{"article":{"id":198277,"heading":"Is the Anarchist Movement Dead?","author":"Freewomyn","created":"2007-05-06 17:43:10","modified":"2007-05-11 21:33:50","last_modified":"Sat, 12 May 2007 04:33:50","article":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><body><p>Check out the response from <a href='\"&lt;a'>http:\/\/gspotmagazine.blogspot.com\/2007\/05\/is-anarchist-movement-dying.html&amp;quot<\/a>; target=\"_blank\"&gt;G-Spot Magazine: <br><br> A recent article in the LA Times suggests that anarchy is a \"so last season.\" In his coverage of the May Day demonstrations, reporter Paul Pringle suggests that the anarchist movement is dying: <br><br> \"We haven't seen them in large numbers in L.A.,\" said the officer, who requested anonymity because he works in the Los Angeles Police Department's counter-terrorism bureau. Fallen-away anarchists agreed, saying the movement has withered in the area since 2000, when its homegrown ranks were swelled by out-of-town sympathizers drawn to the convention. Austin Delgadillo, who was part of the L.A. anarchist contingent back then, said he and others have since moved on to more-structured forms of advocacy. And many of the remaining L.A. anarchists have settled into laid-back tactics, Delgadillo said. \"A lot of them are pacifist anarchists,\" he added.  <br><br> And, of course, Pringle tries to blame anarchists for inciting police violence:  <br><br> Police Chief William J. Bratton initially said that as many as 100 anarchists touched off Tuesday's clash by throwing rocks and bottles at officers. He later described them more generally as \"the agitators or the anarchists as they are more commonly called.\" <br><br> Public support for anarchy may have decreased because the Long Beach Police Department has done a fairly good job of making people distrust one another. Similar to the FBI's infiltration of revolutionary groups during the days of COINTELPRO, activists have a hard time knowing who to trust when anyone could be an informant, especially newcomers.  <br><br> I'll finish this post with a final quote from the Times' piece: <br><br> Dana Ward, a political psychology professor at Pitzer College and an anarchist, said Tuesday's turmoil does not sound like the work of those active in the Southern California movement. \"There would be no advantage to starting trouble at a march dealing with immigration,\" said Ward, who maintains an archive on the history and theory of anarchism. \"It would just bring bad publicity.\" He also said the police often use the anarchist label as a \"propaganda tool.\" Ward placed the L.A. anarchist census at a few hundred to a couple of thousand, the vast majority of them devoted to nonviolence. Some belong to organizations such as Food Not Bombs and the Catholic Worker. L.A. anarchists of lore include writer Ricardo Flores Magon, an instigator of the 1910 Mexican Revolution. A Pitzer conference held last year for anarchist academics and activists attracted 150, Ward said. <br><br> There are lots of revolutionaries in the LA area, and we're not going anywhere. If anything, the LAPD has pushed more people towards anarchy because of their vicious tactics last week. I guess for that, we should say thank you.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","contact":"gspotsubmissions@yahoo.com","link":"www.gspotmagazine.blogspot.com","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/plain","summary":"Today's LA Times included an article that asserts the anarchist movement in LA is dead.  The article also tries to blaim anarchists for the LAPD's violence on May Day.  ","numcomment":22,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/","filesize":null,"article_url":"\/news\/2007\/05\/198277.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[{"id":198295,"heading":"I'd say so, yes","article":"The north american anarchist *movement* died on September 11th, 2001. ","author":"anti-authoritarian","parent_id":198277,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2007-05-06 22:48:54","modified":"2007-05-06 22:48:54","fileurl":""},{"id":198296,"heading":"double post","article":"sorry for the double post.","author":"anti-authoritan","parent_id":198277,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2007-05-06 22:54:39","modified":"2007-05-06 22:54:39","fileurl":""},{"id":198301,"heading":"dead?","article":"don't know about that.  Arkies are stubborn but their idea of a stateless society is a utopia.\r\nToo bad we're not mature or educated or united enough in purpose to see the day when people don't need to organize along a framework of common interests in the form of a united and just distribution of resources and labor when they need to deal with common threats.\r\nI've noticed, though I could be wrong, a certain reluctance to absorb ideas outside of the purest mentality of their ideology ( I don't mean compromise but rather a lack of adaptable flexibility to work parallel agendas that don't follow the anarchist path of no state at all ) or respond to threats by any serviceable and peer respected communication forum. \r\nI could be wrong.","author":"Sheepdog","parent_id":198277,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2007-05-07 00:35:34","modified":"2007-05-07 00:35:34","fileurl":""},{"id":198302,"heading":"good grief, I skip words","article":"What that garbled sentence should read is that we ( okay, just me maybe, )would like to see a day when we didn't need to follow a structured system imposed to protect the weak from the strong, by the state from the forces of human greed and psychosis.