Topic of the Week - One way to practice everyday anarchy is by the showing of anarchist solidarity, sometimes through such mechanisms as networks and groups. These anarchist solidarity networks can also be known as anarchist mutual aid networks and groups along with things like your friendly neighborhood anarchist resource network. This week we’re taking a look at anarchist solidarity networks.
What is solidarity to you? What is an anarchist solidarity network in your opinion? Are you part of a specific anarchist solidarity network? How’s it going? What kind of anarchist things do you find yourself spending time on? What kind of recommendations do you have for anarchists looking to find other anarchists and start a solidarity network? Over the years what anarchist solidarity networks have done it well and where might there room for growth? What kind of anarchist historical examples can we learn from? What annoys you most about this topic of anarchist solidarity?
Comments
What annoys you most about
anon (not verified) Mon, 09/23/2024 - 14:53
What annoys you most about this topic of anarchist solidarity?
THE FACT THAT ANARCHISTS STILL USE THIS WORD
Semantics.
anon (not verified) Mon, 09/23/2024 - 17:02
In reply to What annoys you most about by anon (not verified)
Semantics.
can you say more¿
ohio (not verified) Mon, 09/23/2024 - 17:20
In reply to What annoys you most about by anon (not verified)
is there another word that you prefer and why?
probably not, they're likely
lumpy (not verified) Sat, 09/28/2024 - 14:41
In reply to can you say more¿ by ohio (not verified)
probably not, they're likely just trying to saw off the majority of anarchism's historical roots in the left, presumably to memory-hole it and then let the batshit american libertarian nonsense rush in to fill the void
i was once part of a
anon (not verified) Tue, 09/24/2024 - 03:21
i was once part of a solidarity network in which some anarchists participated, but most people weren’t anarchist. what would make it anarchist? if all the participants were anarchists, or if all the beneficiaries of the mutual aid were anarchist? i also worked for an NGO (not anarchist) that had a picture of Emma Goldman on a bulletin board and no one in the office knew who she was. maybe that’s all a solidarity network requires to be anarchist. this is not to say anarchists shouldn’t participate in solidarity or charity, but that this is a bigger tent sort of activity that is not specific or exclusive to anarchists, and it’s not much different when anarchists or non-anarchists do it.
The radical liberals on this
anon (not verified) Tue, 09/24/2024 - 05:34
The radical liberals on this site don't want you to believe in solidarity they want you to believe in self actualization and cynicism.
Solidarity is just recognizing a shared fate, a shared enemy, a shared need, shared course. Can mean many things but is generally necessary for our species to overcome the trials of competitive society.
Now you gotta attempt
anon (not verified) Tue, 09/24/2024 - 07:54
In reply to The radical liberals on this by anon (not verified)
Now you gotta attempt explaining us what a "radical liberal", as that's quite a new exploit.of.semantics to be bringing together two very diverging political traditions. There's ultralibs and neolibs esignations available for your personal use. But radicalism -if it does exist in NA- uses a while different set of questions to also different answers...
"Solidarity is just recognizing a shared fate, a shared enemy, a shared need, shared course."
i.e. conformity. One or.another social formatting that flattens people accordingly with some political identity. It is delusional at best, exploitative at worst. Especially for the pattern of externalization of the enemy...where the little oppressor in your commune can be a much bigger problem for you than the big external antagonism (the cops, the landlords, the "bosses"). What is to recognize is rather how both friends and enemies are EVERYWHERE. That it's up to situations within social relations, the condition they get from it, and how they behave with or *despite* their conditions, that makes them friend or enemies, or the most common frienemies.
Radical liberalism is
not op (not verified) Tue, 09/24/2024 - 12:17
In reply to Now you gotta attempt by anon (not verified)
Radical liberalism is basically anarcho-capitalism if you want to be technical, but I think people use it a lot to refer to social democrats/“progressives”
These are just liberal
anon (not verified) Tue, 09/24/2024 - 14:34
In reply to Radical liberalism is by not op (not verified)
These are just liberal socialists. Putting.radical and liberal together is like saying "anarcho-fascist"...
