes the difference between the two is the step, the action, and the development beyond the establishment. According to this view, evolution turns into revolution at the precise moment when it gives rise to that jump, that leap before a new vision, a new situation. And once the process has exhausted itself, normalized, the revolution transforms into evolution. And so it goes, this continuous and eternal movement makes up life itself.
According to this view, anarchism as a concept of life, should strengthen deep in the eternal process of evolution, revolution, and evolution. Of course, without forgetting that the involuntary processes that Reclus calls negative evolutions and that represent a step back, that is, what is known in politics as counterrevolution.”
For Élisée Reclus libertarian socialism is made up of a movement for the accession of a society in which there will be no masters nor jailers, neither rich or poor, rather brothers that will have their daily bread, equal rights, a peace and cordial union, not because of obedience to the laws, that are always accompanied by terrible threats, but by a mutual respect of interests for the scientific observation of the natural laws.
In remembrance of such libertarian perspectives, did the crew of the schooner Alert bestow the name Reclus when they saw fire in what appeared like a volcano as they sailed by in 1879? We don’t know. The documents to which we’ve had access highlight the importance of Reclus as a geographer, however it could also be because of him being known as a diffuser and defender of anarchist ideals. This second option would not be surprising, if we consider that within the shipping industry anarcho-syndicalism has had a great influence since the late 19th century.
Interesting similarities exist between the activity of the volcano and the thought of Reclus. Volcanoes erupt after long periods of inactivity, which can be compared to building-up an anarchist movement. Throughout many centuries and infinite actions and lessons, men and women have been motivated by the beautiful ideals of love, mutual aid, direct action and horizontality, have consolidated anarchism as one of the most important expressions of societies search for freedom. After centuries of slow evolution, the anarchist movement defined itself by concrete revolutions that marked periods of great social change in modernity, eruptions that have resisted the development of capitalism, movements that perhaps some have incorrectly labeled as spontaneous. Be that as it may, spontaneous doesn’t mean with causality. Nor does it mean to say from one day to the next. Thus, anarchism like volcanoes and their black and red eruptions, hatch the social landscape, forming new ways and moral paths, evolutionary preconfigurations towards total liberation. Like volcanoes, anarchism is organized from below and in union with many distinct forces generate social eruptions that often surprise. However, anarchism, unlike volcanoes doesn’t violently attack the towns with its lava, instead it frightens those who work alongside the misery of oppression and injustice.
In 2012 the communities near Puerto Natales, the seismic authorities and ONEMI, were alerted due to the seismic activity recorded. It was thought that the volcano Reclus was the origin of these movements. Expeditions and studies were done, which helped learn more about the volcano and surrounding environment. Despite the alarms no apparent lava flows around the volcano have been found and seismic monitoring in the region can’t be directly linked to the volcano. However, nature has warned us of climate change, as the glacier that surrounds volcano Reclus has thawed at a steady rate.
Volcano Reclus, like the French anarchist geographer, reminds us of the importance of fighting for a life of freedom, where natural environments, territory, water and people resisting capitalism are respected. Just as the workers of the Patagonia Rebelde fought in 1921, just as Matías Catrileo, Luis Marileo and Patricio González fought and gave their lives, among many others. Without a doubt, volcano Reclus will be more visible due to the melting of the glacier Amalia, likewise we hope that the formidable work of the French geographer becomes more visible and studied in accordance with his desired maximum expression of order: anarchy, association without authority.
This past week Doctor Bones wrote a text entitled “Anarchists Failed Philando Castile and They Have Failed Black Americans” that covers the expanses that anarchists in the USA are failing at. The text takes some strong words towards “woke anarchists” saying that:
if your politics can only function in “radical spaces” they are worthless. If they can’t keep people alive they are garbage.
It goes on to state that in America the police can execute a black man in front of their child and reasonably expect a jury to let them off the hook, while radicals are more concerned with the identity politics behind the cultural appropriation of food from Mexico, arguing over whose administrating Facebook groups, and so on. Meanwhile anarchists are marching in Pride while the cops are showered with roses two blocks ahead.
While I don’t disagree with El Doctor and find common ground in their solutions of going more hard, as hopefully all anarchists can agree (at times, at least), the over arching point is the lack of a large anarchist movement in the USA. If anything it seems to me here that the post-Trump era anarchists are winning, whatever that means. It’s like the old adage, that sometimes our greatest successes come from our failures, or something like that. Because in reality, what winning looks like in the anarchist space is not a large scale social-political revolution, but the smaller scale of an ant preparing for the coming winter months, while the grasshopper aimlessly plays.
The times have changed – this isn’t 1910 Mexico, 1917 Russia, and the 1930s in Spain anymore. It’s not 1969 in France and a long way off from the 1980s and 90s of the USA. One can understand the many reasons for a lack of hope and wild eyed gleams in radical society today, when you and your compas can have a laser guided missile come through your bedroom window one night while you browse ANEWS. I wish all we could do was win, but we’ve been losing so much, that perhaps our idea of what winning looks like needs to change.
Just this past week, I listened to the “Intelligence Unclassified” podcast from New Jersey Homeland Security about anarchist extremists. Accordingly, from their intelligence reports the anarchist space across the USA lacks a central leadership (duh!), is largely disorganized, split into regions, and when we do attack they are low level unsophisticated attacks. These critiques from our enemies in blue is certainly not new, but quite interesting to actually hear, as one an imagine very similar good faith arguments coming from other anarchists like El Doctor about the current predicament. They went on to break down anarchist extremists into two distinct groups, the heroes of the day, the antifa and the traditional anticapitalists. Not surprisingly, the east coast was portrayed as “peaceful” while the west coast not so much. With the exception of Montreal and the fact that it’s a city in Canada and not the USA, the east coast does seem like the sleep of old father time has dazed them off into a long slumber. Writing this editorial from the East Coast of things, I can agree that naps and nothing doing, seem like the status update of the day for our unwoke anarchist friends. Yes, we’ve all failed and will continue to fail. This isn’t grade school anymore though and the grit and grime of failure can hopefully (long pause) only help us pass onto something that looks like winning. And that as anarchists, we can get back to the most beautiful idea of all, anarchy.
