Originally from http://www.practicalanarchy.org/tips.html -Think for yourself -Turn off your TV -Write a letter to a prisoner -Grow your own food -Have your neighbors over for dinner -Consume less -Share your car -Go to a rally against the death penalty. Talk to your friends and neighbors about the death penalty and how you can stop it. -Advocate that your community spend less money on police -On summer nights, hang out on the front porch of your house and talk to your neighbors. If you don't have a porch, stand out in the yard. Better yet, build a porch, and get rid of your lawnmower. -Research your local corporations and find out what they do and how they affect your community. -Start your own pirate radio station. Get you friends and neighbors involved -Boycott corporate bookstores like Borders and Barnes & Noble. Support your local independent bookstore, or, if you don't have one, start your own -Don't cross picket lines -Pick up all of the trash from McDonalds in your hood and then return it to the nearest store -Fight against new chain stores in your community -Don't participate in state-sponsored lotteries -Buy a cop a bagel. Talk to them about finding a new line of work. -Let the air out of police car tires -Eat less meat, or try switching to a vegetarian or vegan diet -Fill out misleading information on any surveys which have been sent to you by marketing scum -Ride your bike to work, if you can -Fight against gated communities in your town. If one already exists, find creative ways to ridicule it -Organize the workers in your workplace into a union. Then fire your bosses. -Compost your kitchen leftovers -Start a Food Not Bombs chapter in your town -Don't vote -Fill those annoying "business reply" envelopes with anarchist literature and send them back; you'll make some bored mail room employee happy. -Support radical envrionmentalist groups like Earth First! -Oppose new highway construction in your town. -Take the bus. -Join the IWW (Industrial Workers of the World) -Spend some time hanging out with old people. -Oppose the construction of new super box strip malls. -Don't let people tell you how to live -Be a person, not a personality -Learn to create the things you need instead of buying them at a store. -Organise an affinity group and start an anarchist zine. -Pass out leaflets in your area to bring awareness about issues that matter to you.
I'm not sure what a lot of those have to do with anarchy, but it's a cool list of suggestions just the same.
What parts are you confused about? Great list green_revolution, as usual you're an inspiration for the rest of us to "walk the walk". Keep on keeping on bro!
What does, -Write a letter to a prisoner -Have your neighbors over for dinner -Consume less -Share your car -Go to a rally against the death penalty. Talk to your friends and neighbors about the death penalty and how you can stop it. On summer nights, hang out on the front porch of your house and talk to your neighbors. If you don't have a porch, stand out in the yard. Better yet, build a porch, and get rid of your lawnmower. -Research your local corporations and find out what they do and how they affect your community. -Pick up all of the trash from McDonalds in your hood and then return it to the nearest store etcetera have to do with anarchy.
Writing prisoners is definitly important caus it gives them support and lets them know you appreciate what they've been imprisoned for. Obiviously the writer doesn't mean any prisoner, he means political prisoners, activists and such. Having your neighbors over for dinner / sharing your car is the basis for building a community. In an anarchist society, that's what you'd be expected to do. A big reason why Anarchists oppose the current system is because it alienates us from one another. Any society that is not community based will destroy itself, simple as that. Must I go on about the other stuff. It's all related to Anarchism, one way or another. Just because it doesn't fit with the definition of Anarchy doesn't mean it's irrelevant. It all has to do with building an alternative society and IMO that's the only thing we can do if we ever want to do away with the current one. Thanks man, same back to you, especially for bringing the Anarchist Spotlight.
I did, and green addressed it. But you didnt say why you dont think it has to do with anarchy, just that it doesnt...
Ok, so, anarchy is the absence of political authority. Now, what I want to know is, what does picking up trash have to do with anarchy?
