destruction...of myself.

The revolution is eternal.

read this only if you have alot of time


An Introduction to the Anarchist Movement

This work may be freely reproduced, by any means, in whole or in part, but may not be copyrighted by any other individual or corporate entity.

1. Introduction

What comes to mind when you hear the word "anarchy"? Chaos and disorder? Bomb throwers and assassins? Wearing black clothes and combat boots? None of these popular conceptions adequately describes anarchism or the anarchist movement. Over the years, there have probably been more nonsense and misconceptions about anarchism than about any other political theory or ideology. To this very day, if you look up "anarchism" in the Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature, you will be told to "See also: Terrorism". Anarchism is not terrorism, nor is it a fad or style of dress, nor is it necessarily chaotic or violent. Anarchy is a viable system of non-hierarchical organization - a method of voluntary human interaction. The words "anarchy", "anarchism", and "anarchist" should be used to refer to this, not to be used as a catch-all term for "people and ideas that the government doesn't like". Dissenters have always been persecuted by the majority. In this book I will attempt to resolve some of the fears, misconceptions, and outright lies that have been propagated about anarchism. This is in no way an attempt to speak for all anarchists. It has been said that there as many definitions of anarchy as there are anarchists, and I want this book to reflect that. As you read this, be careful not to fall into the trap of classifying people with labels. Everyone has their own ideas and morals, and will behave differently. The purpose of this book is to promote a better understanding of anarchism.

2. Anarchist Principles

Government is an evil and unnecessary institution. The utilization of government as a control device for the population of an area is immoral and inefficient. Anarchy is the alternative to this artificially imposed order. Anarchists envision a libertarian and egalitarian society in which participation is voluntary and mutual aid replaces coercion as the binding force between individuals. Everyone must be allowed to judge for themselves wwhat is right and wrong, and act according to reason and ethics instead of laws and pre-packaged morality. Whose ethics? Each person's conscience. My ethics are: If what you do infringes the rights of someone else, then it is wrong. Anything else is acceptable. Some anarchists believe that anarchy is not disorderly - that it is a much more complex form of organization than the simple hierarchical structure imposed on us by government. Still others view organization as just another tool used my the state to control us.

2.1. Anarchist Ideals

Liberty. Freedom. Freedom of conscience, or as Thomas Jefferson said it, the right to "the persuit of happiness", is said to be the basis for all other freedoms; freedom is the highest ideal of anarchists. With liberty comes equality. Liberty does not truly exist unless it exists for everyone, regardless of race, age, gender, sexual preference, or ideology. All people are born equal, it is existing society that forces us into groups and classes. Government takes away rights. If it did any less it would not be government. Our government takes away our right to bear arms, our right to persue happiness in whatever form we find it, our freedom of expression, and our freedom to choose what is best for ourselves. Government takes away our liberty. Government also denies us equality, another fundamental freedom, by separating us into classes and discouraging interaction between the classes. If you are born into a poor family, you will probably stay poor; if you are born into a rich family, you will probably be no worse off than your parents. The rich stay in control, and the workers continue to sell their lives to the system. Government also prevents free association by placing arbitrary political barriers between members of different countries as well as economic barriers between members of the same country. Militarism is a tragic example of the barriers between countries. If countries would spend as much effort trying to get along with each other as they spend trying to keep their own affairs in order, there would be much less war. There would also be less war if we settled disagreements between countries by putting the leaders of the countries in the ring and let them fight it out themselves. I'm sure all of us would agree that that method of war is absolutely absurd, but this is almost exactly what we are doing by fighting wars in the first place. Brute strength is no way to settle an argument. By what logic is the more powerful country correct? More often than not, the citizens of one country have no grudge against the citizens of the opposing country, but their governments turn them against each other with propaganda and lies. Soldiers don't stop to think that they are actually taking a human life. If every soldier in the world woke up one morning and decided that how many people one has killed is not really the best way to keep score, we'd all be a lot better off.

