#affinity group

[one-time-i-dreamt]

I tried to join an affinity group at my school for an group I am not apart of and it was in the Backrooms, they made me fill out a really personal questionnaire and a mean gay Jon Hamm kept insulting my intelligence.

[dailyanarchistposts]

J.3.1 What are affinity groups?

Affinity groups are the basic organisation which anarchists create to spread the anarchist idea. The term “affinity group” comes from the Spanish F.A.I. (Iberian Anarchist Federation) and refers to the organisational form devised in their struggles for freedom (from “grupo de afinidad”). At its most basic, it is a (usually small) group of anarchists who work together to spread their ideas to the wider public, using propaganda, initiating or working with campaigns and spreading their ideas within popular organisations (such as unions) and communities. It aims not to be a “leadership” but to give a lead, to act as a catalyst within popular movements. Unsurprisingly it reflects basic anarchist ideas:

“Autonomous, communal and directly democratic, the group combines revolutionary theory with revolutionary lifestyle in its everyday behaviour. It creates a free space in which revolutionaries can remake themselves individually, and also as social beings.” [Murray Bookchin, Post-Scarcity Anarchism, p. 144]

The reason for this is simple, for a “movement that sought to promote a liberatory revolution had to develop liberatory and revolutionary forms. This meant … that it had to mirror the free society it was trying to achieve, not the repressive one it was trying to overthrow. If a movement sought to achieve a world united by solidarity and mutual aid, it had to be guided by these precepts; if it sought to achieve a decentralised, stateless, non-authoritarian society, it had to be structured in accordance with these goals.” [Bookchin, The Spanish Anarchists, p. 180]

The aim of an anarchist organisation is to promote a sense of community, of confidence in ones own abilities, to enable all to be involved in the identification, initiation and management of group needs, decisions and activities. They must ensure that individuals are in a position (both physically, as part of a group, and mentally, as an individual) to manage their own lives and take direct action in the pursuit of individual and communal needs and desires. Anarchist organisation is about empowering all, to develop “integral” or whole individuals and a community that encourages individuality (not abstract “individualism”) and solidarity. It is about collective decision making from the bottom up, that empowers those at the “base” of the structure and only delegates the work of co-ordinating and implementing the members decisions (and not the power of making decisions for people). In this way the initiative and power of the few (government) is replaced by the initiative and empowerment of all (anarchy). Affinity groups exist to achieve these aims and are structured to encourage them.

The local affinity group is the means by which anarchists co-ordinate their activities in a community, workplace, social movement and so on. Within these groups, anarchists discuss their ideas, politics and hopes, what they plan to do, organise propaganda work, discuss how they are going to work within wider organisations like unions, how their strategies fit into their long term plans and goals and so on. It is the basic way that anarchists work out their ideas, pull their resources and get their message across to others. There can be affinity groups for different interests and activities (for example a workplace affinity group, a community affinity group, an anarcha-feminist affinity group, etc., could all exist within the same area, with overlapping members). Moreover, as well as these more “political” activities, the “affinity group” also stresses the “importance of education and the need to live by Anarchist precepts — the need … to create a counter-society that could provide the space for people to begin to remake themselves.” [Bookchin, Op. Cit., p. 180] In other words, “affinity groups” aim to be the “living germs” of the new society in all aspects, not purely in a structurally way.

So affinity groups are self-managed, autonomous groupings of anarchists who unite and work on specific activities and interests. This means that ”[i]n an anarchist organisation the individual members can express any opinion and use any tactic which is not in contradiction with accepted principles and which does not harm the activities of others.” [Errico Malatesta, The Anarchist Revolution, p. 102] Such groups are a key way for anarchists to co-ordinate their activity and spread their message of individual freedom and voluntary co-operation. However, the description of what an “affinity group” is does not explain why anarchists organise in that way. Essentially, these affinity groups are the means by which anarchists actually intervene in social movements and struggles in order to win people to the anarchist idea and so help transform them from struggles against injustice into struggles for a free society. We will discuss the role these groups play in anarchist theory in section J.3.6.

These basic affinity groups are not seen as being enough in themselves. Most anarchists see the need for local groups to work together with others in a confederation. Such co-operation aims to pull resources and expand the options for the individuals and groups who are part of the federation. As with the basic affinity group, the anarchist federation is a self-managed organisation:

“Full autonomy, full independence and therefore full responsibility of individuals and groups; free accord between those who believe it is useful to unite in co-operating for a common aim; moral duty to see through commitments undertaken and to do nothing that would contradict the accepted programme. It is on these bases that the practical structures, and the right tools to give life to the organisation should be built and designed. Then the groups, the federations of groups, the federations of federations, the meetings, the congresses, the correspondence committees and so forth. But all this must be done freely, in such a way that the thought and initiative of individuals is not obstructed, and with the sole view of giving greater effect to efforts which, in isolation, would be either impossible or ineffective.” [Malatesta, Op. Cit., p. 101]