Quite the anarchist attitude itself.... but hardly anarchy... more like being human. Or tune into the television more often. If you can not beat it join it. Take it over! I am sure someone can go into some sort of speel about how using a computer and the internet is so much more anarchist than using a tv. They encourage the use of radio but not tv? Hmmmmmm! Dalhmer is aready dead. I hear Manson will reply to you if you send him smokes. How is utilizing the postal system any more anarchist than using the television? If anyone, you can brighten someones day of loneliness. More like compassion than anarchisim. People have been doing that for what.... thousands of years? That is called farming and many other terms. More like being practical. So is it socialization ar anarchisim? People invite thier neighbors over to dinner all the time. That must make them all anarchists? Enviornmentalist? That could be taken anywhere. If a person is taking an important medication that keeps them alive.... should they consume less? Enviornmental? Or practical advice? Are all the bussiness men and women that carpool everday in the cities....anarchists? really? Great idea to create anarchy. They should start in the ghettos and trailer parks? Afterall... they do not need police there as they are such quaint liitle places to hang out at! Do I turn on my porch light or do I do the anarchist thing and not use electricity? LMAO! HOORAH! That is pretty much covered by every other group of some sort of something somewheres! But, hey...if it will make me an anarchist.... I am game. Let's see.... the Duck's Unlimited Headquarters is 2 blocks away. Great place to start! DING DING DING! Do we have a presence of anarchisim here! BOYCOTT ALL BOOK STORES! Even the mom an pop ops. With the internet today, it is hard to find a good local bookstore that does not utilize the internet and hike thier prices up in thier stores.... afterall they can sell that book for three times the amount now.... in Japan! You are correct!..Stand back and throw rocks at them! Well not all of them.... but yeah... I should support some bloke that makes 64 dollars and hour and now is picketing to make 84 dollars an hour. What is the most reason people picket? THE ALMIGHTY DOLLAR AND MORE OF IT! Yup...thats anarchy at it's finest.... pffftttttt!!! Orrr... if you were going to take the time to care to pick up trash... pick up ALL the trash and drop it off in your mayor's front yard! getting there a bit more and this is because of ? LMAO...OK! If i walked up to a cop and offered them a bagel... they would probally be suspicious of me. Should I make my own bagel or should I find an anarchist bakery? Note to self.... make sure the cop is not Jewish or offering him a bagel might not be taken to well! Now that is anarchism how? Endangering others lives when a LEO needs to urgently respond to a call. What if that cop is was going to be the first person to a scene of an accident where he could have saved someone that dies? Should we let air out of ambulances too? Firetrucks? Gotta support them anarchist farmers! But make sure they are the ones that can be sent back for free... we don't want to lose the anarchist spirit of not buying a stamp to mail it back! Total anarchy there! Yup.... start with all the private hippy communes! I know where quite a few gated anarchist communities are... shall we hit them first? Sure.... become part of a system. A violent system that is concerned with only one thing.... MAKING MORE MONEY! Not too many unions now a days... that are not concerned with getting your dues and then trying to get more money for people that usually make three times more than anyone else! Which companies do they suggest getting employment at? GM? Microsoft? Ford? Ok...I am officially an anarchist now! or find the one that usually exists Of course not! We should just let everyone else decide how we should live our lives and what laws we will have to obey..... bahhhhhh sheeple! Yup...using the US postal system is quite the anarchist act! And what support are they speaking of? Ok! or you could walk...or do the anarchist thing of riding your bike... to the bus stop to put on the bike rack and climb aboard! What is it with thier non stop encouragement of trying to get people to pay to join unions that usually result in getting them more money one day? I often laugh at the way that unions cause thier employers to close down and them leave everyone stranded without jobs! Don't like your job and what it pays.... get another one! I bet the person that runs that site is quite the diehard unionist! And what is so anarchist about this? oppose? Ok.... NO! LMAO....ok! So I should not listen to a thing they have stated....afterall... they are telling me how I should live and how I can become an anarchist! Yup....personalities suck. No one should have one. We should just become people...all the same one individual! Ok... I'm biting! Or join one that is there? There are too many uninformative sites such as the one that this "anarchist" material is from. Wouldn't the true anarchist sites..... WELL, NOT BE ON THE COMPUTER? Afterall... what is so anarchist about using the computer? ok! Wow! I think I totally got my anarchist fill up today! I guess I am an anarchist and did not even know it.... according to that list! Actually.... NO! Most those things mean that I am just being a person that has beliefs that have nothing to do with anarchisim....in my opinion. Az
okay, so you two obviously have a preconcieved notion of what is "anarchism". Here's some education: http://www.hipforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=141093 Anarchy is not just a political theory. Its an entire philosophy to base you life around. Taking care of the environment IS anarchist. Connecting with your community IS anarchist. Anarchy isn't just throwing on a mask and throwing tear gas cannisters back at the riot police. It's a way of life. Names to google: Proudhon Kropotkin Tucker Goldman Bakunin Chomsky
And where do you get off telling a group of anarchists what is and isn't anarchy? "People have been growing there own food for thousands of years" Exactly, anarchism is about connecting with humanity. past and present. Growing your own food is more anarchist than violent clashes with authority ever will be.
