Surviving Capitalism (Not) : Mr. Anarchist, we need to have a chat about colonialism

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Thursday, April 2, 2015

Mr. Anarchist, we need to have a chat about colonialism

Click here to access article by Petar Stanchev by Reflections on a Revolution.

Although I don't regard such anarchists as a significant problem due their relatively small numbers, but I think that this discussion is important because it distinguishes two ways for seeking revolutionary truth. Rather than attacking such sectarian anarchists and exhibiting a colonial attitude as Stanchev does, I think it more useful to see their criticism of the Rojava and the Zapatista revolutionary struggles as patriarchal or hierarchical modes of thought: a vanguard kind of thinking in which revolutionary thought is essentially the province of designated experts. This type of thinking dominated revolutionary movements of the 20th century.

I thoroughly agree with Stavchev when he writes about the new path to revolutionary truth:

Without any doubt, these structures of democratic self-governance are under development, with many issues still to be addressed and plenty to learn. However, they do reaffirm the basic principle that true liberation can only be lived and applied here and now through the self-organization of the people.