Anarchists, in my experience, are a mess. And believe it or not, this isn’t a condemnation. Rather, we have much to gain by not shying away from it.
Take chances, make mistakes, get messy! — Ms. Frizzle
Messiness is inherent in our failures to achieve lofty goals and meet impossible standards. It’s found abundantly in the perplexing struggle to define ourselves apart from the very systems we’re also a part of. It’s ever-present in our stumbling journeys to awaken sleepy desires and chase them into the fray. As such, messiness is illogical. It’s how you get anti-civ anarchists admin-ing online projects, green-thumbed anarchists enjoying rural serenity on private property, relationship anarchists falling in LoveTM, and that vegan anarchist sporting leather boots.
Messiness has something abstract ideas lack, however: necessity. Could there be a more clear here and now than the current mess? Contending with imperfection is nothing more than being alive. To pull back on the woo woo a bit, this is of particular relevance to anarchists because the journey toward “anarchy” is surely not born out of logical, consistent, and defensible actions...
But anarchists are held to a higher standard than mostpeople, it seems? As a result, patience for messiness seems in very short supply. To my eye, this has developed into a troubling aversion to messiness. Ample time is now spent debating the Correct Decision for every useless hypothetical, along with the requisite judgment and condemnation of those deemed too messy. Many would-be stumbling journeys now remain nervously paralyzed at the starting block, waiting for the proper move to reveal itself (as if we needed more deterrents and delays).
What are we to make of messiness if we don’t ignore it? Does overlooking messiness "soften" our ability to cut our teeth on each other? When do things just get...too messy?
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Comments
Messiness, yes, assassins…
anon (not verified) Mon, 03/31/2025 - 00:24
Messiness, yes, assassins becoming president-dictators? I don't think messiness signifies anything, in fact, the opposite, tidy ethical consistency is for the win, and it doesn't mean you have to be a control freak, you can be an ethical winner and still just go with the flow, especially if you're an individualist and only have your own authenticity to consider.
Solipsism and egotism are…
anon (not verified) Mon, 03/31/2025 - 04:32
In reply to Messiness, yes, assassins… by anon (not verified)
Solipsism and egotism are quite different from individualism and egoism, a point that seems lost on you.
Oh no it's not! It seems…
anon (not verified) Mon, 03/31/2025 - 22:36
In reply to Solipsism and egotism are… by anon (not verified)
Oh no it's not! It seems that narcissism and self-reliance are lost on you.
Speaking of Messiness. How…
anon (not verified) Wed, 04/02/2025 - 09:15
Speaking of Messiness. How about the moderators undelete the 4/1 posts that contained VALUABLE AND ENTERTAINING comments and just tag them with 'april fools' or something instead of imprisoning our contributions that make this website what it is???????????!!!!???
HOW ABOUT THAT????
fuck off, le way.
anon (not verified) Wed, 04/02/2025 - 09:44
In reply to Speaking of Messiness. How… by anon (not verified)
fuck off, le way.
It's not Le Way, it was I…
anon (not verified) Wed, 04/02/2025 - 10:06
In reply to fuck off, le way. by anon (not verified)
It's not Le Way, it was I the originator of the seething ressentiment AND suicidal kamikaze memes. Le Way is a poseur valor thief. Don't get it confused.
the links are still active…
anon (not verified) Wed, 04/02/2025 - 15:26
In reply to Speaking of Messiness. How… by anon (not verified)
the links are still active and published if you have the URL saved or remember some of the tags. will have to see what others think about CLASSIFYING such things with an official tag/topic though.
-thecollective-april-foolz-faction
Accepting messiness
nettles (not verified) Wed, 04/02/2025 - 16:27
Accepting messiness is something I've often struggled with but I'm working on it now. Like I feel many anarchists do I have v high standards for myself and always have this nagging voice telling me I must be doing things in line with "anarchist principles". Not saying I don't want to get better at anything but no one is perfect. I believe everyone is a v complex bundle of contradictions and there will always be messiness cuz the universe is chaotic AF.
messiness as anti-ideological?
untitled (not verified) Wed, 04/09/2025 - 21:57
In reply to Accepting messiness by nettles (not verified)
Messiness is "perfectly imperfect" and sheds light on the fact that MOST PEOPLE are deeply "messy". Are not we all entrapped in a plethora of ways??? (not just anarchists, *ALL* people in the context of Perpetual Warring Societies). So then this demonizing each other, this "Us v Them" perpetuating (instead of radical's radical empathy), just as the Left/Right meta-gamers WANT: Keep us as divided as possible! Divided and hysterical at all targets other than THE HEART of things. And UNABLE to escape this state of affairs...?
And "messy" as excellently human. No machines here!
It is known that "messy" people are more creative. So i think it's time to think deeper, to jiujitsu these narratives planted in our heads,(anarchs too), and liberate ourselves! The more liberated we are/model publicly, the more inspirational we'll be!! Don't you think?
talk about messy
upstater (not verified) Thu, 04/03/2025 - 15:22
unravel blogs posts MSM chopped up story about prison buses burning
then Act for Freedom Now! reposts it:
https://actforfree.noblogs.org/2025/04/02/new-york-state-corrections-bu…
The story shared is one of a burning prison bus and that another bus was spray-painted with the message, “Can you hear us now.”
The context is that this recently took place in Upstate, New York prisons / jails as a prison jailer strike was ongoing (strike has since ended with some jailers losing their jobs). Seems pretty clear this was the prison jailers burning their own buses from all MSM accounts. While the prison jailer strike continued, the most effected by it was the prisoners, with a lack of service where New York State called in the National Guard to take the place of striking prison workers. This is completely left out of the story and becomes just the spectacle of poor news reporting from Unravel blogs and Act for Freedom Now! who are now boosting the message of the prison jailers.
There is a lot of messiness here.
Maybe I missed it, but…
anon (not verified) Mon, 04/07/2025 - 19:28
In reply to talk about messy by upstater (not verified)
Maybe I missed it, but disappointing they didn't bring this up as an example. That's a good one!
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