[Xerox building in Rochester, New York at sunrise]
Emma Goldman was born in 1869 in Kaunas, Lithuania and later died in 1940 in Toronto, Canada. During her life, Emma was a constant target of state repression and was notorious as “a sponsor of anarchy, of violence, free love, and revolution, she was vilified in the press as “Red Emma”, “Queen of the Anarchists”, “The most dangerous women in America,” yet her name would also appear on the list of the some of the world’s most influential women like Jane Adams, Annie Besant, Hellen Keller, Harriet Tubman, and Madame Curie to name only a few. In Anarchist Voices: An Oral History of Anarchism in America by Paul Avrich, (p. 45) Emma Goldman is described as a propagandist and organizer for:
“women’s equality, sexual liberation, and birth control to labor activism, liberation education, and artists freedom. Strong in her opinions, not in her sympathies, she was a powerful orator who toured the country restlessly, incessantly, selling vast quantities of radical literature and raising funds for the anarchist movement, of which she was a leading representative.”
This is the story of Emma Goldman and the events that surrounded her while in Upstate, New York. In 1885 at the young age of 17, Emma Goldman emigrated from Lithuania to the United States of America eventually settling into Rochester, NY. In Rochester, NY Emma worked at the Garson Co. textile factory and soon married a fellow worker by the name of Jacob Kersner. In 1886, Emma credits the Haymarket Riot as a life changing event of vision and inspiration, of which she first heard of from the German socialist Johanna Greie at meetings organized in Rochester. Emma later wrote that “the decisive influence in my life” was the Haymarket Riot and death of the Chicago anarchists “which brought me to life and helped to make me what I am.”[1]
In 1889 Emma found herself unhappy with her marriage and moved to New York City(NYC) where she was introduced to more radical activities. As we shall see a little further on, it is important to note that Emma never legally divorced Jacob Kersner. One such influence, was that of Alexander Berkman also-known-as Sasha, of whom Emma first met in NYC. According to my research (largely taken from The Emma Goldman Papers); Emma didn’t return to Rochester until August of 1901 when she spent a month visiting her sister Helena. After her visit in Rochester, she traveled on to Buffalo where the Pan-American Exposition was taking place.
On September 6th, 1901 President of the United States of America William Mckinley was shot and killed by self-proclaimed anarchist Leon Czolgosz. The government would soon charge Emma Goldman with responsibility for this assassination for supposedly influencing Czolgosz, but the charges were soon dropped and Emma got some of her first on hand experience and taste of state repression. Recently, I stumbled across some old family records from 1901 – a scrapbook of their journey from Albany to Buffalo to see the Pan American Exposition. Part of the entry on September 6th reads, “On the way we heard that our good President McKinley had been assassinated at Buffalo.” The scrapbook includes an old President McKinley pin and various Pan American Exposition articles, stamps, admission ticket, and some discourse about everyday life. In reference to the anarchists, Uncle Hank’s, quote from Around the “Pan” with Uncle Hank also published in 1901 seems to sum up the general sentiment towards them:
“Them Anarchists is like rattlesnakes; fust they rattle dangerous warnin’s and then they strike a deadly blow. No civilized community ez safe while they’re about. It’s high time they waz exterminated; jes’ make it high treason when they rattle on’ about removin’ rulers; an’ let ther strong arm of ther law grasp ’em around th’ neck an’ strangle ’em tew death before they hev time tew coil an’ strike. Naow ye see th’ danger ov ’lowin’ ther scum of Europe tew cum inter th’ country. Yer quarantine yaller fever, but ye never think ov quarantinin red anarchy, which is a sight more dangerous diseese. . . .”
For Emma’s perspective of the situation take a look at the article she wrote: Tragedy at Buffalo. You can also check out Emma Goldman’s book written in exile Living My Life (whereas Chapter 24 is about Buffalo, NY). After the assassination, the State of New York passed on April 3rd of 1902 the Criminal Anarchy Act, Chap 371. Part of the document reads, that any person who advocates for criminal anarchy is one who:
2. Prints, publishes, edits, issues or knowingly circulates, sells, distributes or publicly displays any book, paper, document, or written or printed matter in any form, containing or advocating, advising or teaching the doctrine that organized government should be overthrown by force, violence or any unlawful means; or, In 1903 the United States Congress went on to pass an anti-anarchist immigration act, thinking that all the anarchists were coming from across the Pond.
Later on, in 1904 Emma spoke in Rochester before fellow garment workers on behalf of the Free Speech League in solidarity with John Turner against the anti-anarchist immigration law. Later on, Congress rules against John Turner that it has “unlimited power to exclude aliens and deport those who have entered in violation of the law, including philosophical anarchists.”
In the March of 1906 the first issue of Mother Earth was published. Soon afterwards, Emma began her national lecture tour, which included among the stops Rochester, Syracuse, Utica, and Buffalo where the police tried to disrupt the event.
In the March of 1909, Emma found herself back in Rochester. On April 8th, the US Court in Buffalo invalidated the citizenship of Jacob A Kersner, who was Emma’s claim to US citizenship through marriage.
In the January of 1910 a free speech battle erupts in Buffalo with Emma in the middle. A large amount of discontent with anarchy seemed to be prevailing through Buffalo after the assassination. Back in Rochester, Emma holds three different discussions. In March, an amendment is made to the Immigration Act of 1907 which forbids the entrance to the United States for criminals, paupers, anarchists, and persons carrying diseases.
