Showing posts with label Theory. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Theory. Show all posts
Saturday, 15 August 2015
Chile: Reflections From Some Comrades...Please Share Widely
Insurrection News received on 11.08.15 and translated:
About the recent arrests following the street clashes
As is known, in recent months there have been a series of arrests of juveniles accused of participating in riots and clashes with the repressive forces during actions carried out by encapuchados (hooded ones) outside universities. Some of them now remain in various regimes of imprisonment, from house arrest to remand.
Some comrades have already reflected on the role of selective state repression and the lengths that the authorities will go to in their attempts at removing the various forms of conflict against the established order.
We encapuchados use insurgent violence against the forces of oppression as part of a multifaceted struggle for total liberation. We believe that it is up to us to ensure that our methods of fighting do not end up dying with us therefore we feel it is important to disseminate some of our analyses and reflections.
1. The repressive situation.
It is evident when analyzing the repressive situation, that the authorities have been expanding the range of repressive sectors beyond the known internal enemies (urepentant former Marxist guerrillas, insurrectionist anarchists and Mapuche militants) to plant the fear of punishment for radical mobilizations among students and others who undertake various struggles within society.
This is already foreseen and announced in the context of "demonstrations and social unrest" during which the authorities try to impose the view that the only way to transform the system is via adjustments to established institutions using peaceful democratic methods.
To achieve this end, as well as deploying their communication and journalistic army, the authorities fine tune their legal mechanisms, tightening the Firearms Control Act in parallel with the Patriot Act, to punish dissenters and to instill fear to inhibit acts of rebellion and revolutionary violence.
2. Not everything is secure: against victimization and the idea that everything is staged
A very serious error that is made when the authorities unleash their repression is to let it flow without any resistance or an offensive on our part, as well as thinking that the enemy has us all under surveillance making it impossible to carry out conspiracies, attacks and acts of violence against them.
A recurring notion to combat is the idea of the assemblies which for many is usually the first defensive speech (almost as a wildcard) at the time of facing the repression. This idea is usually accompanied by the idea of the innocent victim and the 'right to protest.'
Contrary to the above, the insurrectionist anarchist position and years of experience in this and other areas suggests that it is possible to maintain revolutionary coherence whilst simultaneously rejecting the charges and accusations imposed by the authorities, without assuming or validating the logic of guilty and innocent that are created by the judicial and legal mechanisms of the state.
Also, it is important to combat the idea of assemblies in relation to the stupid belief that every attack action always comes from the police. Of course the authorities often plant evidence against those they want to harm, but it is ridiculous to discard the idea that individuals are free, conscious and autonomously able to organize, plan and carry out attacks against authority and it's normality.
Our position is not that of young students or 'social activists' who struggle with their hands clean and demonstrate peacefully. We position ourselves as the declared enemies of all forms of authority who are willing to organize ourselves to make molotov cocktails, erect barricades and attack the police with our faces covered so that we are not detected by the eyes of repression.
3. Non-stop action
This is a moment where it is necessary to strengthen ourselves as individuals and as anarchist action groups.
This is a propitious time to deepen our critique of the social order as a whole, promoting in practice the rejection of the rules and standards of repentance and victimhood that society promotes.
It is of utmost importance to defend the street fighting in the spaces of combat that were won with decades of insurrectionist practice and to also combine it with other practices of revolt in new spaces - something that was understood and implemented by the comrades who erected barricades in several places in the city just a few days ago.
By remaining vigilant we can minimise risks and recklessness during combat. Always keep in mind that when it comes to the proliferation and continuity of autonomous action we must activate our creative potential to insure the attack is diffuse and informal so that the enemy is not able to predict our every move.
Let's not give way to the fear, silence and immobility imposed by the authorities to halt the insurrectionist advance!
Let's sharpen our discourse and our action!
Solidarity with the prisoners of the street clashes and all the comrades abducted by the authorities!
- some anti-authoritarian encapuchados
Wednesday, 13 May 2015
Some thoughts on anarchist praxis in the 21st century
"Praxis is the process by which a theory, lesson, or skill is enacted, embodied, or realised. "Praxis" may also refer to the act of engaging, applying, exercising, realizing, or practicing ideas." - wikipedia
The state did such a great job of pathologizing acts of resistance against capitalism in the 20th century that often the most rabid condemnations of so-called 'illegal' actions against the state came from large sections of the left itself.
