Anarchists to hold planning meeting

[question everything]

StarTribune.com
Anarchists to hold planning meeting

By Randy Furst, Star Tribune

Last update: August 27, 2007 – 2:25 PM

A group of activists who describe themselves as "anarchists and anti-authoritarians" will hold a private strategy session over the Labor Day weekend to discuss plans to protest at the Republican National Convention to be held in St. Paul Sept. 1-4, 2008.

(snip)

Bridges said the group favors "ending capitalism, imperialism, patriarchy and all other forms of hierarchy" to be replaced with "direct, participatory democracy." She said the group would not seek permits to demonstrate, and said efforts to restrict protesters in that way constituted repression and a "violent threat."

(snip)

A separate coalition of antiwar groups, which includes Women Against Military Madness, the Anti-War Committee and the Iraq Peace Action Coalition has already announced plans for a mass march to protest the war in Iraq on Sept. 1, 2008 near Xcel Center in St. Paul where the convention will take place. They say their march will be a peaceful, legal demonstration.

http://www.startribune.com/587/story/1385565.html

[More Than A Feeling]

1. I was nearby when a bunch of anarchists marched during the last inauguration.

They were chased off by police wielding pepper spray after someone threw one of those orange safety cones at someone. It was interesting. Can't say it accomplished much.

[jsamuel]

2. how can you not laugh at "Anarchists to hold planning meeting"

[question everything]

3. File under "do as I say, not as I do?"

As for demonstrating the Republican convention: hey, the more the merrier.

[onenote]

4. lol! Exactly what I was thinking

[Steepler0t]

6. err why would it?

Anarchists (Left-Libertarians) are all about democracy and grassroots organization.

Sigh...not this shit again.
C'mon DUers, you should know better.

Libertarian socialism(In other words your garden variety Left-wing Anarchist)



From Wiki: Libertarian socialism in modern times

Libertarian socialists in the early 21st century have been involved in the squatter movement; social centers; infoshops; anti-poverty groups like OCAP and Food Not Bombs; tenants unions; housing cooperatives; intentional communities generally and egalitarian communities; anti-sexist organizing; grassroots media initiatives; digital media and computer activism; experiments in participatory economics; anti-racist and anti-fascist groups like Anti-Racist Action and Anti-Fascist Action; organizations protecting the rights of immigrants and promoting the free movement of people like the No Border Network and No one is Illegal; worker co-operatives, countercultural and artist groups; and the peace movement.



For example when shit went bad in New Orleans it was the Anarchists who organized to help those people before anyone else got off their ass. The government, the Churches, or even the Democrats, where were they when food not bombs where already organized and on the streets feeding refugees of the storm?

Bashing other left-leaning sorts with lame right-wing turn (of the last) century stereotypes for the lose.

Let me guess, next up, let's take the piss out of Noam Chomsky since he is a left-anarchist too.

[mohc]

10. Might as well give up

We have let conservatives frame the debate and define things for far too long, even the likes of DU has fallen into the right-wing view of Anarchism. Same reasoning behind why many call themselves "Progressives" and not "Liberals".

[personman]

11. You could know what they are?

See the FAQ in my signature.

[The_Warmth]

16. I would have to say...

because anarchy doesn't imply a lack of coordination. It only implies a lack of government. Why pay someone else to do your work for you (especially if they do a crap job and wreak havoc on the world)?

[rufus dog]

20. that was my thought

Wouldn't planning, by definition, conflict with anarchist?

[JDPriestly]

5. I thought this was an Onion headline.

Anarchists and planning in the same sentence. When anarchists start planning, we are really in bad shape. That is just hilarious. I suggest they elect a chairman and secretary and incorporate their organization. That's the next step. Maybe these "anarchists" are just growing up and realizing you can't just rely on the inspiration of the moment to get things done.

[Tom Rinaldo]

12. Anarchy supports power flowing upwards from the base instructing managerial functions

rather than orders being handed down by those those holding power to those who actually do most of the work. Anarchists believe in coordination. On a societal level they embrace planning when the planning is actually being done by those who will most be effected by the outcome of those plans. It is hard to boil any political philosophy down into a few words, and people will always differ on definitions, but nihlists are no more typical of Anarchists than Joe Lieberman is of DU Democrats. Anarchy is not chaos, it is a belief in non cohersive forms of organisation that hold those who implement decisions fully accountable to those who are impacted by those decisions. For well over a year during the Spanish Civil War one of Spain's largest cities, Barcelona, was organized and run by various coordination councils under the direct influence of Spain's then strong anarchist union movement.