I understand what anarchy is, it's the absence of political authority, it says that you are to do things for yourself. I'm just saying that most of these ideas have nothing, or very little to do with anarchy
Again, anarchism is not just the absence of political authority. I dont agrue with buddhist about their religion. Why, because i know diddlyshit about buddhism. do some research before you claim what is and isn't anarchist.
It doesn't take a genius to understand to anarchism. It is the absence of political authority, just because you consume less doesn't make you any more anarchist.
Anarchism is antigovernment antireligion anticapitalism being less of a consumer is one of the goals of an anarchist. again, you dont know what you are talking about. anarchism is not just the absence of political authority.
Who' definition of anarchy are we using here? The real definition, as in from a dictionary, says that, " : a political theory holding all forms of governmental authority to be unnecessary and undesirable and advocating a society based on voluntary cooperation and free association of individuals and groups" doesn't sound anti-religious to me. And you say consume less. Consume less what? Air? water? If I hold my breath, will I be more of an anarchist?
Anarchism From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Anarchism Traditions Anarcha-feminism Anarchist communism Anarcho-primitivism Anarcho-syndicalism Christian anarchism Collectivist anarchism Eco-anarchism Green anarchism Individualist anarchism Anarcho-capitalism Anarchism in culture Anarchism and religion Anarchism and society Anarchism and the arts Anarcho-punk Anarchist theory Anarchist economics Anarchism and capitalism Anarchism and Marxism Anarchism and nationalism Anarchist law Anarchist symbolism Anarchism w/o adjectives Post-left anarchy Relevant lists Anarchists Books Communities Concepts Musicians Organizations Websites Anarchism is derived from the Greek αναρχία ("without archons (ruler, chief, king)"). Anarchism as a political philosophy, is the belief that all forms of social coercion, such as governments and social hierarchies are undesireable. [1] (disputed — see talk page). Anarchism also refers to related social movements that advocate the elimination of coercive institutions. The word "anarchy," as most anarchists use it, does not imply chaos, nihilism, or anomie, but rather a harmonious anti-authoritarian society that is based on individual self-determination and personal involvement. In place of what are regarded as authoritarian political structures and coercive economic institutions, anarchists advocate social relations based upon voluntary association of free individuals in autonomous communities, mutual aid, and self-governance. The word anarchist originated as a term of abuse. At the Putney Debates (1647) during the English Civil War. Thomas Rainsborough remarked "I know that some particular men we debate with believe we are for anarchy" after Oliver Cromwell had said "No man says that you have a mind to anarchy, but that the consequence of this rule tends to anarchy, must end in anarchy"[2]. The term was later used against working class radicals and sans-culottes during and following the French Revolution. Whilst the term is still used in a pejorative way to describe "any act that used violent means to destroy the organization of society"[3], it has also been taken up as a positive label by self-defined anarchists. While anarchism is most easily defined by what it is against, anarchists also offer positive visions of what they believe to be a truly free society. However, ideas about how an anarchist society might work vary considerably, especially with respect to economics; there is also disagreement about how a free society might be brought about. Scholars generally do not consider there to be one monolithic "anarchism"; however a number of anarchists do, and often do not identify or organize more specifically. Beyond the commonality that justifies a wide variety of philosophies as all being forms of anarchism, specific forms of anarchism may overlap in additional respects with other forms and may conflict in some ways as well. Moreover, degrees of commonality and conflict also exist within each form of anarchism as a result of the unique opinions of those who theorize within the broad genres.