In 1911 Emma spoke at the inauguration of the new Ferrer School in New York City also-known-as the Modern School, of which she was instrumental in its foundation along with many other notable anarchists.
The Modern Schools, also called Ferrer Schools, were American schools formed in the early 20th century around the ideas of educator and anarchist Francesc Ferrer I Guàrdia and modeled after his Escuela Moderna. They were an important part of the anarchist, free education, socialist, and labor movements in the U.S., intended to provide education to the working-classes from a liberating, class-conscious perspective. The Modern Schools had classes for children during the day, and lectures were given to adults at night. [wikipedia]
On January 6th Emma began her lecture tour in Rochester. Over the next six months she would travel to 50 different cities in 18 different states, delivering over 150 lectures and debates. On January 8-14, she spoke in Buffalo with poor attendance. On April 7th the Free Speech League was incorporated in Albany.
In August of 1914, World War I officially begins and on December 20th Emma delivers a speech on war to over 1,800 in Rochester that was organized by her niece Miriam Cominsky. Two years later, in 1916 Emma lectures again in Rochester on the subjects of education, Russian literature, birth control, sexuality, and anarchism.
In the February of 1917 the Alien Immigration Act is passed by the US government allowing the deportation of undesirable aliens “anytime after their entry.” In 1918, Emma lectures again before her imprisonment for US military draft refusal. The US intelligence agencies soon begin collecting the names and addresses of over 8,000 Mother Earth subscribers. On September 27th, 1919 Emma is released from imprisonment to mobs of reporters, friends, and niece Stella Ballantine, who accompanies Emma back to Rochester.
On November 25th, 1919 the Department of Labor ordered the deportation of Alexander Berkman and Emma Goldman. At dawn on December 21st Berkman and Goldman set sail on the SS Buford, bond for Russia. Later on in 1920, US Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer, working with Justice Department agent J. Edgar Hoover and immigration commissioner Anthony Caminetti ordered the arrest of approximately 10,000 radical aliens. In 1923, Emma Goldman’s mother, Taube died in Rochester.
Upon her arrival in Russia, Emma was at first enthusiastic about the Russian Revolution of 1917, but soon became a critic. She was stunned by “the wholesale arrests of Russian anarchists, the dispersal of Makhno’s guerrilla army in the Ukraine, and the conversion of the local soviets into instruments of party dictatorship, rubber stamps for a new bureaucracy.”
In 1939, Emma Goldman passed away in Toronto, Canada and her grave soon afterwards was set to rest in Chicago. Emma Goldman from what is known as Upstate, New York: one of America’s most celebrated radicals and an anarchist at that!
The world of politics has certainly been a wild ride for the books this year. This week alone, with elections coming up in France and the ever ongoing process of governments across the world making drastic headlines with the love-hate relationship of mainstream media, we look towards how this pertains to the world of anarchism.
It could be said that many anarchists pay extremely close attention to this world of politics, even while having a strong distaste of such a close reading. In turn, with some basing their anarchistic actions and responses to such governments call-to-action. Writing letters the old fashioned way to the news and elected officials, calling up and leaving a message to their government “representative”, and as can be seen over the past week, making signs and marching down a street somewhere near you.
While on the other side of things, even those who begrudgingly follow along with the latest of world politics, take a strong anti-political approach to such events, as the follow up. On the more rebellious side of things, putting your body and mind on the line for the idea. Between these two camps plays out the other love-hate of international anarchism. Perhaps common everywhere is a sense of disempowerment, despair, and hopelessness when we see our actions, whatever they may be in the name of anarchy, after we wake up tomorrow and the beautiful idea we have based our lives off of is no closer to realization than lasts nights wonderful dream. Or is it?
Some may argue that perhaps these global catastrophic events carried out in the name of world politics, in the short run are discouraging but over time strengthen whatever it is that the international anarchist space may be / become. You have to crack a few eggs, if you’re to make that omelet for your friends and loved ones.
Here at anarchistnews dot org, we often take the brunt of critiques from all sides in response to the coverage and commentary shared on the site, metaphorically cracking a few eggs. It is plainly obvious that even as these world wide political events unfold, there are those who no matter the camp, enjoy attacking other anarchists more than whatever their instruction manual proclaims as public enemy number one. “Why is this political thing covered and that other one not? Why are such comments allowed? And what is up with thecollective?”
Then as the next day unfolds, we return to our daily lives, our work and the wash, rinse cycle of world politics repeats itself with slightly different beginnings, middles, and ends. The stories, the comments, and the reactions keep coming, as our levels of loss and victory wax and wane throughout this first week after May Day, 2017.
It was only a few years ago, on December 13th, 2013, when some hooded ones burned the Christmas tree located on Avenida Reforma[1]. This action took place during manifestations against subway ticket hikes, that tragically ended between the reform and recuperation by NGO’s and governmental agencies of social welfare; however at the same time these occassions witnessed spontaneous actions, autonomous organization and sabotage from the oppressed and exploited. After this symbolic anti-capitalist act, one friend still remains in prison accused of setting the Christmas tree sponsored by Coca-Cola on fire. The -symbolic- burning of the tree from Coca-Cola, wasn’t just meant as an attack against the symbol of North American[2] capitalism, but also as an attack against the culture of consumerism, an attack against religious traditions imposed by those who believe they’re the owners of the world, an attack on patriarchy, against power and all religious and moral authority.
The State in an obvious communion with the aberrant moral ideologies imposed by the Catholic Church, or by Christianity, responsible for keeping alive religious-patriarchal traditions of the family, that are a piece of the puzzle of domination, that fit perfectly within capitalism and consumerism, turning itself into a product to be sold. In the Germanic language, Weihnachten[3] or Christmas Eve means a night of blessing, is an instrument of domination and social control, that functions like an instrument of subjection by means of the concession to the State and Capital, while giving the exploited “freedom” to consume, at the coast of their own exploitation. Christmas is also an instrument of force today in moral submission that continues to perpetuate the idea of a patriarchal family (or matriarchal as it might be) and brings a little bit of social peace and comfort the mass tormented by the horrors of the State and Capital. It is a glutinous party of total consumption, a day of neighborhood gatherings, a day of hypocrisy, a day of falsehood, a feast for capital. Capitalism and the Church are those who celebrate when the “anarchists” lose their ethics and principals, fulfilling traditions that have been established at the expense of blood, death, feminicide, and the exploitation of animals and nature.
