Anarchist Meme Distro

@anarchistmemedistro on instagram, upscrolled, & mastodon reddit r/anarchistmemedistro r/anarchymemecollective bluesky @anarchistmemedist.bsky.social

[anarchistmemedistro]

hi!! over the past year or so, i’ve been radicalizing leftwards (does that make sense?), and while i do like to say that i have a pretty good understanding of things like socialism and communism and such, one thing i haven’t really been able to figure out is what anarchism is and how it works. like, i get the basic idea, but what with google being google and most people on breadtube not being anarchist, it’s definitely not as easy to research as socialism.

anyways, tl;dr: what defines anarchism and how does it work?

thanks in advance! have a cookie 🍪

"Anarchism asserts the possibility of an organization without discipline, fear, or punishment, and without the pressure of poverty: a new social organism which will make an end to the terrible struggle for the means of existence,—the savage struggle which undermines the finest qualities in man, and ever widens the social abyss. In short, Anarchism strives towards a social organization which will establish well-being for all."

leftward ho! thanks for writing. these questions are always difficult to answer because i don’t know where you’re coming from on your personal journey. but i’ll try to answer some of the basics and recommend some good resources to start with.

first of all, there are many anarchisms and if you ask three anarchists you’ll get five opinions. but probably the most prevalent form of anarchism is anarcho-communism, so while i’ll try to talk broadly from a general anarchist position, much of it be from an anarchocommunist perspective for simplicity’s sake.

at it’s most basic, anarchism is an opposition to hierarchy, to one person having control over another. it is a radical commitment to compassion and absolute freedom. like communists, anarchists want a moneyless, stateless, and classless society. unlike leninists, who falsely claim to be communists, we know that there has never been a good state, and never can be. they are by their very nature oppressive, and cannot be used as a means to an end to achieve communism. no group or individual can wield that much power over others and not become corrupted by it. absolute power corrupts absolutely, etc. so while we are committed to the fight against capitalism, we are also committed to the fight against the state. they are intertwined and must be defeated simultaneously. so we believe in the abolition of all government and the organization of society on a voluntary, cooperative basis without recourse to force or compulsion, and the abolition of money and private property, as the best way to ensure the basic and higher needs of everyone are met.

if you haven’t read it yet, the wikipedia article for anarchism is actually a pretty good place to start:

Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions they claim maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessarily limited to, the state[1] and capitalism. Anarchism advocates for the replacement of the state with stateless societies or other forms of free associations. As a historically left-wing movement, usually placed on the farthest left of the political spectrum, it is usually described alongside communalism and libertarian Marxism as the libertarian wing (libertarian socialism) of the socialist movement.

Humans lived in societies without formal hierarchies long before the establishment of formal states, realms, or empires. With the rise of organised hierarchical bodies, scepticism toward authority also rose. Although traces of anarchist thought are found throughout history, modern anarchism emerged from the Enlightenment. During the latter half of the 19th and the first decades of the 20th century, the anarchist movement flourished in most parts of the world and had a significant role in workers' struggles for emancipation. Various anarchist schools of thought formed during this period. Anarchists have taken part in several revolutions, most notably in the Paris Commune, the Russian Civil War and the Spanish Civil War, whose end marked the end of the classical era of anarchism. In the last decades of the 20th and into the 21st century, the anarchist movement has been resurgent once more.

Anarchism employs a diversity of tactics in order to meet its ideal ends which can be broadly separated into revolutionary and evolutionary tactics; there is significant overlap between the two, which are merely descriptive. Revolutionary tactics aim to bring down authority and state, having taken a violent turn in the past, while evolutionary tactics aim to prefigure what an anarchist society would be like. Anarchist thought, criticism, and praxis have played a part in diverse areas of human society.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarchism

Anarchism - Wikipedia

i don’t know how much original theory you’ve read before, but i’ll give some reading recs. personally i’m a big fan of peter kropotkin, and found the conquest of bread to be a breath of fresh air after studying marx for years. others have recommended starting with errico malatesta’s anarchy or peter gelderloos’ anarchy works. and zoe baker (anarchopac) is excellent if videos or tweets are more your speed.

