An Anarchist's brief perspective on the New Orleans situation

Crimethought

A Southern U.S. Anarchist Statement on the Gulf Coast Disaster

Mon, 5 Sep 2005



As many as 20,000 people have been abandoned in the New Orleans Convention Center with no resources and no anticipated relief. Meanwhile, National Guard units with submachine guns and body armor prevent people from taking necessary food from places where it would otherwise go to waste, and call it “urban warfare.” Under capitalism, there is no such thing as purely “natural” disasters; horrible and unavoidable natural events are exacerbated by the callous acts of the ruling class. Examples include: the Irish potato famine of the 19th century, and the Somalian of the 20th, where food was taken by imperialist countries via military force, like Britain and theUS, instead of being used to save the starving population; the more recent hurricane disasters in Haiti shortly after the U.S. ousted the only government which might have marshaled any aid to the Haitian people and replaced it with a military junta; the tsunami disaster, which was aggravated by years of IMF and World Bank domination in the region that resulted in severe underdevelopment; and the present situation in the Gulf Coast.

How did the ruling class contribute to this disaster? Having full knowledge that this would be a devastating hurricane season, they chose to sink the 79 million dollars designated to repair the antiquated levee system into the Iraq quagmire. Furthermore, although they knew ahead of time that the hurricane would be at least a category 4 hurricane, and that the levee system could withstand no more than a category 3, the ruling class did not invest any serious resources into evacuating the city of New Orleans and the surrounding area as the storm approached (and rich politicians have the gall to accuse working-class people of carelessly staying in the city!) As we mentioned, their first priority is to mobilize heavily-armed National Guard units who will shoot people that are merely trying to find food, rather than to bring the necessary aid to the estimated 20,000 starving people at the Convention Center who will die if nothing is done (not to mention other people in similar situations throughout the city). The politicians continue lying in a desparate attempt to save their careers, making it increasingly clear that they have no concern for the lives of the people they’ve abandoned. People who are poor.

In contrast, thousands of ordinary people have opened their homes to survivors in an amazing gesture of solidarity and compassion. Despite the State’s citation of its ability to channel aid in times of need as a justification for its existance, it has again demonstrated how the constraints of elite capitalism interfere with its ability to provide any sort of assistance. The incredible display of mutual aid on the part of the people gives further support for the (accurate) anarchist argument that people can indeed develop a stateless society based on the adage “from each according to ability, to each according to necessity.” We hope to see that society become a reality someday, and hopefully within our own lifetimes, but for now we declare our solidarity with those who have been abandoned, and, in hopes that others will join us, we demand the following:


-That the government immediately commandeer the necessary resources, such as transportation and shelter, in order to evacuate people from the city and ensure that they have adequate accomodations until it is possible to return to their homes or move on

-An immediate end to national guard and police units attacking those looking for food and clean water

-Immediate distribution of ALL necessary items (water, food, clothing, etc.) during the process of evacuation

-The immediate resignation/dismissal and punishment of all decision-makers who neglected the responsibility of repairing the levees or coordinating evacuations from the city while it was possible, or who are responsible for National Guard and police units attacking those who are “stealing” survival items
-No conviction for any who were arrested while “stealing” food or any other necessity

-An end to the price-gouging of oil which is affecting working-class people across the country, by price fixing if necessary

-Adequate aid to all people wishing to rebuild homes lost due to the negligence of elite capitalist politicians

-Solidarity with the victims of the Gulf Coast disaster. Solidarity with those who remain in precarious positions months after the tsunami disaster. Solidarity with those all across the globe who have lost family or remain in refugee camps due to the disasters which the ruling class magnifies or the wars which it engineers!

The Capital Terminus Collective (Atlanta, GA)
[To endorse this statement, e-mail capitalterminus@gmail.com; visit www.anarkismo.net for an updated list of endorsers and other info]

 

This disaster was handled in an appauling manner. The President, FEMA ect get a failing grade. However, if you are an anarchist, this is a good view of just how well real anarchy works.

People die, the weak suffer, those with strengh and power and guns get the food and water.

Great political system, anarchy. (heavy sarcasm)

Aid, help, goverment intervention? Isn't that everything that anarchists are against?

I was watching the terrible coverage with my 17 yr old and my 19 year old and they BOTH said, "I'm going to ask the self proclaimed anarchists at school if THIS is the way they want to live. Because THIS is what anarchy brings." Intelligent kids, in their teens and still realize that anarchy is useless.

CT, I often agree with you, but not about anarchy, if you want anarchy, there would be NO ROOM for the goverment to help, RIGHT? Every man for himself. Death and bodies in the water and those on the rooves would still be there.

