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Why illegalism is stupid.
The anarchist group Crimethinc has been a strong supporter of illegalism since the 1990s. Instead of doing illegal stuff and living the Crimethinc lifestyle young anarchists should be preparing for life after thirty. Anarchists need to abandon the Crimethinc lifestyle. Most people will choose their apartment, house or condo that has running water, heat, food, electricity, internet access, couch and a soft bed over a drop-out lifestyle that consists of squatting, drug addiction, alcoholism, train hopping, hunger, thirst, disease, sleeping on pavement or dirt and constant police harassment. Young anarchists should leave the bleak subculture they are currently a part of. This subculture is defined by dropping out, drug addiction, punk rock, casual sex, fake homelessness, unemployment, punk clothing, piercings, tattoos, funky hairstyles, train hopping, constant traveling and violence. Fuck illegalism, fuck court dates and fuck jail. This subculture provides its members with a bleak future. Most people are turned off by this subculture and this subculture prevents anarchism from becoming popular since many people associate anarchists with this subculture. If anarchists continue to be a part of this subculture then anarchism will continue to be something that only rebellious youth between the ages of 17 and 25 are interested in. Rebellious youth are less than 5% of the population. We need to bridge the gap between anarchists and the rest of society. Choosing to abandon your family and friends and travel around the country while eating dumpstered food is a hateful thing to do. Instead of leaving your home how about creating sustainable, loving relationships with people you already know. How about improving your hometown instead of leaving it. Don't hop a train, leave home and sleep in the street instead develop lasting relationships with people who care about you. People who would be heartbroken by your absence. Anarchists need to do a lot more outreach. Make friends with people before talking to them about anarchism. Don't be like the marxists who go around selling newspapers to strangers. When we approach people we should not tell them about illegal stuff that anarchists have done in the past or tell them about illegal stuff that anarchists are doing now. Most people will be turned off by illegal acts and they will associate anarchists with criminals. Believe me, less than 5% of the population wants to join a social group that is always under police surveillance and whose members are constantly being arrested, incarcerated and put on trial. Most people do not want to risk arrest, jail time or criminal convictions. Small groups that drop out of mainstream society cannot change the system. Capitalism and authoritarianism do not allow most people to drop out. Under capitalism if the average worker drops out they lose everything. We need a revolutionary, anti-authoritarian, anti-capitalist movement that mobilizes millions of people in all countries in order to change the system. A big reason why political ideologies such as marxism, liberalism, centrism, conservatism and fascism have been more successful than anarchism is that many anarchists spend a lot of time on illegalism and its consequences like court and bailing people out of jail while not spending enough time on political things like long-term strategy, outreach and movement building. Marxists, liberals, centrists, conservatives and fascists are successful because they spend most of their time on outreach. I'm not saying we should run candidates for political office. To do effective outreach in the 21st century we must use television, radio and the internet. We need to have television channels, radio stations and websites of our own that we broadcast our ideas with. This way we can reach millions of people. The drama over snitching is really unnecessary and has caused serious conflict within local anarchist scenes. If anarchists didn't do illegal stuff then we wouldn't have to worry about snitching at all. I'm tired of having to worry about people I know doing stupid, illegal things and the police coming to question me. That shit gets old after a few years. Don't expect other people to accept punishment for something you did. If a fellow anarchist is being incarcerated for something you did then go turn yourself in. Snitching is wrong. Illegalism is a major threat to security culture. There is too much polarization in modern society. Anarchists need to stop attacking everyone and everything that is not anarchist. Engaging in street battles with the police and doing other illegal stuff makes the police hate us. We don't need more enemies we need more friends. I'm not saying we should forgive the government for all the mean things they have done to us. They will pay for the wrongs they did. Nothing can stop karma. Polarization turns people against each other and divides the world into opposing factions that violently attack each other. Illegalism has caused polarization between anarchists and the police. Polarization begins with artificial categories that separate people based on certain identifying characteristics like occupation, religion, age, race, class, nationality, political beliefs, sexuality, gender, physical appearance, mental/physical abilities, past experiences, etc. We need to eliminate polarization. Spiritual teachings say that we are all one. Lets start acting like it. A worldwide mass movement cannot be created until the current level of polarization is reduced. Polarization quickly leads to violence. The stronger group usually conquers and oppresses the weaker group. The world is full of conflict, war, violence and rage. Anarchism cannot exist in such a violent world. As long as there is violence the public will choose authoritarianism to control the violence. Anarchism can only exist in peaceful environments. Violence causes more violence so lets stop doing violent stuff. Any action that contributes to peace, happiness, love, good health, friendship and unity is an action that will help create anarchism. We need to help give each person in the world a home, healthy food, clean water, medical care and free education. No one should have to die for the revolution. Nothing is worth dying for. The term revolutionary war is an oxymoron. Choose revolution instead of war. There are at least fifteen wars already going on in the world. Another war will just add to the cycle of violence and repression that dominates our world. Written by Leo Regulus in 2010. |
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Go fuck yourself.