In the 21st century this tradition of cowardice and kowtowing to state dictated 'societal norms' and 'acceptable methods of protest' continues with denunciations aplenty - a recent example being those on the left in the UK who practically lined up to condemn the spray-painting of an anti-Tory slogan on a cynical state-sponsored 'war memorial' during protests against the Conservative Party's election coup.
Militant direct action taken by anarchists in the modern era is not 'vanguardism.' No anarchist individual, group or cell that has taken militant action against the state in the current era has ever claimed to be fighting on behalf of 'the people' or any other such nonsense like some of these sniveling civil anarchist cowards will have you believe. They took these types of actions because they were prepared to go the extra mile - to put words into action - and were prepared for the consequences! Anarchists currently incarcerated around the globe for militant direct action don't want your sympathy or pity regarding the circumstances of their incarceration - leave that type of liberal bullshit to amnesty international and their ilk. Solidarity is what is required, solidarity and broadening of the struggle, IE go on the offensive!
Enough of the endless pandering to what people perceive as being 'popular opinion.' We don't have to endlessly justify our beliefs to the mainstream. How the hell are you reaching the mythical 'people' on social media anyways? Do you have a friend count of 1000s of non-politicized people? Do the pages you admin have 1000s of non-politicized followers? I don't think so. Stop regurgitating and echoing the mainstream / bourgeois media - use and support anarchist media and counter-information sites! Create your own media, create your own websites!
This is not advocating "propaganda of the deed" (doing direct actions for the sake of propaganda) by any means. Nor does this imply we shouldn't use every means available to us to radicalise the population; countless liberals have been converted into leftists thanks in part to social media such as Facebook, Twitter, tumblr, and reddit. However, all these can do is merely make them receptive to ideas - we must constantly unashamedly engage with liberals to identify those who are developing class consciousness. Likewise, we must constantly struggle to agitate the population, to organise, to educate, to spread information, ideas, and concepts.
This is not to say going around spraypainting circled A's on public art will be effective; they often conjure up images of burning dumpsters and broken windows, if they conjure up anything at all. It is entirely possible for propaganda to have the opposite effect we are hoping for; we should use care in selecting both targets and methods. We must constantly adjust our methods and tactics to maximise effectiveness, and this involves gauging the public mood, as well as other objective conditions. Truly effective subversive propaganda has hooks. It makes you ask yourself questions - it makes you ask others questions.
We must act in the offensive. We must seize the initiative. Stop reacting, and start acting. To maximise effectiveness in agitation and propaganda, we must study many subjects - such as marketing, operational research, etc. Every anarchist seeking to maximise their effectiveness when engaging in subversive propaganda should study books such as:
* The Art of War - Sun Tzu
* The Utility of Force - Rupert Smith
* Recipes for Disaster - crimethinc
* Who's Afraid of the Black Blocs - Francis Dupuis-Der
* FM 3-24: Counterinsurgency - US Department of Defence
* FM 34-60 Counterintelligence - US Department of Defence
* FM 90-8 Counterguerrilla Operations - US Department of Defence
* Aesthetics and Radical Politics - Gavin Grindon
* The Guerrilla Marketing Handbook - Jay Levinson + Seth Godin
* Guerrilla Social Media Marketing: 100+ Weapons to Grow Your Online Influence, Attract Customers, and Drive Profits - Jay Levinson
* Guerilla Marketing: Easy and Inexpensive Strategies for Making Big Profits from Your Small Business - Jay Levinson, Jeannie Levinson, Amy Levinson
* The Best of Guerrilla Marketing: Guerrilla Marketing Remix - Jay Levinson, Jeannie Levinson
* Guerrilla Marketing for Free: Dozens of No-Cost Tactics to Promote Your Business and Energize Your Profits - Jay Levinson
Clearly, we must understand the tools of the oppressors, to know how to avoid them, to subvert them, and to use them for good, not evil. We must understand our own strengths and weaknesses, and that of the enemy. We must understand our own goals, and that of the enemy.
We must be calculating. We must be scheming. We must plan carefully. We must look at every angle in every plan, and work out contingencies.
We must take our praxis seriously.
"The general who wins a battle makes many calculations in his temple before the battle is fought. The general who loses a battle makes but few calculations beforehand." - Sun Tzu, The Art of War
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)

