ANews Podcast 457 – 3.6.26

From ANews Podcast

 

Welcome to the ANews podcast. This podcast covers anarchist activity, ideas, and conversations from the previous week.

No What’s New This Week
chisel on strike!

Topic of the Week / Article of the Week conversation: Why I left Anarchism, and then came back
with Madison and Vic

Sound editing by rocinante
music samples:
Aphex Twin – IZ-US
Aphex Twin – Come to Daddy – Pappy mix

Comments

anonymous (not verified) Sun, 03/08/2026 - 22:16

It's a lonely life when you don't feel you can trust anyone so you never let anyone in. There's always a snitch in every circle. I'm here because despite the loneliness I know there are other people like me out there and maybe I can make a difference.

anonymous (not verified) Mon, 03/09/2026 - 02:06

In reply to by anonymous (not verified)

Need to correct you: there's at least one snitch in every politicized circle, or milieu. But there are politically-lighter activities that state dogs wouldn't care about, as they can't justify budgeting for stuff that's neither a threat to order or can be instrumentalized for ulterior motives.

The reason why I left my local anarchist milieu is the lack of authenticity felt in many people. Which is related but not limited to the active presence of snitches. I know I know... "trust nobody but yourself". But that doesn't make for a very lovely community... or a community at all.

Lebou (not verified) Mon, 03/09/2026 - 08:11

In reply to by anonymous (not verified)

Yes, the non-judgemental zen-empathic-anarcho way requires open honesty and intimate personal bonding to achieve creative feelgood outcomes to all those tuned into the spontaneous beingness of just being your self.

anonymous (not verified) Mon, 03/09/2026 - 17:39

Thanks Madison and Vic for the conversation!

Preface: I listened to the entire podcast yesterday and sat on this comment for a day, so perhaps my memory of exactly what was said won't be the best.

Family: I was surprised to hear little conversation of anarchists unbecoming due to family. It's the old "anarchy after 30" which then grew into the "anarchy after 40" while the entire time was a joke being made by old anarchists about younger ppl.

Throw away anarchy: Ppl doing time and leaving anarchy after realizing they're not hard enough or whatever - this got me thinking because I want to disagree strongly while also being like there is still a place, so much space, for ppl like that in anarchy (unless you snitched / talked / provided info).

there are no passes and we're sinking. we're going down on this boat together.
- some boat anarchists

km (not verified) Tue, 03/10/2026 - 11:17

The term for Amish teens leaving the community for a bit before accepting baptism is Rumspringa.

On snitching - there is snitching because the snitch was working with the state all along and this is, to me, unambiguously bad.

But then there is getting caught and facing severe prison time and even torture and so caving. this is also bad, but understandable.

I think it is simple to say if one can't handle the prospect of torture or prison time one should not be part of an anarchist scene, because it has been the case that if the state wants to fuck with a scene they have no guardrails on how they go about that, and I don't think many of us are prepared for how this might affect us.
Meaning - I would hope that I would not snitch in such a situation but I am also a fragile body, with limits to my endurance. I don't think we can know for certain how we might act.

thanks for the conversation!

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