To aid in this process of propaganda, agitation, political discussion and development, anarchists organise federations of affinity groups. These take three main forms,

“synthesis” federations (see section J.3.2), “Platformist” federations (see section J.3.3 while section J.3.4 has criticism of this tendency) and “class struggle” groups (see section J.3.5). All the various types of federation are based on groups of anarchists organising themselves in a libertarian fashion. This is because anarchists try to live by the values of the future to the extent that this is possible under capitalism and try to develop organisations based upon mutual aid, in which control would be exercised from below upward, not downward from above. We must also note here that these types of federation are not mutually exclusive. Synthesis type federations often have “class struggle” and “Platformist” groups within them (although, as will become clear, Platformist federations do not have synthesis groups within them) and most countries have different federations representing the different perspectives within the movement. Moreover, it should also be noted that no federation will be a totally “pure” expression of each tendency. “Synthesis” groups merge into “class struggle” ones, Platformist groups do not subscribe totally to the Platform and so on. We isolate each tendency to show its essential features. In real life few, if any, federations will exactly fit the types we highlight. It would be more precise to speak of organisations which are descended from a given tendency, for example the French Anarchist Federation is mostly influenced by the synthesis tradition but it is not, strictly speaking, 100% synthesis. Lastly, we must also note that the term “class struggle” anarchist group in no way implies that “synthesis” and “Platformist” groups do not support the class struggle or take part in it, they most definitely do — it is simply a technical term to differentiate between types of organisation!

It must be stressed anarchists do not reduce the complex issue of political organisation and ideas into one organisation but instead recognise that different threads within anarchism will express themselves in different political organisations (and even within the same organisation). A diversity of anarchist groups and federations is a good sign and expresses the diversity of political and individual thought to be expected in a movement aiming for a society based upon freedom. All we aim to do is to paint a broad picture of the similarities and differences between the various perspectives on organising in the movement and indicate the role these federations play in libertarian theory, namely of an aid in the struggle, not a new leadership seeking power.

[queersatanic]

Holy SHIT I had no idea TST did that kind of stuff, and used to think they were kinda cool. I'm sharing your posts and stuff to donate, but beyond that, what else can be done? Is there another "Satanist organization", as it were, that we should support and cheer on instead?

We do have a standard answer for your main question, which is, "Build your own non-hierarchical, satanic affinity group."

Queer Satanic No Hierarchies - Only Vibes

Queer Satanic is not an organization. Queer Satanic is vibes. While we have remained in touch with folks who were also kicked out or who lef

However, if you're looking to join a community, we so far have not had bad experiences with Global Order of Satan or Capital Area Satanists.

[crionic-dubs]

[pwi-culture-is]

Pwi culture is feeling empathy for the head of the latino affinity group when only four people show up to the first meeting but also being surprised that they seem shocked.

[hamzaaslam]

InComm Healthcare and Affinity Account Helps You Get Better Healthcare

InComm Healthcare and Affinity Account Helps You Get Better Healthcare

The one thing human beings cannot live without, quite literally, is their health. You can do without money and love, even if your life is hard, but without your health, you have nothing. Which is why there are so many companies and organizations that focus on healthcare and health plans. These companies can make sure they give their customers the best services through the the InComm Healthcare…

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[voidexistential]

[newsmarketsblog]

CFTC to hold public meeting on blockchain

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s technology advisory committee is to hold a public meeting in Washington DC to discuss blockchain and the potential application of so-called distributed ledger technology to the derivatives market.

In a notice on the official Federal Register website, the CFTC, the Federal regulatory agency for futures trading, says the meeting will be held at its headquarters on January 26, when the blockchain debate will be among three agenda items.

It has also called for written statements from the public.

Distributed ledger technology, of which blockchain is the best-known example, is generally described as the technology behind the bitcoin cryptocurrency but is now widely believed to have applications in banking and financial services more generally.

Last year “was a pivotal year for blockchain, as scepticism around the use of blockchain technology generally faded, and understanding of its potential increased,” according to consultants at Deloitte, the professional services firm.

Writing on the CoinDesk website, they report that a survey of Deloitte’s “internal cryptocurrency community” shows that respondents believe 2016 is likely see a continuation and acceleration in this trend, and that many anticipate experiencing the output of multi-million dollar investments and for prototypes to start becoming a reality.

“We expect to see existing use cases for blockchain technology come to life, completely new use cases emerge, and an increased number of joint product launches mostly from financial institutions and blockchain startups,” they write.

The Deloitte consultants also report that many established companies, startups, affinity groups and regulatory agencies have found partnering to be key to their success in this industry. “The final trend that Deloitte blockchain specialists anticipate is the expansion of next-gen platforms, such as Ethereum and inter-operable platforms,” they write.

This post was originally published by news.markets: https://news.markets/tech/cftc-hold-public-meeting-blockchain-8288/