Go fuck yourself.
I agree with my "go fuck
I agree with my "go fuck yourself" comrade.
"I've been arrested twice for misdemeanors at unpermitted protests. I'm almost thirty years old and I'm poor, unemployed and I have an arrest record."
An arrest record? You have two misdemeanors! FUCKIN MISDEMEANORS!! Since you are only required to report FELONIES when you apply for a job then the reason you are poor and unemployed is because you are a loser/clown who is now just a poor, unemployed sellout! a fuckin arrest record, hahahaha, okay Billy Badass you're really fucked for life. what a fake ass clown wannabee militant failure
-Andre Brigand
No, I like cheese.
No, I like cheese.
I have no idea if this is
I have no idea if this is supposed to be a joke or not. I surely hope so, because it's been giving me the best laughing fit I've had in years.
Leo, I'm over the age of thirty, have two kids, work a job, support my family, and live in a great amazing apartment. I also support stealing from bosses, wrecking capitalist property, robbing banks, attacking the pigs, and countless other illegal acts.
Your article is ridiculous, and I'm happy to be the first person to comment on this waste of pixels on my computer screen.
Can we settle this once and for all? Anarchism, by it's definition, is an illegal ideology. There is a law in the United States, known as the sedition act, that makes it illegal to work, agitate, or organize against the existence of the United States government. If you could somehow that anarchists don't want to attack the existence of the U.S. government, even in purely verbal terms and through literature, then, I'm sorry my friend, you're not an anarchist. You're a social-democrat.
Whether or not you think it's a good idea to attack capitalist property or not, or to engage in clandestine acts, to argue that anarchists should break the law or engage in illegal action is to negate anarchism itself as even an ideology.
Revolution isn't legal. It's not safe or pretty or easy to fit into some comfortable box. I'm sorry you have decided that you want to fit into some secure comfortable life now that you're almost thirty, but for most of us in this country, we don't live a comfortable or secure life. We struggle as it is against precarity and a precarious life. That will be our reality for as long as we can work. It's not like I can retire. When I'm no longer able to work, I can either die, or live illegally.
Dearest Leo, your privilege disgusts me. Because really, that's all this post is, just a privileged brat's rant.
"Whether or not you think
"Whether or not you think it's a good idea to attack capitalist property or not, or to engage in clandestine acts, to argue that anarchists should break the law or engage in illegal action is to negate anarchism itself as even an ideology."
Oops. Fucking end of the work day. What this should say is:
"Whether or not you think it's a good idea to attack capitalist property or not, or to engage in clandestine acts, to argue that anarchists should NOT break the law or engage in illegal action is to negate anarchism itself as even an ideology."
revolutions are not won by
revolutions are not won by cowards, and now is not the time to follow orders
"Because really, that's all
"Because really, that's all this post is, just a privileged brat's rant."
Just the same thought that occured into my mind after reading this piece of shit.
anarchism is not an
anarchism is not an ideology, it is a negation of ideology.
No it's not, thats nihilism.
No it's not, thats nihilism.
That's why nihilism has got
That's why nihilism has got one up on anarchism.
oh snap!
oh snap!
The negation of a systematic
The negation of a systematic body of concepts and thought processes does not automatically itself become nihilism. That is determined by the intent behind the negation which could be either anarchist or nihilist. Individuals determine that for themselves.
Stirner's anarchism was the negation of ideology.
Mmmm, you recognise the
Mmmm, you recognise the nuances of the concept of individual autonomy, nice :)
Gunter
Stirner is about the worst
Stirner is about the worst example of what is desirable in anarchism. Narcissistic little egoist.
