TotW: Fear and its Discontents
How do we, how do you, deal with fear?
I want to do things that I am scared to do. By this I mean many things. I want to do things that scare me for personal growth, because dealing with fear makes me more capable and also more interesting to myself. I want to do things that scare me because I think that those things are challenges to the fucked up society that I live in. I want to do things that scare me because confronting fear with other people is a bonding exercise.
TOTW: Hierarchy Is Just Fear in a Suit
Emergent temporary leadership beats hierarchy
TotW: Messiness
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
TotW: Dissolving Power, Not Replacing It
Power structures persist because power itself becomes the game. Even attempts to redistribute power often reinforce its logic rather than dismantling it. Can anarchism go beyond shifting power and instead make it something that naturally dissipates?
Tags
TOTW: Gardens, part II
Here in this part of the world, spring has almost arrived. Outside, the sun is hiding behind some clouds as it has for most of the winter and the snow on the ground continues to accumulate. This week we’re digging up the earth to talk about growing plants and hear about your upcoming plans or how the garden was over the year.
TotW: Against What? Whatchu Got?
The sad treatment of the topic of hostility from various folks, and a friend's question about definitions of anarchist, and an old @101.org question of whether anarchy could exist without the/a state, brings me to this question, which could be simplistic or complicated, depending on where y'all want to go. Below are various routes into this topic, pick the one(s) that interest you most.
Tags
TOTW: Anarchist Clichés
We’ve all seen them, judged them, and likely acted our part in them. Clichés abound in every group of people, but anarchyland boasts an eclectic stew.
TOTW: Conservatism in Disguise
When I hear phrases like "fuck around, find out" it feels like jail/prison culture has busted out and is taking over popular culture...
The "fuck around, find out" mindset operates as a shorthand for harsh justice. Prison justice. That phrase and others of its kind reinforce the idea that actions have clear, brutal consequences. A way of signaling a no-nonsense, retributive worldview where power is respected and transgressions are punished without mercy. They are phrases that tend towards a form of conservatism... a law-and-order morality that maintains rigid social relations.
TOTW: RIGHTS, or So This Is How Cassandra Felt
(ALL EXTERNAL LINKS ANONYMIZED)
Many of us define rights as a negative - the act of officially naming them is enough to bind our potential and creativity within them, thus reducing the liberty we would exercise otherwise.
Just as many rely heavily on rights as a foundational principle, sowing discord throughout communities by educating each other with labor rights readers in one hand and "If An Agent Knocks" in the other.