I actually think “liberal
anon (not verified) Tue, 09/24/2024 - 20:38
In reply to These are just liberal by anon (not verified)
I actually think “liberal socialist” is a better example of incoherent word salad, because what do you even mean by that? Do you know what the word liberal means? It is fundamentally connected with the political paradigm of capitalism.
Yes, well socialism was never
anon (not verified) Wed, 09/25/2024 - 07:50
In reply to I actually think “liberal by anon (not verified)
Yes, well socialism was never fundamentally anticap, and there's more than one school of socialism. Either transitional or reformist or democratic, it's always about "changing" capitalism or making it more humane, fair, sustainable, worker-supportive. I shit on it regardless... down the same capitalist compost bucket.
Social democracy or
anon (not verified) Thu, 09/26/2024 - 17:54
In reply to Yes, well socialism was never by anon (not verified)
Social democracy or democratic socialism are better terms for what you’re talking about then. I guess a liberal socialist would be a “market socialist”
what if they prefer
different anon (not verified) Thu, 09/26/2024 - 21:38
In reply to Social democracy or by anon (not verified)
what if they prefer republican oligarchy and social programs that reorganize capital within an unquestioned hegemonic market framework? also why are you making semantic arguments on the internet? you remember how definitions are all floating and indeterminate?
"why does semantics matter on
lumpy (not verified) Sat, 09/28/2024 - 14:43
In reply to what if they prefer by different anon (not verified)
"why does semantics matter on the internet?" <---- fascinating self-report right there
i use "rad-lib" to refer to
anon (not verified) Tue, 09/24/2024 - 15:38
In reply to Radical liberalism is by not op (not verified)
i use "rad-lib" to refer to people who do not believe that a revolution is possible or desirable, even if they do believe that militant resistance is justified. so that term refers to many, many, many people who frequently visit this site.
So ok, now... militant
anon (not verified) Tue, 09/24/2024 - 18:44
In reply to i use "rad-lib" to refer to by anon (not verified)
So ok, now... militant resistance is not liberal by default. Just like community organizing isn't.. even if it turns to be statist BS in so many cases. Being a radical does not imply believing in revolution... that is a misconception inherited by Hollywood or something. One can be seeking to radically change their relation with the world, ideally through building networks that bring radical change to their lives without needing an overthrow of established order, and much less on on a global scale.
What characterizes liberalism is reformism. Doesn't have to be political, electoralist reforms, but the fact of seeking a facelift of your life in society, i.e. like what unions been doing since the New Deal, of just seeking to improve the conditions of the class you're part of. Making society more acceptable, so that you can keep producing and reproducing and growing kids at nice artsy, eco-friendly, Trans-friendly schools... this actually is what liberals are into. As they wanna accommodate themselves so that thehy can be, too, productive, law-abiding citizens.
Radicals are saying "fuck this shit, I'm worth more than what these bureaucrats make me into". The radical will look down at the roots (the root word of "radi-cal" being "roots") of oppression and enslavement. Will see that your fucking petit bourgie neighborhood/small town is just a part of sugaring the pill to make society more acceptable, so instead I'm looking in MY OWN ways to fulfill myself in (and up against) this world.
So just to clarify what we're talking about, and hopefully prevent more bad wording to be used.
“Liberal” is not a synonym
anon (not verified) Tue, 09/24/2024 - 20:39
In reply to So ok, now... militant by anon (not verified)
“Liberal” is not a synonym for “moderate”
Not what I said, but it's
anon (not verified) Wed, 09/25/2024 - 07:42
In reply to “Liberal” is not a synonym by anon (not verified)
Not what I said, but it's neither a synonym for libertarian.
