-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 On 06/12/2016 05:57 AM, Zenaan Harkness wrote: >> Lastly, one should realize that your first obligation is to >> yourself, then to your [chosen] family/friends, and finally none >> at all to "society", which is a construct of dubious utility, and >> which doesn't exist on its own. It's not a matter of "every man >> for himself and devil take the hindmost", it's a matter of >> "there's only so much one can do, and the most important things >> come first". > > Problem is, "most important things", in almost all humans, fails > to include "actions which will in some (even small) way, bring > forward some correction or shift to my wayward state, in which I am > in some small way a party to".
[description of issue oriented populist political activism omitted ] > Good luck, and may your actions speak for you. Rock the world in > your own little way. Inspire others where possible. Do what we can. > Amongst the 100s of causes and slogans, one may take off - and > that's all that's needed! Enjoy the ride. Plus one on that. Let me get out my Norton II hat & soap box for a minute here. Anarchism provides a frame of reference that enables us to understand how systems of government actually work, and what we can do with and to them in purely practical terms. Anarchism does not propose a Utopian system of government to replace the ones already in place, nor is it a call to "smash the State" and replace it with nothing. Anarchism describes a group of people who work together for mutual advantage as a syndicate. Syndicates organize themselves to develop and exploit resources for social and economic gain, often in competition against rival syndicates and among their own membership. In a stable going concern State, law and public policy are whatever its dominant syndicates impose by force on the rest of the people in the territory they control through the State. In this context force means applied power, not just physical violence: Propaganda, elaborate deceptions and economic incentives do all the heavy lifting. Competent State authorities only apply kidnapping and murder when other methods of manipulation fail: Violence "is wrong" in the sense that, except in the context of terrorism (using the threat of violence to enforce compliant behavior), violence destroys valuable resources that "should" properly belong to the dominant syndicates. Anarchists study politics as social power: Who has it, who does not, and how these groups interact. As such, Anarchism provides a frame of reference for analyzing and comparing various "systems of government" and for modifying these systems where and as useful opportunities to do so arise. A State sanctioned discipline called Human Ecology seeks to exploit anarchist theory for the exclusive benefit of dominant syndicates. Anarchy becomes a visible "force" when and as enough previously unorganized people push back against State sanctioned syndicates to forcibly modify those syndicates' behavior. When dominant syndicates controlling a State lose touch with reality and exceed the bounds of their real social power, they may do enough physical and economic harm to motivate active rebellion among formerly docile State subjects. At these times, Anarchists provide propaganda, educational resources, and facilitation to enable formerly unorganized people to form effective ad hoc syndicates of their own, and exercise the specific forms of social and economic power accessible to them. In the context of political warfare, Anarchism functions as a force mltiplier: By themselves, anarchists do not have the material resource base needed to affect significant changes in the behavior of State sanctioned syndicates. But where and as substantial numbers of disenfranchised people begin to demand social and economic power of their own, anarchists can facilitate the rapid development of effective organization, realistic goal setting, and effective action by those motivated people. Some call this process Direct Democracy. As a countermeasure to the potential impact of Anarchist theory and practice on the behavior of populations dominated by powerful minority syndicates, State sanctioned propagandists present a fictional version of Anarchism based on nihilism. States spare no expense in promoting and reinforcing a false definition of Anarchy as "violent opposition to social order of any kind." Naive self identifying anarchists who rebel as they are told by State sponsored propagandists provide "living proof" that the State's definition of Anarchy is correct. The well promoted presence of these pseudo-anarchists on mass communication networks diverts and obstructs public access to Anarchist resources - except where and as "real" anarchists effectively weaponize their own understanding of propaganda and information warfare techniques. Well that's enough about that for now. Get busy. :o) -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v2.0.22 (GNU/Linux) iQEcBAEBAgAGBQJXXWEOAAoJEECU6c5Xzmuq6cQH/RRCqCkkRIa5rtmc8dtbAIB9 HEm+OssWZJAqz+Qq3TQVrj2ErOP81Dth+wWUJ+KO1fjfrw+gtSXCzMU7sCeEAaAB 5OmZUbRDSxZfJ82DLIsjS8eEoTWT0yhzn59Du0aD508M89e6yUMd/xgwdsr24rw1 e4ZexCytdxtsg2j1j8CJ7hmDZUetaJMrVpL7cJlD5TOKzoDLVlLkibzFxtz3mhiL oRAoYcFaKEVI7rhoYfVL84kNlZzZx930a4F5Qg5WK4XgA3fP/o03dItWTlqMLmK3 rNQ2JIBRAtcOLg3rSoq41px0zjttBbKlPEOxKsNsr47QFcEY/0CiAf5gxPzdI3s= =4d3l -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