Today, there is the almost mythical manifesto of the anarchist Bakunin entitled, God and the State,[4] which has been one of the most important books for the development of anarchist thought that is unfortunately being overtaken by the Christian-pacifist doctrine of Lev Nikilayevich Tolstoy[5] –in an assertion according to millenarian anarchists–. This millenarian pollution has plagued anarchism by the presence of this person who was never fully vanquished, and in these times and places when the perspective of conflict has started to be revived from the ruins, to be seen and put into practice; it also also been revived and exists among us.
A libertarian Christmas party is simply the reflection of this aberrant religious pollution and deviation from an anarchist ethic that seeks the destruction of all power and authority. It is evident today that the many efforts of “good thinking” aim to bury the insurrectionary perspective, we now know that insurrectionary thought was not born a few years ago from the theses of Alredo Bonanno and so many other friends, but the perspective of attack, of conflict, and the permanent insurrection has been and still is present, even with multiple strains. This effort to supplant ideas and practices focused on the destruction of the State and power, by the followers of the absurd anarcho-Christianity, are simply and always will be ill-defined.
More specifically, what do we see behind the libertarian accommodation?
Politics has killed the ethics of when some “anarchopunks” and anarcho-christians are given chores like those of politicians, resorting to the art of deception, manipulation, lies, and masks for the sole purpose of getting along with people and their neighbors to gain recruits for their anarchist struggle. The same entities who accuse comrades of acting like politicians who “steal”, today act like those same politicians who deceive. In this form, their antiquated view of progressive reform in society towards anarchy will be fruitless. Just as a politician uses many strategies to seize power, reaffirming the values of the system by calling attention to the vile reproduction of patriarchal feasts is a deception. Or perhaps, we’re mistaken, and you already believe in God, since these holidays are nothing more than the reaffirmation of the reign of God on this earth, to reaffirm the omnipotent power of the Church and State. The need to bear, the get along with, and continue with the welfare work of the social State, and the religious ethics of charity and the continued reaffirmation of the absurd and silly campaign of “anarchy is not a crime” and “anarchists are beautiful and good,” through acts of social welfare like collecting toys for poor children.
The abhorrent anti-religious perspective of an anarchism that breaks with all of the dogma and power is being overtaken by the idea of “coexistence” born in part from celebrating the same festivities that Capitalism imposes on us with unique dates of union and fraternity. It is also being supplanted when the same language of the system is reproduced, even more so, when as written above, by the dates marked on the calendar of world capitalism. Mother’s Day, International Women’s Day, Flag Day, Labor Day, Valentines Day, are the dates revindicated or against what we struggle for, however as you know, always attending the marked dates by the State and Capitalism in order to protest and show affection, with love and support. This is the most obvious way to clearly show that the State and Capital are still the owners of their lives and actions.
The imprisonment of a friend accused of burning the Christmas tree and the struggle he has carried on inside the prison (no matter how questionable he is) is reduced to almost nothing when antagonistic “libertarian” acts vindicate the values and festivities of Capital and the State that are simply against the intervention of those hooded ones who sought to attack religious morality and a symbol of Capitalism. Above all, it is a joke when the same people who refute the actions of these friends and publicly mock them, are the same people who then posthumously hang medals of “solidarity” on the prisoners, to reproduce in the end, acts contrary to the struggle of friends.
We have no doubt that among the Christmas-partying anarchists (Oh! I ask for a xmas celebration in the name of heaven!) there are always present, the good consciences and friends who think (without thinking) that they are doing what is right in order to spread anarchist perspectives amongst society, without a doubt there are, but always behind it all is the respect for the moral authority of a leader disciple like that of Tolstoy, that few know, and that in the past many opposed, that seeks to impersonate anarchist ethics with the neurotic, crude, moralistic, aberrant, and pacifist Christianity.
Fire to the Church and to all religious, authoritarian, patriarchal and morals of power!
Just as the Catholic Church in México is gaining more power, just today when ultra-right groups call for marches for life, marches for family, anti-abortion marches; just as these Christmas celebrations continue to represent the abyss of consumerism and continue to reduce individuals to commodities; precisely today is when were should attack religious morality, it’s when we should continue the discussion that has given rise to debate and the anti-religious critique in all of it’s splendor, it is when we must turn up discourses almost lost and actions against religion and it’s unification with the State in submission to morality and exploitation.
It is precisely today that we need to burn all their churches and sabotage their religious festivities, since these are not of the people, but of capital, of the church, of religion, and as an old anarchist once said of religion, it is more of the yoke of the people and the antithesis of the individual.
Day by day, fire to the Church, the State, Capitalism, and all types of power and authority new and old!
– Sincerely:
Compañerxs anarquistas de la región de México D.F. 17 de Diciembre de 2016
[1] México City (DF), México
[2] North America is Canada, The United States of America, and The United States of México, see also NAFTA. Interestingly enough, México consumes the most Coca-Cola out of any country in the world.
*** In the afternoon of the first of March, the clandestine group “Anarquistas al Combate” took the P building of the National Pedagogical University in the city of Bogotá, Colombia, making a call to the student community to resume the process of autonomy and rebellion in their discussions and practices in and outside of the university space. The militant hooded ones painted some slogans on the walls of the building and strongly rejected the more than 120 assassinations of community leaders and defenders of human rights[1] in just 14 months in all of Columbia, specifically in a political context mediated by peace, side by side with the serious – and cowardly – paramilitary attacks against social fighters.