The Conquest of Bread

Pëtr Kropotkin The Conquest of Bread 1906

Mutual Aid

Pëtr Kropotkin Mutual Aid A Factor of Evolution 1902

Anarchy

Errico Malatesta Anarchy 1891 Freedom Press 1974, 1994. ISBN 0 900384 74 3. L’Anarchia was written in 1891, appeared in English translation

Anarchy Works

Peter Gelderloos Anarchy Works 2010 Anarchy Works was originally published by Little Black Cart and can be found in book form here.

Popular texts

Popular texts

https://enoughisenough14.org/2019/06/10/anarchism-a-very-short-introduction-by-colin-ward/

Zoe Baker

Radical Theory and History

Zoe Baker

I'm a trans woman (she/her), who talks about the theory and history of anarchism, feminism and marxism. I have a PhD in the history of anarc

getting involved masterpost

hopefully that’s enough to get you started but please feel free to ask questions, and there are many more knowledgable people here who can help as well.

[anarchistmemedistro]

How To Get Active And Get Organized!

Five tips for forming an affinity group Crimethinc: How To Start An Affinity Group Sprout Distro: How To Start An Affinity Group Rebel St

[anarchistmemedistro]

black anarchism reading list

do you have any recs for readings on black anarchism? i’ve been feeling pretty frustrated with discussions of race & white supremacy in whit

guides for protesting safely and other opsec

All the clothing, accessories, helmets, weapons, what site can I find them all on? Anon, please stop watching Fox for information about ant

[anarchistmemedistro]

mutual aid disaster relief master post

So I just found https://mutualaiddisasterrelief.org/resources/ And it is AMAZING. I could share it as a link but many of you won’t click it

[anarchopuppy]

So, this isn’t the first post ever made like this, but I’m trying to do something a little different than just posting a bunch of links. I’m

[anarchistmemedistro]

and if you prefer audio, audible anarchism is a great resource

Audible Anarchism

Philosophy Podcast · 330 Episodes · Updated weekly

AudibleAnarchist

Audible Anarchist is a project started and operated by a group of volunteers that seek to bring important anarchist texts to the audio forma

[anarchistmemedistro]

anti-policing and abolition megathreads

Thread on research-based solutions to combat police violence - real good thread with sources The answer to police violence is not 'reform'.

talent upon the talented, freedom upon the free

This is the second part of my list of prison abolition and anti-police articles, because the last post was becoming annoyingly long. You ca

[anarchistmemedistro]

getting organized

Reblog by @kawaiimunism · 1 link

💬 0  🔁 659  ❤️ 729 · It's Safer in the Front · Faced with intensifying repression and state violence, there is an understandable inclination

[anarchistmemedistro]

reading recs and links on decolonization

Reblog by @anarchistmemedistro · 7 images

💬 1  🔁 824  ❤️ 1052 · Internet archive links to books I've started to recommend if you care about indigenous people and anti-colonialism. T

[anarchistmemedistro]

ableist language explainer post

Reblog by @anarchistmemedistro

💬 5  🔁 216  ❤️ 303 · I noticed you have tagged posts ableist language on posts which I haven’t noticed the ableist language in. Sometimes in

[anarchistmemedistro]

how to get active and get organized

Reblog by @anarchopuppy · 1 image

💬 0  🔁 3323  ❤️ 4246 · How To Get Active And Get Organized! · Five tips for forming an affinity group Crimethinc: How To Start An Affinity

[anarchistmemedistro]

how to fire your boss

Reblog by @anarchopuppy · 1 image

💬 30  🔁 4828  ❤️ 6258 · Practical Organising “Only the Organised Survive”: A Rebel Worker Handbook Direct Action in Industry by the Direct

[crimethinc]

Campus Building Occupations from 2008 to Today

https://crimethinc.com/BuildingOccupations

Last night, students acting in solidarity with those suffering in Gaza successfully occupied and defended a building at Cal Poly Humboldt campus in Arcata.