\r\nIt doesn't mean I don't think we should hold the very tight and open leash on the system, however.","author":"sd","parent_id":198277,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2007-05-07 00:44:15","modified":"2007-05-07 00:44:15","fileurl":""},{"id":198305,"heading":"Far from it","article":"Getting whispy for the &quot;good old days&quot; anti-authoritarian? I can't say anything about the LA @ movement but on a national and global level it is in far better shape than it was pre-9\/11. The movement is much better organized and in a much wider variety of places. It may not be as visable, which I think is very debatable, but it's in a far better position to maintain and grow itself. As opposed to the completely unsustainable summit hopping. But forget about what is going on in the US the real story is what is going on in Latin America, especially Mexico,  where anarchist\/autonomous groups are growing steadily some in places that never even had a historical movement. The anarcho-syndicalist conference that just happened in Paris had numerous groups from Africa, which is unprecendented. And the anti-authoritarian Dissent Network is the main organizing force behind the G8 summit protests, which even in Europe was not possible a few years ago. The global anarchist movement sure as hell isn't dead and i suggest you step out of your self imposed isolation.  ","author":"the undead","parent_id":198277,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2007-05-07 02:39:27","modified":"2007-05-07 02:39:27","fileurl":""},{"id":198335,"heading":"&quot;Anarchy&quot;","article":"There are many different kinds of &quot;anarchism.&quot;  The one of most relevance, today, is the post-communist, post-Marxist leftist movement that's fighting against neoliberalism.  This isn't necessarily &quot;anarchist&quot; a-la Prudhomme and Stirner, or utopian socialist, or even Situationist, or primitivist (anti-modern).  It's all of these things in different degrees, and exists as a third path beyond Marxism and capitalism\/neoliberalism.  It's Zapatismo.  It pits the &quot;local&quot; culture against the &quot;global&quot;ization of culture, and arms the indigenous against the relentless advance of capitalist invasion.\r\n\r\nIt seems like there's still an anarchist movement here. There's still Food Not Bombs.  There's now a Copwatch, and they're succeeding.  There's Axis of Justice, which isn't formally anarchist, but might be.  With every episode of police repression, be it the May Day police mass beatdown, the razing of the South Central Farm, Josh Connole's mistaken FBI harassment, Sherman Austin's conviction for exercising the First Amendment, the Long Beach infoshop's wiretaps, Rod Coronado's bogus &quot;terrorism&quot; charge, Rob Thaxton's and Jeff Luer's extreme sentencing, the number of anarchists and sympathizers grows.\r\n\r\nAnarchy's the philosophy most consonant with today's reality: government and business are allied, state and capital share the same vision.  Communism is just a thorn in the side of the capitalist empire, and hope for revolution is slim.  Even when it can win, the track record of communist revolution is not good: capitalist slavery is replaced with police repression, communist bureaucracy eventually collaborates with transnational capital against its own people, fallen communist regimes crumble and are replaced by gangster capitalism.\r\n\r\nVillaraigosa was out of town for this one.  Another strike against his old leftist credentials.  Chalk another one up for the anarchists.","author":"agile methods","parent_id":198277,"mime_type":"image\/gif","created":"2007-05-07 14:45:25","modified":"2007-05-07 14:45:25","fileurl":"\/usr\/local\/www-domains\/la.indymedia.org\/public\/uploads\/2007\/05\/la-anarchy.gif","image":{"original":"\/usr\/local\/www-domains\/la.indymedia.org\/public\/uploads\/2007\/05\/la-anarchy.gif"}},{"id":198364,"heading":"Anarchy Shmanarchy","article":"Is the \u201canarchist movement\u201d dead - when was it alive? Anyone outside of the tiny, purist, anarcho bubble that barely exists in L.A. doesn\u2019t even know you guys are around. When was the last time the so-called \u201canarchist movement\u201d tried to work with ANY organization in this city, from civil rights and labor to immigrant and antiwar groups. You are so busy condemning other activists for being \u201cstatist\u201d and \u201cauthoritarian\u201d that you never actually do anything else except disrupt the events put on by others. The only purpose you serve is when the LAPD wants to terrify the populace\u2026 they can point at the big bad \u201canarchist movement\u201d as a reason for the people to be afraid and accept police repression. The police exaggerate  the importance and size of the so-called anarchist movement for political reasons - and so do the anarchists. \r\n\r\nPolice Chief Bratton said that the \u201canarchists are in some aspects, more organized than the LAPD.\u201d What a joke\u2026 the sheeple will lap that one up and so will the \u201cradical\u201d black-bloc blockhead anarchos. To L.A.\u2019s anarchists - all two dozen of you - take some time off and read a few books, it might help open your horizons and make you realize that you are not the center of the universe, you don\u2019t own the movement or the truth\u2026 and that your positions are so extreme that you end up being in the rightist camp. The police and the state are not the least bit afraid of you, why should they be - you are such a useful and willing tool for them. ","author":"Uncircled A","parent_id":198277,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2007-05-08 03:27:48","modified":"2013-11-11 00:48:27","fileurl":""},{"id":198381,"heading":"a question","article":"How would an anarchist community, region, reservation etc. be able to respond to, say, an invasion of land grabbing pirates with the force of a hostile state behind it?\r\nGiven the premiss that this is not an isolated group and enjoyed communication, as it supposedly does now, with other collectives.