Oh! But you must be an
Oh! But you must be an involuntary egoist yourself to say such a thing, because you cannot seperate vanity from self-conscious self criticism, which is what the magnificent theory requires, the quintessential perception of selfnessness.
Gunter
The words "ego" and "egoist"
The words "ego" and "egoist" had such different meanings prior to the Freudian take on the concept. Furthermore a better translation would have been something like "the unique one".
I can certainly see how a Marxist-Leninist and other authoritarian/political types would have a problem with that. Their pension for oversimplified models of "desirable" humane experience fits better with their rigidly structured sociopolitical programs and categories. It's way too difficult for the commissars to make assumptions about the economic role of 'the masses' if their to perceive each individual as unique.
'Individual selfnessness' ,
'Individual selfnessness' , 'one-off design' , ' the mould cracked after one rendition ' , ' a law unto themselves ', ' a unique individual ' , ' a solitary thinker ' , ' don't take no shit from no other ' , ' the perpetual human strikist ' , ' uncloneable ' , ' conformity's nemesis ' , ' all is illusion but myself ' , if their perception, or if they're to perceive each individual as unique, or a 'force unto themselves '.
Once attained, one ' walks on sunshine ', there are no impediments, ideology becomes dull, crass, law becomes obsolete, thus legality, we can be 'rulers of ourselves'. Come to my wildness.
Gunter
Which in turn became
Which in turn became Stirner's ideology.
Yep, 30 is about the time
Yep, 30 is about the time for a lot of people to just sell out.
Neat way to desperately try to rationalize not doing things deemed illegal. The problem though is that with this becoming more and more of a police state that it's very easy to end up doing things deemed illegal without even trying. Like you mentioning only participating in things in which there is a permit for. And what happens when you are not able to get a permit which is happening more and more? Then you can't even just voice your opinion or be at a certain place. And It's becoming illegal in some places to videotape or record in any way when police are harrassing someone, if you do, that's considered illegal.
I do agree with not doing the little nothing things that are more for people to just feel like they are being "anarchists" and it is incredibly expensive and over nothing almost and doing even less but there is still a lot that is deemed illegal that shouldn't be and if people are to only stay within the confines of what is considered illegal then you are going to be very limited in opposing things you do not like.
Perhaps, if you haven't already, you should just go back to being a democrat I guess.
best anarchy-fagg article
best anarchy-fagg article EV4R!
Bravo! Something that
Bravo!
Something that desperately needed to be said, particularly the points on the aversion most people (potential allies) have to the subculture and striving for peace, mutual aid, etc. as primary strategy. I can't even begin to count the people who I've exposed to anarchism and largely agree with its principles, but WILL NEVER become an anarchist themselves/ be even an ally because of the cultural differences (a 50 year old white middle class guy will never find appeal in black-clad punk teens, but probably will find appeal in something he's more culturally familiar with, like unions/labor, as there's a good chance his dad was a union-man and may have fond memories of it). Yes, the participants in this subculture are probably among the most dedicated in our ranks, but we need more than that. As inspiringly powerful a small group of dedicated activists can be, it's not enough (clearly) and we've got to make anarchist thought common. I've experienced so many times in which people having never heard of anarchism as an ideology already supported many of its principles without even knowing it. We have to show that to these people and we have to radicalize them, but radicalization is a process. Transition from "mainstream" thought to radical thought is already very uncomfortable at times for most people, and we don't need to make it more uncomfortable. One of the best ways to do that, as you said, is to thoroughly show people to the point that they instinctively make the connections: anarchism is peace, anarchism is love. Now, as we all know too well, the exact opposite connections are made, and have been made since the mid-19th century! We keep helping the capitalists and politicians demonize us more quickly than we can recruit others. People mostly follow what is culturally familiar to them, and petty violence, crime just for spite, and the rest of the subculture will never be familiar enough for most people. For that matter, most people are too culturally different from each other to come together except under universal qualities of peace, love, mutual aid, freedom, and equality.
agreed, how bout we get a
agreed, how bout we get a hell of a lot more anarchists than we got now, THEN we up the ante on taking it directly to the state and capitalism?
fuck the law made to protect elite assholes, let's for sure wipe our asses with it, but let's maybe let a lot more people know what we're really fighting for before we start fighting for it.
we're gonna fight and win the revolution while most people think we're fucks who just want chaos? get real.
the revolution is gonna take time, and the longer we wait to make people see what we see in anarchism the longer its gonna be until its REALLY time to fuck shit up
http://tinyurl.com/2unlllm am
http://tinyurl.com/2unlllm
am.i.rite?
this is one of the dumbest
this is one of the dumbest articles i have ever read. i hope it's a joke.of candace no reason why you can't be both - a lot of folks are.
