title cover of PIU 6

Plastic in Utero: Anti-Civ Anarchy Reborn from the Compost of Wasteland Modernity issue 6 is out! Hope, nihilism, optimism and pessimism are on the agenda. $3/copy if mailed, free to prisoners, free if you find us tabling!

From the intro:
Plastic in Utero: Anti-Civ Anarchy Reborn from the Compost of Wasteland Modernity (PIU) is back in issue #6 for Winter 2025. This issue came out a little late, pending a delayed submission (Anews note: it never came, so, oops...) and continued editorial work.

The themes for this issue are nihilism versus hope. As usual, following the prompt is not necessary for being included, but more of a suggestion. While one can read these topics into the pieces, I found the texts and art here more to be along the lines of optimism vs pessimism, which are somewhat distinct from the binary of hope and nihilism. Regardless of the direction of included content, I want to spend more time discussing the latter themes. In short, hope is the belief in a better future, nihilism is a skepticism that a better future is possible.

Hope and nihilism have been trends in the anarchist world under other names. In a sense, this nihilism is both pessimistic and skeptical. We can mean “political hope” and “political nihilism.”

One can trace a line from the hyper-organizational, rationalist, scientific anarchy of Proudhon and later Kropotkin (among others) to contemporary hopeful anarchists. They tend to fall along the lines of social-anarchists, who maintain belief in a revolutionary upheaval on a global scale with the goal of a federation of communes and other associations. They also tend to hold some sort of “people’s morality” or “proletarian morality” as opposed to "bourgeois morality.” They center hope in a better world, in a world of anarchists making the world better every day.

On the other hand, nihilism can also be identified in the past. We could look at the Russian Nihilists, but as Aragorn! rightly identified, they have very little in common with the self-professed nihilist-anarchists of today, who often find issue with Science, technology, morality, mass society. The Russian nihilists were as Aragorn! said, parochial skeptics. Their attacks were on superstition, feudalism, tsardom. Many looked to European Republicanism as an answer. Most contemporary nihilists would balk at this, calling for the end of all social institutions, not for the adoption of progressive alternatives. Instead, we can look to the Egoists and other Individualist-types, who favored radical autonomy, amoralism, and a skepticism toward revolution. Novatore comes to mind. To the Nihilists, freedom is a luxury we cannot delay to the future, because no future is guaranteed. Progress does not lead to liberty, but a refinement of totalitarianism. Hence, revolutions are furthering our enslavement.

All that to say, the discussion of nihilism and hope are relevant to anti-civilization anarchism. John Zerzan’s Why Hope? (2015) and Black Blossoms At The End Of The World by Invecchiare Selvatico (2021) are expressions of this tension. Or Flower Bomb’s own innumerable arguments for a vegan, anti-civilization nihilism versus James Van Lanen’s cultural materialism that posits strong possibilities for resilience now and into the future.* These conversations are larger narratives on the (in-)human condition, possibility for change, and generally answering “How fucked are we? Can we get out?”
But we can bring our focus closer. Look back to ol’ Green Anarchy (2001-2008) to see debates on Collapse. Back then, the hope (no pun intended) for some, was that Collapse may come soon and relieve us of the struggles of everyday life. Peak oil, anti-work, climate collapse, even an anti-technology revolution may bring the human-made world to its knees. We can call this a collapsology. Others rejected this, seeing it as replacement of classic leftist views of revolution coming in the near future, delaying possibilities of spontaneous action. Hope versus nihilism.

To be fair, it is not always so clear cut. One may preclude the reality of impending Collapse, but have a hopeful tone for the possibility of autonomous, resilient communities. To some, the belief in no Collapse is nihilistic, while the belief in healthy communities can be interpreted as hopeful.

I have lost a lot of interest in the partisan attitudes some take up in this fight. I fluctuated a lot, from a “baby” primitivist in the late 2010s to a nihilist-type during the Pandemic. Now, I realize both of these fail to acknowledge the complexity of human and nonhuman resistance, self-enslavement, and the unpredictability of the universe. In some cases, nihilists may themselves be precluding the possibility of mass resistance, while hope-ists are ignoring the chance of prolonged and intensifying suffering, with no easy way out. We also cannot ignore how one may fluctuate along the axis of nihilism and hope in relation to their own social-emotional-mental health. I know I do this.

Yours for wild nature,
Artxmis Graham Thoreau, editor
18, December, 2025. Three days until the Winter Solstice.

*My statement is not to imply FB and JVL are writing in direct opposition to one another, but rather, one can easily present them as counter-narratives or counter-theories. FB has emphasis on a sort of asocial and attack-focused anarchy, whereas JVL places his focus on anthropology, ecology, and sociology with practice in simple, land-based living. One can see JVL as hopeful (even optimistic!) in this regard, where FB is explicitly nihilistic.

Want to submit? PIU accepts the following:
Essays, reviews, and interviews, and fiction writings (2,500 word limit)
Art and photography (keep to one page per piece, but feel free to submit several)
Poetry (keep to two pages, please be clear on formatting requests)
Letters (350 word limit)
If text submissions are mailed, format at 9 or 10 pt font, fonts such as Times New Roman, landscape, landscape, and two columns.

Send submissions, orders, or questions, with well-concealed cash (or trades!) as U.S. currency only. Interested in us distributing your work? Let us know.
Mail to:
Uncivilized Distro
PO Box 72 Seymour, IL
61875

Comments

wonderingabout… (not verified) Sat, 01/31/2026 - 02:14

I really enjoyed your podcast about veganism. I would like to watch more of your podcasts but i cant find any of them through internet archive, if you guys can help me out on this topic, please consider replying.

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