[David Zephyr]

21. Peter Kropotkin and Mikhail Bakunin

Thanks for providing the original and intended meaning of anarchism, which had/has nothing to do with bomb throwing and violence. But you are swimming against a tide of a century of misleading propaganda which has re-framed the word anarchism into something malevolent.

[CAG]

7. Update: Anarchists hold sparsely attended planning meeting

Four died and 13 others were sent to the hospital after 8 anarchists set fire to the local VFW hall where a planning meeting of anarchists was being held. Fortunately, several anarchists missed the gathering. A spokesman from the state organization of anarchists explained:
- "19 m*&*^%f*(&&*(rs forgot about it due to excessive weed"
- "13 J)*^%^%^sses went to the Clown posse concert instead"
- "14 A(*%^%les boycotted the meeting and called it a sell out to corporate america"
- "9 sh*(&^^&*ds were taken to the hospital before the meeting after their '91 cadillac flipped into a ditch while harrassing an old couple on the way to the grocery store"

[Augdog20]

8. Anarchists and a meeting?

Isn't that oxymoronic?

This is the Democratic underground, as in we are siding with that party.
Abstention from politics givves us Repug dominance After seven years of Bush I'm sick of Repugs and would put up with corporate shills like HRC or BO if that's what it takes to keep out the Repugs.

[personman]

14. No, it isn't. Anarchists have been organizing for about 150 years.

Quite a colorful history in fact, a lot of heroic men and women who gave life and liberty to advance popular struggles toward freedom and equality.

The Haymarket Tragedy and Sacco and Vanzetti are a few of the more significant american events I've been interested in. The later was discussed recently on Democracy Now! with an author of a new book on the topic:

http://www.anarchismtoday.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=48

[LeftishBrit]

9. I liked the headline - so even the Anarchists are moving toward managerialism now?

[ejbr]

13. Since "Impeachment is off the table" where do I sign up? n/t

[personman]

15. Well...

I think maybe you're kidding, but they are handy, so I'll post anyway. :P

http://faq.anarchismtoday.org An Anarchist FAQ

http://AnarchismToday.org (Mine...:P)
http://Anarkismo.net
http://libcom.org (Based in the UK, with a North America forum as well)
http://infoshop.org (Probably the most popular.)

Couple books I'd recommend to those interested in the topic (SHAMELESS PLUG: The links will take you to my amazon store):

http://astore.amazon.com/anarctoday-20/detail/1904859208/002-5626882-8989662">"Chomsky on Anarchism" by Noam Chomsky

http://astore.amazon.com/anarctoday-20/detail/1904859259/002-5626882-8989662">"No Gods, No Masters: An Anthology of Anarchism" by Daniel Guerrin - Great reference with lots of the great classic anarchist writings and historical events.

-personman

[ejbr]

19. Copied and pasted for future perusal. THANKS!

I kinda was kidding, but the way things are headed nowadays, I'll keep my options open. ;)

[personman]

17. Learn about Anarchism: (K&R)

I'm continually hearing framing that implies that anarchism is completely nihilistic and disorganized, chaotic, etc. While these opinions are probably beneficial to the power structure, they are simply untrue, and I think it's quite obvious to anyone who takes even a cursory glimpse at the history. At it's simplest, the anarchists hold a higher standard for what should be expected from anything that proclaims itself a just or civilized society. I think Alexander Berkman summed it up best:

"Anarchy: It is NOT bombs, disorder or chaos. It is NOT robbery and murder. It is NOT a war of each against all. It is NOT a return to barbarism or to the wild state of man. Anarchism is the very opposite of all that."


http://faq.anarchismtoday.org An Anarchist FAQ

http://AnarchismToday.org (Mine...:P)
http://Anarkismo.net
http://libcom.org (Based in the UK, with a North America forum as well)
http://infoshop.org (Probably the most popular.)

Couple books I'd recommend to those interested in the topic (SHAMELESS PLUG: The links will take you to my amazon store):

http://astore.amazon.com/anarctoday-20/detail/1904859208/002-5626882-8989662">"Chomsky on Anarchism" by Noam Chomsky

http://astore.amazon.com/anarctoday-20/detail/1904859259/002-5626882-8989662">"No Gods, No Masters: An Anthology of Anarchism" by Daniel Guerrin - Great reference with lots of the great classic anarchist writings and historical events.

-personman

[Steepler0t]

18. Thanks again for great links personman -nt-

[ProudDad]

22. Wait, Wait

that's against the rules...

We Anarchists aren't supposed to organize :)