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comment by mk
mk  ·  3904 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Inside Greece's growing anarchist groups

It's not surprising. It's not hard to see that the youth of Greece have been thrown under the bus in the grand Eurozone experiment. They have every right to be pissed about a system that failed at their expense, and yet refuses to significantly change.

Even so, it's one thing to be in the right, but disruption creates a vacuum for someone that has a plan. Human beings organize because we are pack animals with complex intellects. There is no way around that. There will be a new order if the Greek government falls. They should offer people tangible new alternatives as part of their resistance. Otherwise, they risk the rise of a despotic regime.





user-inactivated  ·  3904 days ago  ·  link  ·  

The idea that anarchism leaves a vacuum or creates disorder is a misunderstanding of what anarchism really is. It's not simply the absence of a state, but it includes the deliberate construction of horizontal structures and institutions that effectively leave no room or reason for a state to exist any longer.

Anarchism does not reject organization, in fact the "circle" in the famous circle-A is actually an O that stands for Order.

The anarchists are providing tangible services, bombings and bank robberies are not the only actions they take. Squatted buildings become neighborhood social centers, shuttered factories have been seized and spun back up into production, consumer goods have been expropriated and distributed for free, and fascist attacks on immigrant neighborhoods have been repelled. As the article says, the perception is that anarchists are the only people who can do some of these things, due to the inability or complicity of the state's forces.

mk  ·  3904 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Perhaps I need to read some primers on anarchism. I have always encountered it primarily in terms of what it is not, but have yet to understand what fills that outline. This is probably in part the fault of articles like this, but the movement must share the fault too. Is there some time and place that one can point to where anarchism was clearly in action in a large population?

user-inactivated  ·  3904 days ago  ·  link  ·  

The major historical example is the Spanish Revolution of the 30s, and George Orwell's *Homage to Catalonia* is a fantastic account. Orwell is not afraid to criticize as well as praise.

For other examples check out Section A.5 of An Anarchist FAQ

hiss  ·  3904 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    consumer goods have been expropriated

Without looking it up, does "expropriated" mean stolen and given away, like in a Robin Hood situation? If so, that's an excellent euphemism (no judgment). Should work it in to a word game...