In hopes of equipping today's student demonstrators to experiment more, we present a history of the wave of campus building occupations that took place from December 2008 to 2010—written by participants in some of the first occupations of that era.

[creekfiend]

its really darkly funny that so many public figures keep dying "of cardiac complications after a brief illness" like wow y'all are Never ever going to say the word COVID huh.

[cosmictuesdays]

They used to say "complications from pneumonia" instead of AIDS.

[workingclasshistory]

On this day, 28 June 1830, Joseph Grantham became the first officer of the new London Metropolitan Police to be killed in the line of duty, in an incident which was later deemed to be "justifiable homicide". Grantham tried to stop a fight between two drunk men in Somers Town, North London, and was then kicked to death. At the subsequent inquest, the jury determined that his killing was "justifiable" and that Grantham himself was responsible due to "over exertion in the discharge of his duty". The Met were the world's first modern, professional police force, created in 1829 and based in part on the experiences of the Royal Irish Constabulary, responsible for enforcing British colonial rule in Ireland. They were specifically designed to control the growing numbers of working-class people, and break up strikes and demonstrations, ideally without massacring people, as occurred in Peterloo 10 years prior, and which caused protests to escalate. As such, they were extremely unpopular, especially in working-class areas of London, where a popular game for children was to hide in doorways until an officer walked past, at which point they would throw a brick or stone at him. Other police forces began to be created elsewhere, often by colonial authorities. For example, in Kenya, the first police force was created by the Imperial British East Africa Company to protect their stores, and other police forces were established across the British empire. After colonised countries gained independence, in most cases, police forces remained relatively intact. In the United States, the first forces in the North were set up to control working-class crowds. In the South, many forces emerged from slave patrols, which were responsible for pursuing enslaved people who escaped, and deterring resistance by doling out brutal violence and terror. Learn more about problems with the institution of the police in this book: https://shop.workingclasshistory.com/products/the-end-of-policing-alex-s-vitale

[kropotkindersurprise]

[zegalba]

Layla Al-Attar, Iraqi artist and painter, killed by a U.S. missile attack on Baghdad in 1993, as ordered by Bill Clinton.

[artefavoriteado]

Some of her art:

[creekfiend]

a funny thing about having conversations with people within institutions (academic in this case but also others) about gatekeeping, is that you end up having a conversation over and over in which you're like, "hey this alligator spike pit moat you have erected around your institution is keeping a lot of people out," and they're like, "well *I* navigated the alligator spike pit moat just fine," and you're like, "right. by dint of us having this conversation, you within the institution and me without, it is understood that you navigated the alligator spike pit moat. due to that being an inherent requirement of entering the institution," and they're like, "I don't think you understand the prestigious history of our alligator spike pit moat," and you're like, "is there a reason why there needs to be an alligator spike pit moat encircling the concept of higher education?" and they're like, "look, the alligator spike pit moat isn't for everyone. some people just aren't cut out for the alligator spike pit moat :)" and you're like, "right, yeah, like disabled people and people coming from poverty or unstable home environments or underserved communities or people dealing with difficult to navigate life events like pregnancy or abuse or prison or addiction or the death of a loved one, for example" and they're like, "how dare you imply that we are keeping those people out on purpose. it's their own problem if they can't wrestle the alligators and avoid the spikes while also disabled and/or poor and/or pregnant etc" and you're like, "well that seems evil," and they're like, "it sounds like maybe you're just bitter about the alligator spike pit moat because of your totally random individual experience with ONE bad alligator spike pit moat. have you considered therapy?" and you're like, "did you know that there's some patterns here in terms of how y'all are handling this stuff?" and they're like, "actually yes. we even have a department of alligator spike pit studies :)" and you're like, "that's great, how do I get access to and participate in those conversations?" and they're like, "well firstly you must cross the alligator spike pit moat"

[damianimated]

At Target this lady told her son he couldn’t have a Wonder Woman doll because “that’s for girls” and then bought her daughter the same one. It got me thinking about how often I see people bar young boys from appreciating girls/women as protagonists and heroes, and my own experience with it as a kid.

