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.
Pëtr Kropotkin The Conquest of Bread 1906
Pëtr Kropotkin Mutual Aid A Factor of Evolution 1902
Errico Malatesta Anarchy 1891 Freedom Press 1974, 1994. ISBN 0 900384 74 3. L’Anarchia was written in 1891, appeared in English translation
Peter Gelderloos Anarchy Works 2010 Anarchy Works was originally published by Little Black Cart and can be found in book form here.
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.
Trying to figure out how to draw armour.
These are some of my notes I uploaded on patreon. A lot more to come since I really want to figure this one out.
Do you have any ideas about how Solarpunk would take effect in areas with cold and snowy climates for most of the year? Or have you seen any posts about that topic? My only thoughts are the adoption of ponchos/cloaks instead of coats, because they can easily be passed from person to person. Most people around here garden and farm when they can, but with winter/cold weather taking hold for 5 months a year, the growing season is short.
I have seen a lot of solarpunks ask about wintery/snowy areas, and I have seen a few posts about it in the solarpunk tags. Here are some things I’ve collected for you:
Whittier, Alaska is a town where everyone lives in one big building. This is a great idea in itself, and I feel like you could play with it a little more. It’s a great way to maintain a community, and I imagine it would also maintain a low environmental impact. Underground cities would also follow along those lines.
Jumping off of that, indoor farming. This farm boasts better productivity than conventional farming! That would be a perfect thing to have in your one-building town, or any town really.
In places where the sun isn’t seen most of the year, solar energy won’t be of much use, so the main energy creation modes would be wind, waves, and human motion, with algae for light.
Speaking of light, I think lights would play a big part of the fashion in places where the sun shines infrequently.
Even incorporate it into accessible design
Or perhaps the citizens could celebrate the surroundings they have, and wear nighttime inspired clothes.
And if they celebrate their environment, of course ice would be included
This post has a lot of important notes about solarpunk fashion that apply here.
Just a few things to get you started on your own ideas. Hope this helps!
Speaking as a survivor of child sex abuse: the world would be a lot better if yall spent less time talking about the ways in which pedophiles should be punished and more time supporting survivors and preventing abuse
I get it, punishment can feel cathartic. I’ve certainly spent time imagining all the ways in which my own abuser might be punished. But ultimately, him dying, or being jailed, or publicly shamed, isn’t actually going to help me nor will it stop more kids from getting hurt in the future.
I don’t want more prisoners. I want free therapy with trauma informed counselors. I want better sex education for young children that teaches them about consent and body autonomy. And I want a society in which I can openly discuss my trauma, or at least as openly as yall discuss the evils of pedophiles
I don’t want the person who abused me to get a bullet to the head. I’m willing to bet a lot of survivors may not want that either. And more importantly, it doesn’t actually solve anything. Say you shoot my abuser. Then what? It doesn’t undo the trauma. It’s not closure, at least not for me. And it’s not going to stop another kids from getting hurt in the future.
Also, let’s be clear: you can’t trust any state to execute justice correctly, even if they hide behind the veneer of protecting children. For every child molester who actually goes to jail, dozens more are never even reported because those kids don’t even know they’re being abused, or they feel so ashamed that they can’t speak out, or their abuser is threatening them, or don’t have any adults they can trust to talk about the abuse.
And for the kids who actually end up going through the justice system? God, sometimes it can be just as damaging as the abuse itself. Constantly being made to relive some of the most horrific experiences, sometimes right in front of the person who hurt you. You think cops are sensitive and understanding with kids they interrogate? Especially if those kids are disabled or black. Every detail of your story will be meticulously picked apart by people who might think you’re lying. Every survivor of sexual violence I know who has interacted with law enforcement has a horrible story.
And of course, what happens when the state equates being trans to being a pedophile? What happens when doing drag storytime is a sexual offense? Do you see where I’m going here?????
Seek out revenge to your own abuser if you want, I can’t judge you for that. But don’t decide on violence and prison as a solution for all of us wholesale, especially when it doesn’t fix the problem in the first place.
This post is blowing up again so I would like to make another addition:
The imagined specter of pedophilia has always been a viable tool of rhetoric. It invokes an immediate involuntary feeling of disgust for most people. So whether it’s based in some reality (such as Kendrick dissing Drake) or a fictional moral panic (such as the satanic panic), it creates mass hysteria and interest. Meanwhile, actual survivors of child sexual abuse are still ignored, still unable to access the help they need, still unable to talk openly about the abuse they suffered, and society does nothing to prevent child sex abuse. And I’m fucking tired of it. I’m tired of my most traumatic memories being a tool of politics and online discourse. I’m tired of feeling like I can’t speak openly about it. I’m tired of people refusing to enact even the most basic and simple elements of csa prevention (like sex education).
And even on the purely interpersonal level, the rhetoric of violent retribution toward sexual abusers is harmful in and of itself. Famously, Gary Plauché shot and killed the man who kidnapped and molested his son Jody. Jody, who is now an activist working in sexual abuse prevention, has stated openly that while he is not angry with his father’s actions, his father’s violent rhetoric is part of what kept him from speaking about the abuse before it escalated to a kidnapping.
To quote Jody: “I didn't want Jeff dead, I didn't want Daddy to hurt Jeff. I just wanted Jeff to stop doing what he was doing.” He did not speak up about the abuse because he did not want his abuser to get in trouble or be hurt. Which is the case for most children being sexually abused.
Your rhetoric about killing pedophiles does not help us. It is at best a distraction from our needs as survivors and at worst an active hindrance toward combatting sexual abuse.
a couple months ago i had a dream that during the fasting hours of Ramadan Muslims had to wear silly halloween costumes so there was a lot of Muslim tiktoks of people opening a door and realising the sun was up, quickly closing the door, then opening it again and they would be wearing like a banana costume or a pirate or something
My favorite world has innate magic all around from life and energy and stuff, but also demons and angels that do proxy wars on earth. Traveling between realms is difficult and becoming a citizen is almost impossible. Lots of rules and regulations.
Discrimination of everything: having magic, not having magic, different types of magic, you name it. However, these things replace modern day homophobia, racism, and sexism. Because i dont want it. If i get to create a world people can be mean but not that way bc it sucks. This sucks too ig, but humans cant just not have prejudice. Anyway.
The main two characters are Fish and Lumi. A demon of sloth whose family has lived on earth for generations, and an angel of diligence who is going to college via student visa. Fun times. They really represent my depression and perfectionism and finding a balance between self care and productivity. Their story is incredibly wholesome and i love how comfortable they become with each other.
I just love info dumping about them and stuff - i just posted sketches that have a lot of them, but theres also more characters with important roles in the story and i love them too! I’ll probably make more posts about them but anyway - i have no idea how student visas work so any input on that front would be helpful. Also… depression and perfectionism can both be hard to deal with, and it can be nice to see representation of struggles. So if you want i can write scenes of how they might get through something youre going through together.
Some sketches because im liking my art right now. Mostly Lumi and Fish because i love their story of finding balance between pushing past limits and remembering to relax also known as my depression and coexisting perfectionism personified.