\r\nI don't see the efficiency of even a counsel system in the present IMC network, for instance, to deal with certification standards when individual IMCs become compromised and fail to follow the original mandate for open publishing.  \r\nbut...\r\nWhat do I know?\r\nThis does not in any way mean that I expect this tool we have, to be used as a weapon against the people it's supposed to be serving.  I believe the LA IMC template is a good example.  It still needs work.\r\n","author":"sd","parent_id":198277,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2007-05-08 12:52:51","modified":"2007-05-08 12:52:51","fileurl":""},{"id":198393,"heading":"&quot;Anarchy&quot; is a load of crap","article":"\u201cSD\u201d asked the question, \u201cHow would an anarchist community, region, reservation etc. be able to respond to, say, an invasion of land grabbing pirates with the force of a hostile state behind it?\u201d\r\n\r\nLet\u2019s ask more realistic questions of the anarchists, \u201cHow would you prevent lumber companies from clear cutting forests? How will you prevent oil companies from drilling off of the California coast? How would you regulate the food produced by various companies - assuring the highest quality? How will you handle health issues like the spread of diseases? What will be done with anti-social criminals who prey on the weak and commit violent crimes? What will you do to prevent the merging of multinationals into even more powerful corporate entities? These are basic questions that EVERYONE wants an answer to, and few can imagine solutions that DO NOT involve centralized organization involving a state. The anarchist answer seems to be, \u201celiminate the state and all problems will disappear - which is simply ridiculous. The state is a tool of economic and social forces, it serves who ever holds power. If you are realistic about changing society for the better, then you better get your ideas straight and come up with some solutions that make sense - ideas that people will want to embrace and implement. ","author":"red rocker","parent_id":198277,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2007-05-08 16:44:25","modified":"2013-11-11 00:48:27","fileurl":""},{"id":198396,"heading":"not quite","article":"There are many criticisms that can be made of Anarchists but these same criticisms can be made of any other large, political movement.\r\nThe interesting thing is there are many Anarchists in LA, not just 2 dozen or whatever number is being thrown around.  Being Anarchist means there is freedom to choose or engage in your politics in the way you feel is best and most effective, unlike a group like the RCP that gives you all the correct answers and methodologies. Because of this, it may not seem like there is much of an Anarchist presence in the city. But I assure you, having been involved in the Anarchist movement in LA  for over 15 years, there are many of us that walk among you.\r\nMany Anarchists choose to work on projects that are goal related, many of us don't see the usefullness of creating an organization for organization sake. \r\nThe influence of Anarchist ideas and methods of organizing have been growing and spreading throughout radical circles. Anti-authoritarianism is an Anarchist ideal that has even made inroads to traditional communist party groups. Even Indymedia was started by Anarchist types.\r\nThere is a lot of room to grow and I think there needs to be more connections made but just because you don't see big blocks of Anarchists wearing the same colors and spouting identical ideology does not mean we don't exist. The contributions we've made to radical movements here in Los Angeles and the country should be noted and respected.\r\n\r\n","author":"acrataria","parent_id":198277,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2007-05-08 17:01:27","modified":"2007-05-08 17:01:27","fileurl":""},{"id":198428,"heading":"still not an answer","article":"I guess my questions remain unanswered.  I don't see a utopian society functioning under a non framework and it's back to my original premiss that it's an ideal that exists in the exception rather than a working system.\r\nThe IMC was a brilliant and needed idea, and it cannot function in the face of adversity by a hostile agency without a hierarchical, as the SF IMC or democratic, in the case of LA IMC, supervisory structure and not be over run by trolls, spam, disinfo and enemy propaganda.\r\nAnd despite their supposed common goal are unable to coordinate in the labor or defense of sites under attack.  Or so it seems to me, in this real world situation. \r\n","author":"Sheepdog","parent_id":198277,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2007-05-08 22:02:23","modified":"2007-05-08 22:02:23","fileurl":""},{"id":198434,"heading":"hahahaha","article":"anarchists haven't withered away. many of the privilaged white boys simply left and went up north to go squat someplace else when the heat came down and it was time to walk the talk. Many simply couldn't take it and realized this revolution thang wasnt no game. so they folded. Many of the people of color anarchists on the other hand are still in numbers.  many of them also got locked up and fucked over. but many anarchists in LA dont call themselves anarchists anymore. the idea of princples and action before idealogy and romanticism has become more popular. more and more anarchists of color are building and creating basic community survival and self defense programs and horizontal structers. a movement is growing in lala land. if you want to find more anarchists then go to the hood where the real work is being put in. thats where the real revolution will take place. ","author":"hahahaa","parent_id":198277,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2007-05-09 00:12:56","modified":"2007-05-09 00:12:56","fileurl":""}]}