TotW: when to confront, what to confront, and not

So someone says something outrageous at a party, like "sometimes snitching is ok." Or "if you don't have anything to hide, why worry about encryption." Or any of the other things that we forget people think because who hangs out with them.

TOTW: ACAB Means Who?

I recently came across a video mocking online Leftist positions. Many of them were funny, such as "Can we not yell at the outdoor demo, it may lead to sensory overload" or "theory is ableist." Yet there was one I was shocked to hear: "Therapists are included in ACAB." Again, this was mockery, so of course, OP meant he disagreed with that statement. The top comment was "But, therapists are included in ACAB?" and subsequent replies disagreed with or mocked the commenter. One comment said, "No, but psychiatrists are def in ACAB" and explained how all the therapists they knew were progressive and anti-capitalist. Ignoring that many anti-capitalist, progressive people can be Coppish as fuck, I want to explore this issue a bit.

TOTW: Persistence or Purity? The Mirror of Non-State Power

What does it say about anarchism that it so often chooses immediacy, aversion to form, and radical transparency—does it desire to win, or merely to remain pure while disappearing?

Zeal for insurrection burns bright and dies young.

However, if there is anything to be learned from formations like Hezbollah or the Houthis, it is not their ideology but their refusal of immediacy—their stubborn commitment to duration.

As they did not erupt fully formed, they sedimented. Layer by layer, year by year, they became difficult to uproot.

TOTW: Veganarchy from Inside

Some of the household names of veganarchy are Warzone Distro, Animal Liberation Front, Unoffensive Animal, and some manifestations of Food not Bombs. They express a wide variety of ideas of veganism, but generally align in the concept of Veganarchy: Not just being anarchist and vegan, but that veganism is essential to the anarchist critique and veganism finds its highest expression in anarchy (as opposed to say, liberal vegans). Veganarchy is often synonymous with Total Liberation. As Steve Best puts it, “it is imperative that we no longer speak of human liberation, animal liberation, or earth liberation as if they were independent struggles, but rather that we talk instead of total liberation” (The Politics of Total Liberation, 2014, as quoted in Total Liberation, from Signal Fire & Active Distribution).

TOTW: Saint Luigi

Topic of the Week - I am writing a review of John H. Richardson’s 2025 Luigi: The Making and the Meaning. The back cover is a mural of him, out of London, depicting him in saintly fashion. Larger than life, solemn face, and a golden halo circling his head. The back cover also includes a quote from the book: “For a growing group of Americans who seem to be vibrating with existential anxieties, he became a screen onto which they projected their fears and dreams.” For anyone with interest in the fields of psychology , sociology, and history as applied to religion, this is nothing new

TotW: Meaningful OpSec

MEANINGFUL OPSEC; OR, NOW, YOU DON’T HAVE A PERSONAL FBI AGENT I’ve been considering operational security and security culture a lot since the Turtle Island Liberation Front (TILF) case broke. For such a small group, about seven people, two were feds (well, one was a paid informant, the other was an FBI agent).

TOTW: Determinism

Robert Sapolsky’s 2023 Detemined: A Science of Life Without Free Will is a recent major influence on me. Sapolsky, a neuroscientist, argues free will either does not exist or at best, exists at a lower rate than we like to believe. Sapolsky’s previous book, Behave states, “And [human behavior] is indeed a mess, a subject involving brain chemistry, hormones, sensory cues, prenatal environment, early experience, genes, both biological and cultural evolution, and ecological pressures, among other things.”

TOTW: Anarchism, Culture, and the Nation

A core principle of anarchism is rejection of nationalism. The view is derived from the principle that nationalism is a false ideology that divides the working classes or suppresses individual expression. But it is easier to levy critiques of dominant nations than oppressed ones. This question is not as irrelevant as many assume: it is dismissed as “it isn’t the 60s anymore” and “irrelevant for anarchists.” Palestine, Ireland, North American Land Back, Euskadi, and other movements for liberation continue. Palestine is obviously the most prominent and anarchists cannot afford to ignore it, whether from a revolutionary practice or a purely analytical perspective. But despite that, anarchists cannot just “go along” with the popular ideas of the times and must think for themselves. How can we engage in these struggles while also being honest about the logical outcome of nationalism, i.e. new states?

TOTW: Wither Theory?

Topic of the Week - In my local anarchist scene, anarchist theory and tendencies aren’t often discussed. There’s the obvious anarchist positions against capitalism, Marxism, and bigotries. But beyond that? Not much to say about theory of change, discussing the varieties of anarchist ideas, or even discussing the “big names” of anarchy: Bakunin, Kropotkin, Malatesta, Goldman, Bookchin, Aragorn!, or Zerzan. In fact, after a recent meeting, it was suggested to avoid centering particular anarchist beliefs, ie, anything beyond “capitalism, fascism, stalinism, and bigotry are bad.” This is because a statement such as “Fuck [person or idea]” may be interpreted by new folks as fact and not opinion. This is no shade on my people, I appreciate them deeply and some private context at least makes it somewhat understandable.
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