This past February 23rd, the “Festival for Rebellion and Memory” was held in the Plaza Darío Betancourt, which aimed to strengthen the student imagination about the police attacks against the students organized in the UPN, and as well as, serving as an anticipatory activity to the national march against the recent Police Code approved at the start of 2017. At the festival, a helicopter circled just meters away.
[1] human rights was capitalized in original Spanish – Derechos Humanos (Human Rights)
(These words arrived with a delay due to the restrictive communications of the Spanish extermination centers. On March 7th, 2017 Mónica and Francisco were finally released to Chile, where they were greeted with a great deal of media and repressive threats. Finally today, they have returned to the street with their dignity intact.)
Affinity and Solidarity against victimization and authority
In the struggle to break with the establishment we look for and create relationship forms that are contrary to imposition and authority. Forms that help us feel comfortable in order to develop autonomously in our proposals and acts of daily confrontation. With this feeling we understand affinity represents the most suitable way for anarchist relations and that it’s not the fruit of empty slogans repeated until satiation, but the result of practices and shared visions that have helped generate long lasting bonds of passionate friendship and intimacy, that go beyond the simple bonds of just friends.
The trust and care that comes from feeling and knowing that the ideas of permanent rebellion are the sustenance and strength of affinity helps build and develop anti-authoritarian practices. In turn, these ideas, are inseparable from our choice of life, the option that reinforces what we plan and how it is to be done. It is through these relationships that we grow individually and have the undeniable possibility of acts with no strings attached, which impedes the creation of bureaucratic and authoritarian behavior, cutting off the concentration of power.
Critics of this position have signaled that this form makes it impossible to influence “social reality” and that it turns anarchism into a ghetto. Our response is that we don’t understand anarchism as a political party that uses all of its strategies to increase numbers for the purposes of achieving hegemony. We think that the means must be coherent with the ends as it would be contradictory to claim total liberation otherwise. For us, anarchism is, above all, a tension where individual initiative plays a central role, not a production.
As this experience of imprisonment comes to an end we have lived through the birth, the strengthening and reinforcement of relationships of affinity. Our friends have given meaning to the word solidarity filling us with strength and pride. Overcoming many difficulties, we have been able to collaboratively build positions and initiatives of what we’ve learned. The will and determination of our friends, even if this sounds repetitive, has destroyed walls, bars, the space of time, and eliminated obstacles of isolation and communication. We have attempted and believe to be successful in establishing a relationship that breaks away from and is in opposition to the welfare practices where prisoners are viewed as “a poor victim of the system who is the subject of atrocious injustices.” The assumption that, as anarchists we find ourselves in a permanent confrontation with power and that it has its consequences has given possibility to put into practice an active and combative solidarity with a clear and unambiguous line of discourse. The idea – strength of “neither guilty, no innocent, simply anarchist” is reflected in our position against prison and repression both in and outside of their walls. It represents a way of living and being in prison that is linked with intransigence that opens innumerable paths of action for friends in the street, ways which attempt to destroy power by not falling into their categories and contrary to their predatory logic.
When repression represents an opportunity
The repressive wave that materialized in the operations of Pandora and Piñata represented the hardest strike against anarchism in Spain since the 1980s. Their clear attempt was to eliminate a sector of the anarchist movement by quickly moving forward with harassment, persecution, and imprisonment of friends. Evidently, the magnitude of state repression has had its consequences, as could not be otherwise. Many initiatives were put on hold, spaces were literally looted by the repressive fury and the worry of being enveloped into the paranoid fantasies of power created a certain immobility that has little by little began to be overcome.
However, in our opinion, due to the clumsy and inconsistent theory of the police, this strike represents an opportunity to highlight the weaknesses of the State that utilizes classic strategies of imprisonment and intimidation in order to reduce and eliminate those who will not be domesticated. Along with this, we believe that these operations are closely related to the rise of social movements and their incorporation within the institutions; those who refuse to play the game of democracy can await prison. Because of this, it’s important to address what the significance of these strikes and resulting solidarity in terms of understanding the social movements that have transformed into political parties don’t represent, in any way, an ally, rather they are an apparatus of power with whom we have nothing in common.
Throughout the operations of Pandora and Piñata the State has, as previously mentioned on several occasions, attempted to attack ideas and practices that are radically different than it, as evidenced by the fact that none of the imprisoned friends are accused of concrete actions. What they’ve tried to do is punish a way of living, the option of struggle against the established order and permanent anti-authoritarian activity that, that more-or-less, has influenced many spaces and aspects of the milieu. Therefore, the continuing transition on the path of rupture represents, a small victory that demonstrates that the State can show us its worst face, but it can’t bend us. In this regard, we believe that solidarity with the friends imprisoned must necessarily be the transgressor and on the offensive, breaking away from the discourses of pessimism and victimization. The utilization of all of our creativity, limited only by our anarchic principals, is fundamental in strengthening our solidarity. In the war against domination all actions are necessary.
Finally, we would like to send all our love and strength to our German friends held in prison, accused of robbing a bank there, who are currently facing a difficult trail. We are reminded in each instant of the pride and joy they have shown, are also ours and the possibility to be your friend.
Today and always an open hand to friends and a clenched fist to the enemy.
A text we translated from Contralínea By Zósimo Camacho on October 16th, 2016 about ongoing anarchist activities there.
– stalkingtheearth
***
From Contralínea By Zósimo Camacho on October 16th, 2016
In México there is an ongoing anarchist insurrection, with 50 groups and cells at war with the State and capital. The seriousness of the “black threat” has caused the National Risk Agenda [1] to give it priority attention, ahead of the red guerrillas[2], with only drug trafficking and social uprisings given a higher priority.