Whether economic (‘classical’
anon (not verified) Thu, 09/26/2024 - 18:01
In reply to Not what I said, but it's by anon (not verified)
Whether economic (‘classical’) liberalism or culture-war social liberalism, if “liberalism is reformism” it’s because liberalism is both democratic and capitalist. It’s also weird to call them weak when the global empire of capitalism is literally (neo)liberalism; as if this bourgeois ideology has actually the same goals as us.
"that term refers to many,
anon (not verified) Wed, 09/25/2024 - 20:53
In reply to i use "rad-lib" to refer to by anon (not verified)
"that term refers to many, many, many people who frequently visit this site".
mAybE fOr rAdLiBs, bUt OooOooh noOoo, nEver fOr StIRnEriAns!
I've known some kind of
anon (not verified) Tue, 09/24/2024 - 08:16
I've known some kind of anarchoid solidarity network but not only they had many maoist types, but were toxic as fuck and felt like a vast police sting operation, where stuff being said about you is mostly being said in your back and you're never really invited to free, in-person conversations about issues 'til the Judgement Day of the call-out by the local kangaroo court hits you (regardless if you're present or not).
I'd like to experienxe with any more anarchist solidarity network that's rather about individuals supporting and especially IMPROVING each other, like Freemasons are meant to do, but without all the hierarchy.
What do “Maoist type” and
anon (not verified) Tue, 09/24/2024 - 12:19
In reply to I've known some kind of by anon (not verified)
What do “Maoist type” and “anarchoid” mean here?
yeah, this question leaves
anon (not verified) Tue, 09/24/2024 - 08:54
yeah, this question leaves open (which is fine) the question of what an anarchist solidarity network is. like is it a network that has anarchist in the name? or one that does anarchist stuff, or is anti-hierarchy in structure, or all of the above?
kind of like whether a person is an anarchist or not.
i personally think that all the criteria have to be matched for me to be interested in being in a group, but everyone knows i'm a hardass.
solidarity ime is a word that appeals to big umbrella and charity type folks more than some other words, so it isn't surprising that groups with that in the name would have a certain flavor.
when i saw the word "solidarity" here,
AtreSnob (not verified) Fri, 09/27/2024 - 12:51
I imagined some girl in a black suede shirt tapping me on the the knee, shushing me, and asking me to join a drum circle.
The comment section to the
YMO (not verified) Sat, 09/28/2024 - 11:17
The comment section to the post reminds me of comments on r/anarchism or raddle. Just nonsense whining about the liberals, maoists and the troo anarchists.
how can you really expect anything else when anarchists don't
CalvinSmith (not verified) Sat, 09/28/2024 - 11:34
In reply to The comment section to the by YMO (not verified)
really have any "solidarity networks"? Solidarity is nothing but an activist buzzword, which means "i'm showing my support, but i can't be bothered to even talk to the groups i'm saying i support. I care about my image among activists. Me me me."
Just face it: anarchist activism is pathetic. The only thing i have seen that resembles a "solidarity network" is the prisoner support that this website advocates, and it's not really worthwhile if the prisoner doesn't return your letter with a letter.
... you don't see a point to
lumpy (not verified) Sat, 09/28/2024 - 14:47
In reply to how can you really expect anything else when anarchists don't by CalvinSmith (not verified)
... you don't see a point to writing prisoners unless they write you back?
why do i get the sense like you're still pissed uncle kaczynski didn't think your letter was interesting?
"The first and most important
Free Way (not verified) Sun, 09/29/2024 - 00:04
"The first and most important thing an individual can do is to become an individual again, decontrol himself, train himself as to what is going on and win back as much independent ground for himself as possible.”
--William Burroughs
Yeah, that's what you can
anon (not verified) Sun, 09/29/2024 - 10:45
In reply to "The first and most important by Free Way (not verified)
Yeah, that's what you can expect from a wife killer who evaded responsibility for his actions.
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