"I'm not saying we should
"I'm not saying we should forgive the government for all the mean things they have done to us. They will pay for the wrongs they did. Nothing can stop karma."
Summary:
If we just let yahweh handle it, it'll work out.
For da' Lulz.
Agreed, and my actions and intentions stand as a direct result of those deeds. Something about chickens and roosting. Hmm.
I find it interesting that
I find it interesting that this article points towards continued arrests as the source for people growing out of the A-team, but I really find this really inaccurate. I see most anarchists (usually of the anarcho-liberal persuasion) abandoning anarchy after seeing their activist projects constantly fail to effect any real change. I would hardly say that illegalism (which does not equate to getting arrested) causes people to drop out.
^ this
^ this
There is no way this garbage
There is no way this garbage was written by a nearly 30 year old anarchist, either a teen just finding anarchy and having reservations, or a twenty something with no understanding of anarchism at all. I've always thought discourse in the comments section was a useful place for sharpening our understanding of anarchism, and getting a perspective we had previously overlooked. I don't have the time or energy to address even one tenth of this article. Maybe someone in a better mood can show you point for point why your way off base.
-underthepavers
P.S. "bravo"? really?
i was gonna say, it kinda
i was gonna say, it kinda reads like it was written by a teenager. some 80% of the sentences begin with "anarchists should" or "we shouldn't". I thought maybe it was a joke, so much of it sounds like pure sarcasm, but every now and then i catch a hint of sincerity. This essay is fucking weird. I also think that rebutting this essay would be very time consuming on account of i would basically have to start from square one, perhaps it's author should check out the ABC of Anarchism by Alexander Berkman or something? Explaining the how and why of this person's complete misguided idiocy would take a while and i'm not even sure that this is not a prank, a prank just to get me writing this confussed response. what the hell? really? what the hell? i give up
dude, that's lyke ageism and
dude,
that's lyke ageism and junk, don't go there
this article made me cum so
this article made me cum so hyrd
i lol'ed
i lol'ed
What the fuck? Im pretty
What the fuck? Im pretty sure that Anarchist Punks dont even exist anymore.
If they do, they are severely outnumbered by the hipsters (which I proudly claim as my foremost identity).
How can you make an accurate analysis of anarchist subculture when the people you are analyzing ceased to be after 2005?
Maybe in pittsburgh, minneapolis, and portland you will find punks who are real anarchists...but even in those places the hipsters rule the turf
You dudes forgettin about me?
You dudes forgettin about me?
wow dude really? "that's so
wow dude really? "that's so 2005" ridiculous man
CRUSTIES STILL HOLD THE FUCK DOWN!
and i live in the woods motherfucker :p
...and this article... really? anarchists shouldn't march without a permit? Unnecessary violence against police? ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME???
dudes ryght, we should stick
dudes ryght, we should stick to the "god fates awesomeprotests" we do.
where's the long list of
where's the long list of shitiots endorsing this?
this almost made me laugh as
this almost made me laugh as much as ben schumin on encyclopedia drammatica
"Illegalism is a major
"Illegalism is a major threat to security culture."
There is no way that somebody wrote this with a straight face. This has to be yet another troll article winding up on the front page of anarchistnews.
Leo Regularanus :)
Leo Regularanus :)
f3dum of
f3dum of Screech
http://fliiby.com/file/12876/6kbin1x3nu.html
and such
http://4gifs.com/gallery/d/161171-2/Upskirt_wobble2.gif
this is literally the
this is literally the dumbest shit ive ever read in my life. kill yourself.
:D And then he did!
:D And then he did!
Maybe this isn't worth
Maybe this isn't worth mentioning, but (dramatic pause) illegalism has absolutely nothing to do with the doctrine of self-sacrifice that leads people to intentionally get arrested at non-violent ineffectual mass protests.
real question, why the hell
real question, why the hell is it illegal to make public demonstration without a permit blocking traffic? blocking traffic is a legitimate fucking protest. I believe the government would easily capitulate to this demand if only it were articulated. where on the list of demands is this? somewhere between the right to adequate shelter and hygiene and the right to consume whatever one can grow in the Earth?