Let the night illuminate and rock the city; let the roar awaken the powerful in their bondage. May the sound of bullets stir the repressive arms; and shake their civil and financial temples. La Revolución is today and will not wait for the masses to organize. It is the contagious fever of the insurrectionary clandestine anarchist. It spreads, celebrates, between readings, debates, concerts; and conspires night after night.
In the four years of Enrique Peña Nieto’s six years presidential term, the anarchist insurrection has continued to materialize, with at least, 40 “violent direct actions” against government offices, banks, malls, major projects, and interests of big business: armed clashes, attacks, explosions, fires, sabotage, destruction, and boycotts.
And due to the “politics of national security”, these insurrectionary acts are not usually divulged to the media. Of the 50 groups, only those who have publicly claimed acts are known.
The effervescence of the clandestine insurrectionary anarchist movement has not gone unnoticed by the intelligence and security organizations of the Mexican state. Today, the anarchist threat occupies a high degree of attention in the intelligence community, only coming in behind the drug trade and social movements, according to the National Risk Agenda of 2015, documented by a “confidential” actor who works at the Center for Investigation and National Security (CISEN).
In the last 8 years, almost 50 anarchist groups of the insurrectionary tendency have done more than 220 direct actions against the interests of capital and the state. The count is contained in the case file Acciones de grupos autodenominados anarquistas, insurreccionalistas, eco extremistas y/o eco terroristas, elaborated by the civil intelligence organization of the Mexican state, CISEN.
For its part, the 2013, 2014, and 2015 versions of the National Risk Agenda, of which Contralínea had access, also took note of the emerging anarchist threat that preoccupied the intelligence community whose job it is to feed products for consumption to the Armed Forces and the civil organizations of national security.
Above all because of these confidential documents – it is recognized by the intelligence community that the authorities do not currently have a “consistent inter-institutional scheme to address the subject” according to the National Risk Agenda.
According to this document – which is produced annually by CISEN based off of inner information and from other governmental agencies that make up the National Security Council, the actions of insurrectionary anarchists “are becoming increasingly violent”. In the “General Diagnostic” of the chapter dedicated to anarchism, it also notes a “radicalization of actions from anarchist direct action cells”.
According to the document, in the face of the anarchist insurrection, the biggest known vulnerability of the Mexican State – is “due to the lack of physical protection at strategic facilities”. The risk grade assigned to this “vulnerability” is “high”.
The National Security Council (CSN) participates in the creation of the National Risk Agenda and it’s followup. According to the current National Security Law, the body is made up of the President of the Republic, Enrique Peña Nieto and the head of the Interior Ministry (Segob), Miguel Ángel Osorio Chong, National Defense (Sedena), Salvador Cienfuegos Zepeda; the Military, (Semar), Vidal Francisco Soberón Sanz; Finance and Public Credit (SHCP), who is José Antonio Meade Kuribreña; Public Function (SFP, who is currently without a title but in charge after the dispatch of Javier Vargas Zempoaltécatl); Foreign Relations (SRE) , Claudia Ruiz Massieu; Communications and Transportation (SCT) Gerardo Ruiz Esparza; The Public Safety Commision (CSP) Renato Sales Heredia; The Attorney General’s Office (PGR), Arely Gómez González, and the director of CISEN, Eugenio Ímaz Gispert.
Meanwhile, the document from CISEN Acciones de grupos autodenominados anarquistas, insurreccionalistas, eco extremistas y/o eco terroristas was prepared by the decentralized agency of the Ministry of the Interior (Segob) and presented as “Annex 1” to the response for request for information 0410000023116 filed by Contralínea.
The insurgents
Although the document identifies “306 actions” committed by 74 organizations between the 26th of March, 2008 and the 22nd of July of last year, they are not all the work of anarchists. Around 220 have been carried out by anarchists and their insurrectionary stripe, 40 of them so far during the 6-year term of Enrique Peña Nieto. Another 82 actions committed by 26 groups are actually the work of eco-terrorists or eco-extremists. In addition, four have been claimed by two fascist groups.
The document does not establish whether or not all the groups or actions, as can be inferred, are committed by cells of larger organizations that in other attacks have used different names.
In the past 8 years, the most active insurrectionay anarchist groups have been, according to the document prepared by CISEN: the Earth Liberation Front, with 52 direct actions, The Animal Liberation Front, with 44; The Autonomous Cells of Immediate Revolution Práxedis G Guerrero (CARI-PGG), with 32; the Informal Anarchist Federation, with 30; and among others the Conspiracy of Cells of Fire, with 12.
As a group, the CARI-PGG were disbanded in November 2013. However they have remained active for almost 5 years. As stated in a 2016 communiqué, those who joined them stopped acting as CARI-PGG but individually and as other groups, continuing the insurrectionary anarchist attacks and direct actions.
Some of the actions in this anarchist tendency have been carried out in coordinated attacks by two or more groups. México City has experienced the highest number of attacks: 91. Other states with more than 10 direct actions committed by insurrectionary anarchists from 2008 to date are, The State of México [3], and Jalisco, with 16. Between one and nine direct actions have occurred in Oaxaca, Baja California, Guanajuato, Veracruz, Coahuila, Durango, San Luis Potosí, Quintana Roo, Chihuahua, Querétaro, Hidalgo, Nuevo León, Tlaxcala y Puebla.
Attacks against universities and research centers
In a response to Contralínea, CISEN emphasized that “the term anarchist is not specified in current Mexican legislation. It also says that the agency “does not attribute the claim of attacks to any individual or group identified by their ideology.”
The institute for protecting national security persecutes “violent groups.” “It is the objective of any authority to contain violent acts, a situation unrelated to ideologies.”
