So did I; used to be an anarcho-communist. Actually, I started out as someone who was vaguely sympathetic to mainstream libertarianism but could never fully embrace it due to the perceived economic implications. I eventually drifted to social anarchism thanks to someone who’s name I won’t mention, because it’s too embarrassing.
After hanging around them for a while I realized that, for all their pretenses, most of them were really just state-socialists who wanted to abolish the State by making it smaller and calling it something else. After about a year of hanging around Libcom and the livejournal anarchist community, I encountered people who, under the aegis of “community self-management”, supported
mandatory work assignments (ie slavery)
the blatant statement, in these exact words, that “Anarchism is not individualist” on no less than twelve separate occasions over the course of seven months. Not everybody in those communities actively agreed with them, but nobody got up and seriously disputed it.
that if you don’t like any of these rules, you’re not free to just quit the community, draw a line around your house and choose not to obey while forfeiting any benefits. No, as long as you’re in what they say are the the boundaries (borders?) of “the community”, you’re bound to follow the rules, otherwise you have to move someplace else (“love it or leave it”, as the conservative mantra goes). You’d think for a moment that this conflicts with An-comm property conceptions because they’re effectively exercising power over land that they do not occupy, implying that they own it and making “the community” into One Big Landlord a la Hoppean feudalism :)
So I decided that we really didn’t want the same things, and that what they wanted was really some kind of Maoist concentration commune where we all sit in a circle and publicly harass the people who aren’t conforming hard enough. No thanks, comrade.
At the same time, I stumbled across Rod and Kevin Carson, who took me back to the question of economic implications and were like “Dude, the economic implications are totally not what you think they are”. So apparently left-libertarian outreach is getting to some people, because it got to me.
Incidentally, I’m also a handgun owner. Unfortunately there’s no open or concealed carry in Illinois, and you can’t have them at all inside the city of Chicago itself. There’s been some talk of overturning the ban after Heller, and if that ever does happen I’m immediately going to reboot the old Pink Pistols chapter.
Regarding dietary deprivations, I didn’t actually miss deserts so much. The first thing I ate after quitting was sushi. There are always soy based substitutes for things, which I’m kind of ambivalent about given this country’s farm policy with regard to soybeans. For those that think plant-heavy diets are inherently pleasureless, you really just have to get creative. Go east, to India and Southeast Asia.
As for the egoistic motivation behind veganism, there are some pretty strong health benefits. They’re listed here. Or, if you’d prefer to see a pretty young woman the most gorgeous eyes ever expound on them, see this video.
More tomorrow. Aster and Nick, I do thoroughly enjoy these conversations.
]]>I’d say that Aster’s views on cultural liberty and criticisms of Libertarians derived therefrom are her more enduring ones. The ALL is still a relatively new viewpoint within Libertarian circles, so our attitude on these issues hasn’t made enough of a splash yet. Frankly, the value of Aster’s work on these issues is her in your face attitude. I want something that will give people a mindfuck. People who respond to mindfucks with a curious attitude are liable to be potential assets.
Homebrewing, critiques of current educational paradigms, and PGP all sound decent. I’d say a focus on counter-economics is a must in this economy — throw in some stuff about non-state forms of helping the “lower” socio-economic classes too. I don’t know what the welfare state is going to look like in an economically chaotic America. They sure as hell aren’t going to cut corporate welfare, but I am not so sure about the “other kind”.
Wooo! This is shaping up to be a rocking time. I get to meet you, see Darian again, meet Angela Keaton, see Starchild again, meet Black Bloke, meet Anthony Gregory, and hopefully find an interesting woman to seduce with my passion/wit for liberty…
Remember: tell your SWOP-Chicago friends how hot and intelligent I am too ( :
]]>Yeah, I’ve been looking for some culturally-oriented pieces to include, with some of Aster’s old blog postings in mind. My only concern is that she might not hold those views anymore.
In any case, I assume you guys would also have better suggestions than anything I could think of. My email is crimsonavalon [at] gmail.com. Lay it on me. I can handle all formatting issues.
So far we plan on having everything currently up at Invisible Molotov (linked in my name), Roderick’s “Rothbard’s Left & Right, 40 Years Later” (which I still have to format), the extra Market Anarchy pamphlets that Charles & co. made for the Bay Area fair (#’s 6-12, linked here) and however many issues of Chris Lempa’s ALLiance there are. I assume he’ll have a second issue out before June.
Darian Worden’s also working on an anti-school zine, which sort of fits into what you were saying. On the counter-economic angle, Kevin Dean over at Bureaucrash Social has agreed to put together a how-to zine on homebrewing and I’m hoping to get a comprehensive piece on PGP together with Charles.
]]>I’ve pondered suggesting to you that you use some of Aster’s material you appreciated on cultural liberty. She’s likely to read this, so if she approves, then I advise you two talk it over.
We do have some other writers in our canon on these issues too…still: it’s good to survey your options. I’ll contribute something original. We’d just need to put it in some kind of printed form.
I posted this on here, because I strongly believe you won’t view it as a violation of your privacy.
Anyhow, I am out. I have class tomorrow and things to ponder.
Bon Voyage!
Er..
Avoir!
]]>