Anews Podcast 179 – 9.4.20

From Anews Podcast

Welcome to the anews podcast. This podcast is on anarchist activity, ideas, and conversations from the previous week on anarchistnews.org.

Sound editing was by Greg.

What’s New was written and read by Chisel and Greg.

Thanks to Ariel and scott crow for the conversation on the TOTW, no no-platforms.

Music:
1. Canzone Anarchica – Inno Individualista
2. Freak Power – Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out

There are 23 Comments

great episode people! as always, the musical selections are *chef's kiss*. the totw discussion was particularly lovely this time too. scott & ariel have great chemistry.

now i'm thinking about radio and flyering my neighborhood, or maybe just shouting at the top of my lungs from my porch!

ariel put scott in his place for being silly. justified angry rant!!!

silliness is an awesome anarchist superpower. not one i want to have, but still awesome.

forgive me for using euphemisms, i agree that silliness can be used to describe a quality that could be desirable and even a compliment. what i meant was that i appreciated the way ariel challenged those naive (or incorrect, or whatever words are unambiguous and not too harsh and somehow enough for me to express a general approval of the conversation that took place without having to repeat it) notions expressed by scott

though it is not entirely fair that scott crow had to stand in for all the bullshit that crimethinc and igd (et al) are pulling to get people to publicize them and their FB drama. but what does fair hae to do with anything...

oh for sure, scott is not culprit for being a stand-in, for the sake of conversation, for the default attitude of benevolence towards social media that lead to their popularity. but like it was said, and i ended up reproducing a bit of the conversation now through paraphrase, there was never a conscious "pros and cons" analysis, just a convenience that was seized as one takes a freebie or a low hanging fruit. but it would be a mistake to "victim blame" as well, since do people question roads? can people abstain from using roads and sidewalks? not the same, i know, but makes you think....something...i don't know....tech giants: infinity; random anon: 0

There was intense and widespread resistance to roads almost every time they were new incursions into a space. Hell, there still is. The way I see it, this is not about abstaining, or victim blaming, it's about being aware of where you are, what you are doing, whose infrastructure it is, and not living delusionally. And probably also doing things to subvert and destroy that infrastructure and create (y)our own.

Fuck roads! Yeah, you're right, although I think roads are not less awful if d.i.y. and named after me, so yeah, let pavement turn into grasslands with vines and ground cover etc, a tree in each pothole.

That describes more the individual against uniformity within a collective union rather than the total individualist as a sovereign entity. Like chalk and cheese.

Would you explain what you mean?

These are the lyrics, for those who are curious.

The Individualist Hymn

Before dying in the mud on the streets
we would imitate Bresci and Ravachol;
anyone who extends a hand to you, bourgeoisie,
is a person unworthy of looking at the sun.

Grinding machines tear the beggars to pieces
and their wives are forever pale and weeping,
The fields remain fallow, the miners buried
and the workers crushed forever by murder.

And to those who don’t give in, open the tombs,
prepare the bombs, sharpen the knife,
action is the ideal!

France, on the watch with the guillotine,
chops off the head of anyone who wants to punish her.
Cowardly Spain strangles with a garrote and murderous
Italy guns down those who aren’t accustomed to trembling.

Hanged in America, throats cut in Africa,
forever tortured at Montjuich in Spain,
but the individualist still knows how to strike
the sorry breed of gentleman thugs.

And to those who don’t give in, open the tombs,
prepare the bombs, sharpen the knife,
action is the ideal!

As long as we are a herd it’s appropriate that there’s
a social gang passing laws;
as long as the sun of anarchy doesn’t shine,
we will always see the slaughtering of the populace.

Be very afraid, coppers, when you hear
the dynamite exploding against the oppressors.
We are enemies of all cops and scoundrels,
And one against all, we will scatter them.

And to those who don’t give in, open the tombs,
prepare the bombs, sharpen the knife,
action is the ideal!