This is what they highlighted in the response to the request for public information. But, in the National Risk Agenda anarchism is denounced in general, even those anarchists who don’t claim to be of the insurrectionary tendency. In the section about the “vulnerabilities” of the Mexican state, they highlight “the lack of a legal framework to limit the organizing of anarchist groups.” This consideration denotes a “medium” level of risk. Anarchist organizing of any type is under the magnifying glass of national security.
In addition, the document considers groups as anarchists that aren’t, and even contrary to anarchism, as Individualists Tending towards the Wild (ITS) [4]. This organization has claimed the assassination of administrative workers, scientists and attacks against the university and centers of study.
However, the Agenda points out that: “anarchist cells slowly increase their levels of radicalism, particularly that of ITS, which has threatened attacks against human objectives.”
Even attacks by insurrectionary anarchists are not distinguished from those attributed to other post-modern groups like ITS and other related groups that have claimed to be anti-civilization, like Wild Reaction. [5]
There are also examples of fascist or neo-Nazi organizations, like Tenochtitlan Salvation Front and its Secret Organization of Leaders of Tenochtitlan who say they are trying to restore the “sacred” “Ateza nation” and “put in power” those who would “guarantee the protection of the natural rights of the human species”.
Overall, for the military and the intelligence communities, all of these groups are “anarchists”. This is why, all of the attacks are the work of “anarchists”.
And in the General Diagnosis of risk, it is highlighted that “attacks against banks, institutions and individuals linked to research centers and direct actions against human targets with terrorist links are to be expected.”
It also states that “members of anarchist groups operate together as attack groups during social moblizations.”
Among the “risk scenarios” envisioned by the National Risk Agenda they point out the “possibility of direct actions with high impact: bombings and explosions against human targets, and the expansion of anarchist groups due to the lack of a legal framework to coordinate against specific anarchistic threats.”
This situation leads to another, equally considered “risk scenario”: the “negative impact on perception of the citizen security brought on by the reactivation of (anarchist) groups.”
The coming strike against the anarchists
In regards to the “capacities” of government entities to confront these insurrectionary anarchists, the National Risk Agenda highlights the “inter-institutional intelligence work: Sedena, Semar, Segob, in the zones of (anarchist) attacks” (sic).
Among the “recommendations” of the National Security Council contained in the National Risk Agenda are: “strengthening the inter-institutional scheme to address (anarchism)”, as well as the “relaunching of operative groups within CISEN focused on specific objectives” (sic).
The operating groups are, in the words of the intelligence services, those who are in charge of specific special missions: for example, covert actions, follow-ups, infiltrations, for home invasion or that of an institution for surveillance. In some countries the operational groups are tasked with the elimination of those who make “attempts” against the “security” of the State.
Insurrection in the middle of the country
The National Risk Agenda recognizes the presence of anarchist “direct action” cells in five entities of the republic: México City, the State of México, Morelos, Oaxaca y Baja California. In the first three regions mentioned, there are anarchist collectives of these tendencies. With respect to Oaxaca, the anarchists are found in the capital of the State and in the fringes of the Central Valley, Sierra Norte and Sierra Sur. With respect to Baja California, the map included below includes the city of Mexicali.
However, among the list of direct actions by insurrectionary anarchists presented by CISEN, 17 of the 32 entities of the Republic are counted: México City, the State of México, Jalisco, Oaxaca, Baja California, Guanajuanto, Veracruz, Coahuila, Durango, San Luis Potosí, Quintana Roo, Chihuahua, Querétaro, Hidalgo, Nuevo León, Tlaxcala and Puebla.
National Security: The rise of anarchism
Since the 2013 version of the National Risk Agenda, anarchism was considered one of the top 10 immediate issues in national security.
Then it was put in fifth place, among the same as guerrilla warfare. This is how, armed movements – such as the Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional (EZLN), el Ejército Revolucionario del Pueblo Insurgente (ERPI), el Ejército Popular Revolucionario (EPR) and, among others, the Tendencia Democrática Revolucionaria-Ejército del Pueblo (TDR-EP) – all appeared together with insurrectionary anarchist cells in a single chapter of the confidential document at the hands of the Interior Secretary in charge of CISEN.
For the 2014 version, anarchism was assigned an independent section and put into fourth place on the list of priorities. The guerrilla movements were left to keep fifth place.
In 2015, the National Risk Agenda due to the actions of insurrectionary anarchists, the anarchist threat level climbed to the third priority for civilian and military institutions in charge of defense and national security: Sedena, Semar, the CISEN, the Segob, the PGR, and among others, the Federal Police. The anarchist insurrection increased in focus, while the red guerrilla groups level of priority dramatically fell.
From boycott to armed confrontation
According to the information collected by Contralínea – from libertarian distribution portals, among which Contralínea stands out – insurrectionary anarchist groups and cells performed more than 20 direct actions against specific targets between May 2015 and September 2016. The actions ranged from boycotts to armed confrontations. The spectrum of acts include sabotage, attacks, placement of fake bombs, detonation of explosives and fires.
These are only the direct actions that are documented. The real number is difficult to project because not all acts are claimed. Generally, the police don’t tell the media of possible insurrectionary anarchist attacks.
The most recent coordinated attacks were the work of Grupo Autónomo de Sabotaje Salvador Olmos García. On July 3rd, they setup and detonated an explosive-incendiary packages at the headquarters of three of the main Mexican business organizations. Salvador Olmos García is the name of the young anarchist, organizer of indigenous neighborhoods, punk singer, lawyer and local journalist, who was assassinated by police in Huajuapan de Leon, Oaxaca, on June 28th. Olmos had been apprehended by police earlier that day, when he had responded to a call by the community radio Tuun Ñuu Savi to help defend the space from police eviction. Chava was arrested by a police patrol and beaten. This event caused activist groups all over the state, and even, several entities throughout the Republic to react and five days later came the attack on high-level agencies.