 

Actually Maggie, what's been happening there is "chaos" not "anarchy". The two have long been confused in common parlance but as a system, anarchy would be likely by modelled more along the lines of an inter- and intra-supportive social cluster framework in which all bore equal responsibility, maintained community security through numbers and derived their fair share of the fruits of their labor.

 

Main Entry: anarchy
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: lawlessness
Synonyms: chaos, confusion, disorder, disorganization, disregard, hostility, mob rule, nihilism, nongovernment, rebellion, revolution, riot, turmoil
Antonyms: law and order, lawfulness, order, organization, rule

Source: Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus, First Edition (v 1.1.1)
Copyright © 2005 by Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. All rights reserved.



Well, that pretty much sums up what's been coming across my monitor.

 

luv, a dictionary isnt going to provide a detailed examination of the conceptual distinctions between Anarachism (Anarchy) and Chaos. Of course it will simply catalogue whatever common usages exist for the term anarchy, it's job is not to make qualitative distinctions or to cite misapplication of meanings.

In furtherance of my previous point, see here.

 

I knew you were going to say something like that. Well, lick, that's what the word means, plain and simple. If anarchists don't like that meaning, they should endevour to find another word. To the rest of us, that usage is what anarchy means.

 

Um, that is a Socialist Democracy. Probably the best form of Goverment for most (of course the Rich don't like it, because it knocks them off thier pedestals.) Anarchy is what happened in the SuperDome. Just calling something something else doesn't make it so.

 

'cuase they aren't?? (heavy sarcasm)

bring up your children to think(regardless any left or right wing point) in critic manner, not just making out of every matter an easy and fast reasonment with a easy answer ("banale" , if you use such a word in english like in italian and french)

 

It's good to agree with you, luvndrum.

 

Gerva, how fucking dare you? I bring up my children to THINK!!!! They are intelligent enough to know that changing the definition of a word to suit your needs is STUPID.

How fucking dare you! My kids are the most THINKING PEOPLE I know. And I raised them that way. You don't know the first thing about me, my children OR my country. How fucking dare you criticize my children.

 

is that the point???
do you think in Louisiana they're arguing about the meaning of anarchy??!!
you only do it,wathcing TV..
the point is all the matters and the measures that were not taken by the government mentioned by crimethought

maggie.. you're 43 years old ,how can you make a speech about words like they do in high school..come on

 

What? Did you go to an American High School? I did. I don't remember Anarchy being discussed.

 

narrow-minded, that's the word I was trying to remember before..

 

maggie just drop it..talking to you is the same as talking to a wall..

 

Yes, people usually say that when they are wrong. You don't even fucking know me. I am far from narrow minded, just because I don't agree with your impossible to follow lack of reason.

 

Actually maggie Social Democracies still maintain a hierarchical state structure, the very antithesis of anarachy and indeed of the conceptual framework I suggested previously.

"Supportive clusters in which all are responsible and all derive the fruits of their labors" should have been sufficient suggestion of the lack of any authoritarian dominance of any person or group over another.

 

you may not , but your reasonments are...

 

Actually genius, what you described is the system we NOW live under. CAPITALISM. "People die, the weak suffer, those with strength and power and guns get the food and water." That's what you said right? So what you're saying is that America is an anarchist state?

Maggie, you're not too intelligent, are you...

You know NOTHING about "real" anarchy. For starters, those who take it seriously call it ANARCHISM. Two, it's about mutual aid and cooperation, not survival of the fittest which is what America has traditionally been about.

Please get your terms and definitions in order before spouting your opinions. Otherwise, like you, you simply embarrass yourself with your lack of education about these subjects.



If you re-read the post, you'll read what anarchism is really about. Please shut your ignorant mouth until you learn something outside of the mainstream.

 

Then perhaps you should follow their lead, Mom. Because apparently your children have surpassed your level of intellectual analysis.

Now if we can get off the semantic merry-go-round, please check out www.infoshop.org to get a REAL description of what "anarchism" REALLY means. And I assure you, the propagandist definition in that dictionary is just that: propaganda, designed to discourage true thought and analysis.

I'm utterly shocked by the ignorance I'm seeing here. You people have absolutely no historical knowledge, yet you pose as though you do...typical American characteristic, I might add.

 

Main Entry: anarchy
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: lawlessness
Synonyms: chaos, confusion, disorder, disorganization, disregard, hostility, mob rule, nihilism, nongovernment, rebellion, revolution, riot, turmoil
Antonyms: law and order, lawfulness, order, organization, rule

This is simply false, historical inaccuracy designed to fool the foolish...and apparently it works.