Eh, your article is long and not very good. However I think with a lot of imagination I can see where your coming from. Consider organic farming.
“The community of workers,
“The community of workers, have they the right to take back all the products of their labour? Yes, a thousand times yes. This re-appropriation is the revolution, without which everything still is to be done. A group of workers, have they the right to a partial re-appropriation of the collective produce? Without a doubt. When the revolution can’t be made in its entirety, it must be made at least to the best of its ability.
“The isolated individual, has he a right to a personal re-appropriation of his part of the collective property? How can it be doubted. The collective property being appropriated by a few, why shouldn’t it be taken back in detail, when it can’t be taken back as a whole? He has the absolute right to take it – to steal…” — Elisee Reclus
Anarchism has always been associated with crime and criminal activity. In many countries of the 19th century, belonging to an Anarchist organization, publishing or writing – or even possessing – Anarchist literature was a crime. In most of the countries where Anarchists ideas attracted a substantial following (Italy, France, Germany, Russia and the U.S.), Anarchist were often “blackballed” by the local businessmen, hounded out of their jobs and homes. The unemployed – and unemployable – Anarchists were often forced into a life of crime out of desperation.
This was the intention of the powerful, to keep the workers and peasants in their place and harass, imprison or kill those who dared speak out against their oppression. However, even in the greatest police states ever created, only a fraction of the criminals are ever apprehended. These “professional” criminals inspired many Anarchists not only to engage in criminal activity for their livelihood, but to embrace this role. Seeing themselves as frontline warriors in the battle against Capital, they politicized their activities by robbing symbols of the wealthy (banks, trains, wealthy people’s houses) and then sharing the loot with Anarchist publications, printers, prisoners and comrades in dire need.
Though some great folk-heroes arose from the ranks of the Anarcho-bandits, most lived low-key lives, not ever hinting at their clandestine activities. Indeed, most of the robbers, thieves, assassins and bombers that we know of are well-known because they were caught. Many others were never apprehended, though. After years of activity, they would retire to an asture life and pass their skills, equipment and contacts to the next generation of rebels. These people who embraced crime as part of their political struggle were known as Illegalists. And, though local bandits were national heroes in Italy, the Ukraine and Spain, they actually became part of the overall Anarchist revolutionary movement in France.
see illegalism,
http://roblosricos.wordpress.com/about/illegalism/
A good rant, a needed
A good rant, a needed venting of the resentment, a rebellion by defiant adjustment, a post-prison bitterness. Stay cool and dont bash cops in your transitional stages of un-institutionalising yourself. Good luck comrade.
Gunter
Look, unfortunately the 60s
Look, unfortunately the 60s legacy leaves us with compromised ex-hippies who went on to be corporate managers, or liberal democrats with some mystical belief in karma. Reality is still an illusion, but an irritatingly persistent one, as Einstein pointed out, and so violence is an illusion, or peace for that matter, in the miniscule relevence we have in this universe, such divisions of defining reality are superficial, thus nihilism is the logical end point! All this petty ideological rivalry, this theoretical perfection of culture and art, it is really quite boring, can we move on please, into another paradigm, that of the destruction of vanity. Thankyou.
Gunter
Gunter I am concerned you
Gunter I am concerned you are using nihilism as a mask for depression. I am also still concerned about your mixing medication and alcohol. Contact Intervention show and see if they can help you step down from "walking on sunshine". You can beat this thing anarchism-bro, I believe in you!
Don't fuckin patronise me,
Don't fuckin patronise me, I'm not on medication, and I can drink whisky if I wish, that is my choice, in moderation, and you dont know my condition, and I reject councilling for myself, but I am a councillor to many lost souls that enter my domain, how dare you assume I am of weak constitution to require advice, I would rather die than succumb to advice from ideologues or their slaves. My nihilistic perception is innate, from my early years, do not assume it is some petty psychological condition! You anger me, when I would rather be concentrating on the looming battle I have tomorrow against a vicious cheating gang. These are our illusions and our desires, and the best we can hope for is to die fighting and standing at the same time for our uniqueness. Goodbye and thankyou anyway for your condescending concern.