[ainecdote-remade-deactivated202]

tired of cannibalism as a metaphor for love or sex. can we get into cannibalism as a metaphor for colonization.

[sloppity-bilepiper]

1. Europeans using Egyptian mummies as medicine

2. The Delectable Negro: Human Consumption and Homoeroticism Within US Slave Culture by Vincent Woodard

3. "Abolitionists turned the tables on Europeans by accusing them of being cannibals when they ate sugar tainted with the flesh and blood of slaves."

4. Zombies (which I would class as cannibals, since they were human and need to eat humans to live) have a root in Haitian folklore and represented enslavement.

[vintagedean]

adding that, if you can find it, cannibal culture by deborah root is about exactly this. the way the white western world is a hungry, destructive force that cannibalizes non-white cultures and creates wealth and status through the cannibal colonization of those cultures.

here's the intro

i almost think there's an essay in bell hooks' black looks about this too? yes! just checked, there's an essay called "eating the other"

[foolishmortal]

[kaputtsolvi]

What I feel people frequently forget about autistic special interests is that they aren't always information based. They may simply be visual or mental

Someone may have a special interest in a show, but instead of that meaning that they will talk about that show often, it may mean they watch that show extremely frequently.

Special interests are ways of regulating, not simply encyclopedias we have in our heads. Sometimes it's watching something frequently. Maybe only listening to one genre of music, maybe it's a collection, maybe it's an action. I'm tired of it only being seen as autistic people's personal encyclopedias

[illyadolatry]

just like. for the crowd.

here's the sexual content guidelines saying nudity is ok

here's the bit from the termination email telling you you can make a new account as long as it doesn't break the same rule

here's the guidelines for what counts as explicit (not mature, aka grounds for content deletion)

here's the section telling us that you will always be able to respond to content getting flagged as explicit (lie)

here's the section where it says you will be notified when your accunt gets terminated, and that the appeals are reviewed by humans (both lies)

and by the way, posting a single thing against ToS isn't supposed to be grounds for deletion, (this is what the termination email is warning you about)

sharing content without content labels isn't either

[tamamoland-with-a-gun]

they don't even let you add content labels to reblogs of posts you didn't add content to, either. you also used to be able to manually flag your blog as mature, but now only tumblr staff can - the toggle for it in the settings doesn't even show up until staff has locked it on

[midnightssea]

[midnightssea]

btw “actual feminism” is trans inclusive and op of this tweet agrees :)

[s1xseasonsandamov1e]

becoming the oppressor is not liberation!!!!!

[isuggestrevolution]

i have a suggestion

[aquad0ll]

Anonymous, Lesbian Ethics, Volume 3 No. 3, (1989), Guerilla Feminism

[mimosa-sexypeople-contests-2026]

Also if you’re going to commit vandalism don’t dress suspicious, if you need to carry more supplies than you can carry in your hands a nondescript bag will be your best friend, make sure you have an excuse prepared for if someone sees you, and if you want to put something up high like a street light be sure you and whoever you’re with practices getting to high places before you go out

And I can’t stress enough to figure out what areas have security cameras before you go out, make sure you’re in an area without cameras or that you stay in the cameras blind spots, but it helps to go scope things out a day or two before so you can plan

[isuggestrevolution]

i suggest having fun with it

[segamascott]

good morning chat these people have to die so we have a chance to live

[isuggesteatingtherich]

i have a suggestion

[disasterhimbo]

[doctor-worm-is-dead]

If you hate other trans people on the basis of gender and/or sex, you are a transphobe and you are no better than a fucking terf.

[ipostradicalfeminismisntrad]

[anarcho-communism-revolution]