Via a statement that can be read on the Contralínea website ( https://es-contrainfo.espiv.net/2016/07/09/mexico-ataque-explosivo-a-sed… ), it reports attacks against the Ciudad de México del Consejo Coordinador Empresarial (CCE), the Confederación Patronal de la República Mexicana (Coparmex) and the Cámara Nacional de la Industria de la Transformación (Canacintra). In all:
“There is no possible solution for the oppressed within the margins of their institutions, without the uncompromising struggle against capital and the State, that makes possible a scenario open to general insurrection [and] that establishes a dialect of spontaneity and organization, social peace in the Mexican region and throughout the globe. Death to the State and Capital! Freedom for all poltical prisoners! For Anarchy! “Grupo Autónomo de Sabotaje Salvador Olmos García”
With 2016 coming to an end, we would like to take a closer look at the current proceedings against our revolutionary friends in prison.
Sometimes, the frenetic rhythm of counter-information with all of its frequent updates or the repetition of slogans can cause us to lose sight of our analytical capacity and critique that as insurrectionaries and anti-authoritarians characterize us. Within the continual counter-information movement, we would like to pause and provide a brief overview into the reality of the judicial proceedings against our revolutionary prisoners.
We are glad to see Gabriel’s release to the streets, Albert Woodfox and the slow release of Marco Camenish.
With the memory of our fallen comrades in combat still fresh, we remember that those in prison don’t enjoy dead time, vacations, or recreation as do gendarmes and the managers of prison society. Our craving for revolt and liberation will not rest either.
– Refractario 2016 –
Our friends Francisco Solar and Mónica Caballero, who where detained in November of 2013 and accused of planting the explosive devices and bombing against the Basilica of Pilar, have faced a segregated and isolated prison sentence. They finally had a trail in March of 2016 and were sentenced to 12 years in prison. This past October, their sentence was substantially reduced to 4 and a half years with the possibility of being sent back to Chile.
Hans Niemeyer, arrested on the November 30th of 2011 and sentenced to 5 years + 300 days for the explosive attack on a BCI bank, is still imprisoned in a maximum security prison without the penitentiary benefits due to the impossibility of the bureaucratic gendarmerie.
Kevin Garrido and Joaquín Cortez arrested in November of 2015 and accused of different explosive attacks. Both are being held under a gun control law. Joaquín is accused of the attack against the 12th precinct of San Miguel and then of illegal possession of a gun after being caught with one following months of hiding after breaking his house arrest. For his part, Kevin is being charged with the attack against the school of gendarmerie in San Bernardo, possession of a weapon, black powder, and an attack against Chilectra (October 2015).
The investigations into the case are still open and ongoing.
Prison situation:
Kevin Garrido: prisoner in Empresa Santiago 1
Joaquín Cortez: prisoner in the maximum security section
Tamara Sol Farias Vergara, arrested in January of 2014 and accused of shooting a bank security guard in revenge for the death of anarchist Sebastia Oversluij, continues to serve a 7 year sentence for the attempted homicide. Tamara is currently in the special maximum security section of the San Joaquin prison.
The Bombs II Case
Comrades Juan Flores, Enrique Guzman and Nataly Casanova are accused of attacking police substations and precincts during 2014, actions later claimed by the Conspiracy of Cells of Fire – Chile and The International Conspiracy for Revenge, continue to remain in preventive custody.
On the judicial side, the investigative process is being lead by prosecutor’s office under the anti-terrorist law that asks for 10 years to life imprisonment, with the investigation period almost over and then continuing to the preparation for oral trail whose date is currently waiting to be set.
The prison situation for the comrades are:
Enrique Guzmán: Prisoner in the maximum security section
Juan Flores: Prisoner in C block of the ex-penitentiary.
Nataly Casanova: Prisoner in the prison of San Miguel.
The PDI Case
At the end of 2014, the homicide brigade of the PDI were attacked with incendiary bombs by hooded ones and due to this Victor Amaru Zuñiga, Felipe Roman, Manuel Espinoza, Maria Paz Vera, and Natalia Alvarado were arrested and prosecuted.
After the conclusion of the initial investigation, they currently preparing for oral trail since November 28th, 2016, with the prosecution requesting around 20 years for each.
The prison situation of the friends are:
Victor Amaru Zuñiga, Felipe Roman, and Manuel Espinoza: Prisoners and segregated in different blocks of the prison, Empresa Santiago 1
Maria Paz Vera: Prisoner in the prison of San Miguel.
Natalia Alvarado: Recused and under house arrest.
The Security Case
After being condemned in 2014 for the bank robberies and the death of a policeman, friends Marcelo Villarroel, Juan Aliste and Freddy Fuentevilla are serving their sentences in a maximum security prison.
Marcelo Villarroel: Sentenced to 14 years + 40 years (for a previous sentence)
Feddy Fuentevilla: Sentenced to 15 years in prison, but because of a 2016 reform to the law, it was reduced to 14 years, 4 months.
Juan Aliste Vega: Sentenced to 42 years in prison.
Convictions
The friend Ignacio Muñoz, accused of transporting an explosive device in August of 2015 in the municipality of Lo Prado along with pamphlets expressing solidarity with the prisoners of the PDI Case. He has been sentenced to 3 years and one day under the gun control law. He is currently in the prison of Santiago 1.
Natalia Collado (Tato) and Javier Pino have been sentenced to 3 years and one day for the incendiary attack against a Transantiago bus in April of 2015. Tato is in special High Security section of the San Joaquin prison, while Javier Pine is in prison at Colina II.
Street Fighters
The friend Nicolás Rojas, accused of the arson attack against the Church of San Francisco in October of 2015 continues to be held in maximum security, while the initial investigation is on-going.
Fabián Duran arrested and accused of carrying molotov cocktails on September 11th, of 2015 continues to be held within the maximum security section, with the deadline for initial investigations still open.
For the destruction of prison, the jailers, and the society that supports it!
For the liberation of revolutionary comrades in prison!
