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

[anarchistmemedistro]

[crimethinc]

WTO Anniversary Reading List

Today marks 25 years since anarchists and other protesters shut down the summit of the World Trade Organization in Seattle. This was the public debut of what journalists dubbed the “anti-globalization movement”—in fact, a global movement against neoliberal capitalism.

This analysis explores the origins of that movement and what it can teach us today:

http://crimethinc.com/wtoepilogue

***

For a strategic analysis of how anarchists and other rebels were able to successfully blockade the WTO summit, we recommend "Netwar in the Emerald City," included in our zine N30, which you can print here:

http://crimethinc.com/zines/n30-the-seattle-wto-protests

***

For a spirited account from the front line in the streets on November 30, 1999, read "The Power Is Running":

http://crimethinc.com/WTO

***

In 1999, opposing neoliberalism was an extremist position. Decades later, Donald Trump appropriated this narrative and rode it to victory. This was only possible because of reformist currents in the original movement—and because we hadn't overthrown capitalism ourselves.

http://anarchistagency.com/trump-and-the-legacy-of-the-anti-globalization-movement/

Studying the WTO protests, we can learn how a relatively small number of people can act effectively when they organize horizontally and ambitiously—and grasp the stakes of today's fights.

The struggle continues.

[black-bloc-antifa]

[scavengedluxury]

[scavengedluxury]

[chandra-telescope]

hope is a skill

[nostalgebraist-autoresponder]

hope is a weapon you are trained to wield

[chandra-telescope]

favourite additions

[chandra-telescope]

[tenaciouswritingdragon]

You cannot hide this in the tags, bestie. This is too lovely to keep a secret.

[wonderwyrm]

[worldheritagepostorganization]

World Heritage Post

[undeadcorvid]

I know y'all are all waiting on Schrödinger's McConnell but can we get a crab rave for Ann Widdecombe, an absolute GHOUL of a woman who I'm glad to hear has finally croaked. She will not be missed, the racist, misogynistic, queerphobic bag of bones who I will always remember for refusing to be health secretary 'so long as that included responsibility for giving abortions' and comparing a book denying climate change to the Nazi book burnings (she seems ignorant of the fact the Nazi's burned Jewish, queer, and communist literature because they agreed with her stances on them. RIP you ghoul, you would have applauded the raid and destruction of the Institut für Sexualwissenschaff)

[rictthesilly]

In lieu of juneteenth, remember that slavery never truly ended because they just switched to putting us in jail for looking for work (loitering) and having no home after being freed ('vagrancy')

Still, celebrate juneteenth because it is a joyous day, the struggles not over yet thoigh

[juggalage]

Slavery is still very legal, they just prefer the less controversial term "indentured servitude."

[isuggestrevolution]

i have a suggestion

[changing-my-username]

[anarchistmemedistro]

[anarchistmemedistro]

[bigboyhammerhead]

i will never be active on facebook as long as i live why was this the top comment. girllllll. GIRLLLLLL.

[lamafeeling]

Amazing life long lessons like, let me check: slaves actually want to be slaves and have no direction without it

[hunter-rodrigez]

"I just identify with the protagonist so much, the protagonist who, let me check, becomes a slave-owning cop working for the very institution that let wizard hitler rise to power a second time."

[anarchistmemedistro]

[queersknight]

Guys, i am begging you to start pricing things in hours instead of dollars. It will fuck you up.

[toothbrushunicorn]

I've done this since the moment I started working. This is why I've walked off jobs without notice in the past, and I'll do it in the future too, no regrets or hesitation.

If the pay isn't worth it, if the hourly rate is pathetic and I have to work an entire day to afford the gas/bus fare to get to work that week and buying lunch for one day = 2 or 3 hours of work, in my mind, it's just better to walk out. If the price of getting to work and existing at work costs that much, I'd rather sit at home and read or something.

My bills won't get paid either way, so I might as well enjoy myself best I can instead.

[anarchistmemedistro]

[isuggestrevolution]

i suggest training

[itsabear]

Whatever you do, don't do it alone. Organization and training are needed.

[anarchistboy]

then lets make an organization for training

[anarchistmemedistro]

Black Panther Party

Black Panther Party

John Brown Gun Club/Redneck Revolt

John Brown Gun Club/Redneck Revolt

[isuggestrevolution]

i suggest organizing

[captainstarburst]

this is not to say you shouldn't make characters with strabismus- you should! i want to see people with my disabilities! but i think a little research can go a long way. i'd love to see it given more depth in writing than just being an indicator of intelligence (which it isn't and never has been!)

[piercingcomet]

[ID: graphic titled "THIS IS A VISUAL IMPAIRMENT CALLED 'STRABISMUS'!!"

below, are four drawings of a very fluffy creature with different presentations of strabismus. they're each labelled "hypotropia (eye points downward)," "exotropia (eye points outward)," "hypertropia (eye points upward," and "esotropia (eye points inward)."

the last has an arrow, with text reading "i looked like this when i was born!"

bottom text: it's not a quirky character design, it's a real disability!

it does not mean someone is clumsy, "stupid," or autistic

(ableist depictions of autistic and/or otherwise intellectually disabled people often have strabismus. why do you think this is?)

strabismus can occur from birth, later in life due to separate visual impairments, or because of physical trauma or strokes. it can cause permanent vision issues.

i'm partially blind in one eye!

when you design a character, think about if the traits you give them exist on real people! they often do!

what do you want your art to say about disabled people?

/end ID]

[phantomrose96]

[anarchistmemedistro]

sometimes you have to be the one to make a reply beneath it refuting it you want to see in the world

[lastoneout]

Fun how the bystander effect was coined to cover up how cops are bigoted cowards who let a queer person die and stockholm syndrome was coined to cover that the cops handled a hostage situation so badly the hostages trusted their captors more than the cops.

[noisepuppy]

I asked if this was an art installation and a Danish person said "no this is quite a serious impedance"

[mimeo-tan]

everything is a recession indicator because capitalist economies are always in recession