Well, it should be called The Syndicalist Hymn, I disapprove of the word "individualist" thrown around describing participation in a binary class-warfare context. War is war, and as horrible the slaughter may be, the true "individualist" is a conscientious objector in these ideological differences.
Also, aesthetically I found the sentimental tone of the singer sickening because it did not express anger or strength, and was from an era, mostly patriarchal and sexist, whereby women must project mournful weakness and pathos rather than defiant strident, and ironically, independence and individual choice of their role in these societies they are fighting for. Not a true individualist anthem!

Pathos in politics
Pathos has its hand in politics, primarily in speech and how to persuade the audience. Pathos is directly linked with an audience. Audience is a collective subject of speakers on which an orator tries to impact by own argumentation, or how to effectively utilize pathos in rhetoric, the way in which one appeals to the listener or reader is similar in appealing to an audience of voters in a group, and not to the individualist. In the case of politics and politicians, it is primarily more in argumentative singing and speaking. In essence knowing people's emotions helps to enable one to act with words versus writing alone, to earn another's credibility and faith, and basically to manipulate their loyalties.

Ah, I see, and I'm sympathetic to what you say. Certainly someone shouldn't participate in class conflict out of a sense of duty or something. But there are some issues with your line of thought. For one thing, calling it Syndicalist would be silly, as Syndicalism is about a particular strategic approach to class struggle, and this song is about a different and conflicting strategy (individual action). Also, why couldn't a "true individualist" participate in class conflict? Certainly many have, and do. Were they / are they all fake individualists because of this? Somehow I doubt it.

"Also, why couldn't a "true individualist" participate in class conflict? Certainly many have, and do. Were they / are they all fake?"
Because a true individualist is not concerned with causes involving other people, or taking actions to alleviate other's problems. And this is not out of selfishness, but rather out of permitting others to empower themselves and develop their own autonomy without being lectured or groomed by others, which is paternalistic, coercive and at worst manipulative brainwashing. Yes, possibly a true individualist could take on the role of an agent provocateur encouraging people to "get up off their rusty dusty asses and do something", but it can only go that far. Imploring people to take up arms and kill other people is called radicalization and murder/assassination, and not something a true individualist does lol.
Also, the names please of true individualists who have participated in class conflict? Stirner certainly never did, he taught at a school. Nietzsche never, umm Marx or any of his followers are not real individualists.

One sentence from the song seems contradictory ---"WE are enemies of all cops and scoundrels," .A true individualist would sing ----I I I am the enemy,,,,,,,--- Not that they would have enemies, true individualists don't have enemies if they don't try to convert others to their uniqueness.

"The Social Revolution is the sudden awakening of Prometheus after a fall into a faint of sorrow caused by the foul vulture that rips his heart to shreds. It is an attempt at self-liberation. But the chains with which the sinister god Jove had him chained on the Caucasus by the repugnant servant Vulcan cannot be broken except by the Titanic rebel Hero, son of Jove himself.
We rebel children of this putrid humanity that has chained human beings in the dogmatic mud of social superstitions will never miss bringing our tremendous axe blow down on the rusty links of this hateful chain.
Yes, we anarchist individualists are for Social Revolution, but in our way, it’s understood!"

Renzo Novatore
Anarchist Individualism in the Social Revolution
http://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/renzo-novatore-anarchist-individu...

Oh no, you can't Invoke the name of Renzo Novatore as being an individualist-anarch, he was an anarchist individual poet/nihilist, who followed a "We". Quite different to the pure anarch individualist lol.
Funny hearing his flowery purple prose about myths and biblical heroes who supported his Romanticist rants, haha.

If Novatore wasn't an individualist anarch then the term has no meaning. Enjoy having it to yourself though!

"I am baffled by the indignance that comes from anarchists. How did you not know this was coming? How did you not have a plan B? Of course this was the future, of course this was inevitable. I'm amazed it took this damn long. They are not our co-conspirators. They are just a different type of master, that we have made ourselves beholden to, and that was a choice."

Yeah this rant is pure gold.

Something this reminds me of is the Signal app and moxie's repeated insistence on having it deeply tied into Google infrastructure and his fighting every attempt to unlink the two. Different, sure, but how different?

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