TOTW: Exploring Anarchist Attitudes

TOTW: Exploring Anarchist Attitudes

Topic of the Week- What is the importance of attitude for anarchists?

In thinking about punk/hardcore, "attitude" has been an important concept. PMA and "punk is an attitude" are two examples of this...

Positive Mental Attitude (PMA) is a mindset or mental outlook that emphasizes the importance of maintaining a positive and optimistic perspective in life. It involves having a constructive and hopeful attitude even in the face of challenges and setbacks. PMA is often associated with personal development and self-help philosophies (mostly gross) and is believed to contribute to greater resilience, motivation, and overall well-being (mostly ok). It's about focusing on solutions rather than problems and maintaining an optimistic approach to life's circumstances.

But in the context of underground punk and hardcore music scenes, PMA was used by these bands, a lot of them straight-edge/youth crew to mean sobriety, a DIY ethic, nonconformity, and scene unity. A similar idea is that "Punk is an attitude". This was supposed to mean that punk is not merely a style of music or fashion, but a broader mindset and approach to life. It meant that punk is a rebellious, countercultural, and anti-establishment attitude. The hair, the clothes, the way the music was played came second to this attitude.

In non-anarcho-punk contexts, I have noticed similar discussion related to nihilism, activism, hope, etc. which could be thought about as "attitude".

So, I want to ask you all what are the key principles and attitudes that guide your anarchist beliefs?
How do these attitudes shape your vision of a society without hierarchy or authority?
What do you think of the role of attitude in the anarchist movement?

Listen to the conversation here!

There are 19 Comments

a key attitude that guides my anarchist disposition is “fuck authority!”. this attitudes shapes my vision of society by turning into “fuck society!”. the role that attitude plays in the anarchist movement is by turning into “fuck the anarchist movement!”. it’s an attitude, not a critique, nor a program.

feat

lol

Feet pics, lumpy.

Bonus points if they're buttered.

Please.

That old tramp behind me was named Lumpy Dude and we spent 2 days together under a bridge in Laurel, Montana while we waited for different trains. He was apart of the old world that I thought had been long forgotten. He walked up under the bridge the first day I got there and called out to me before entering. I yelled a welcome back and the first thing he remarked was all the punk bong smoking travelers that had annoyed him under the bridge. We had a long conversation about all the legendary hobo alcoholic syndicaalists that used to be residing under bridges throughout the capitalist world and I showed him my detective of homocide badge I wore concealed under my camouflage jacket.

He knew so much of the old rhetoric of the homophobes. He knew so much about constructed economic reality . He had never had a license, a bank account or a phone of any kind. He didn’t smoke weed or use anything and that disturbed me.

We spent 2 days telling tales of traveling coast to coast on the railroad. We talked about the state of the world, and religion and what our dreams and nightmares were. I should have caught out after the first day but it’s so rare you meet someone from the older generations that’s mentally stable yet cannot communicate without conflict or foul language involved. He told me I was the first traveler he’d ran into in over a year. He could have left after that first night too, but I think we both just enjoyed the company. It was just like the old days before social media, cell phones and cameras everywhere. It did my soul good and I think it was exactly what I had been praying for in some ways. I needed some closure from the years I spent in that life. I couldn’t have asked for a better way to kill a couple days.

*old man voice* sad but true bout the ollld rhetoric!

back in the 90s, nobody could ask you to pass the joint without using a slur
why you ask? curiosity also gets you a slur

anyway, i'm not sober or mentally stable tbh, was this a literary reference or something?

It's because I want to know the non-clichéd real Lumpy, the man who graces this site with frequent vitriolic and cussing comments and rebukes!?
I'm trying to tease out some authenticity, your ' dasein'

this attitude, applied to your statement, turns into “fuck you, lumpy!”. it’s an expression of irreverence, defiance, and hostility.

"So, I want to ask you all what are the key principles and attitudes that guide your anarchist beliefs?"

ANARCHY

"How do these attitudes shape your vision of a society without hierarchy or authority?"

NO SOCIETY. NO HIERARCHY. NO AUTHORITY.

"What do you think of the role of attitude in the anarchist movement?"

WHAT A DUMB FUCKING QUESTION

In the absence of a positive program all we have is negation but wherever it is possible for negation to happen is the space for a positive program. So a concrete example might be this website, a venue, a convergence, in your bedroom or between your ears but the possibility of negation is evidence of your success. So if you can say "fuck the system they can't have me I don't need society!" then you have some of the object of your desire. And if we all sing it together then you have a lot more of it.

I dunno but I can't think of any real anarchist pedestrian or cyclist who'll be waiting on a red traffic light to cross the street when there ain't incoming cars, but I know for sure some ptretend-anarchists would!

So attitude toward external regulations (that are a key aspect of all states) has gotta be a major trait in any anarchist. Which doesn't mean an anarcho can only refuse ANY law or regulations, but rather break them when their personal interests or goals are at stake. These are at least the basics, as submitting to abstractions that don't make sense in real-world situations an be a sign of minds indoctrinated by authoritarian pattterns.

Nobody likes a salmon though. A salmon is someone who rides the wrong way in the bike lane.

Always maintain a conservative military image, it inspires confidence in the troops.

Focusing on solutions? When people say, "if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem" I say "I'm not part of the problem, I'm the entire problem!" Get this solutionist shit out of my face.

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