3. Anarchist Society

There are many differing points of view concerning how an anarchist society should be organized, including communist anarchy, collectivist anarchy, Proudhon's anarchy (which consisted of a federal system of autonomous villages), and even capitalist anarchy (an oxymoron in itself). In a communist anarchy, all property is owned by everyone. Theft is therefore eliminated because everyone owns everything; everyone shares common property. Some anarchists criticize all order and restraint, and that all interaction is good because good and evil are arbitrarily defined. Ontological anarchists believe that chaos is the solution - that the hidden order inherent in human interaction will emerge when artificial barriers are completely eliminated. I feel that the most probable and the most truly anarchic of all the systems is individualist anarchy. Individualist anarchists often criticize the tendency to place people into groups, such as blacks, whites, women, men, anarchist, feminists, homosexuals, etc., and expecting that all of the members of a defined group will think or behave in the same way. In fact, everyone is unique and no system will be right for everyone. In an individualist anarchy, people can form whatever kind of community suits them best. An anarchy in which every community was identical would be almost as coercive as majority rule.

3.1. Technology and Anarchy

Some anachists, such as "anarcho-primitivists", denounce technology as slavery. I firmly believe that technology - using tools to improve quality of life - is a basic characteristic of all human beings. While we must not completely rely on technology and government-funded research for survival, technology and its advancement are important parts of any society. Government is not responsible for scientific advancement. Almost all of the great historical scientific discoveries were made without the "benefit" of government grants. Government funding only allows scientists to be exploited and made to do science to suit the state's purposes. Science should be done for the good of humanity, not the good of the government - you can always depend on government to find a way to make a weapon out of any new technology. When resources are readily accessible to everyone, technology will be free to advance as rapidly as it does now.

4. The Case For Anarchism

To prove a need for change, one must prove that a problem exists with the status quo, that the problem is inherent in the status quo, that the harm is sufficient to cause concern, and that the proposed change will solve the problem and eliminate the harm. In the following paragraphs I will show that a change to anarchy is preferable to the status quo: coercion.

4.1.The Problem Exists

There are many problems with government as a foundation of society. Aside from coercion being unethical, there are many practical reasons why anarchy will work better. #1: Power corrupts. Anyone put in a position of power is highly likely to use that power to use that power to their own ends, and will not be able to fairly represent the interests of everyone that he or she is supposed to "represent". #2: The majority does not necessarily know better than the minority. Truth does not change simply because 51% of the people think differently. The majority, who simply think along with the most popular opinion of the day, cannot possibly be placed in charge and expected to look after the rights of the minority. The only way everyone's rights can be protected is if every person is his or her own government, and be restrained only by conscience and reason. We are perfectly capable of making our own conscious choices, and have our decisions made for us by someone else. In this age we have been conditioned to blindly accept coercion as the only way of life. #3: The class system restrains the rights of indivisuals by forcing them into positions in society that they may not be best suited for. Someone who is born into the working class will, in all likelyhood, do no better than their parents. People born into the upper class can afford to do no work at all while depending upon the exploitation of the working class to support them. #4: Capitalism is a zero-sum game. Capitalism is a pyramid sceme, based on the assumption that property accumulated by the rich will "trickle down", eventually reaching the even the poorest citizen. it is also based on the assumption that people are by nature competitive, and that a community will be better off if everyone is continually fighting everyone else and no one cares about anyone but him or her self. This is about as foolish as putting thirty people into a locked room with thirty baseball bats and telling them that to "win", they have to hit everyone else harder than they get hit. It won't take them long to realize that they would really all win if no one hit anyone else at all: if they cooperate rather than compete. Capitalism assumes that for one person to be happy (by a capitalist definition, read: rich and powerful), someone else must be made miserable (read: poor and powerless). For the anarchist, happiness does not come from having the most money (dollars, gold, cattle) or having the most control over others. In an anarchist society, no one has to be stepped on in order for everyone to profit. In a capitalist society, everyone does as little work as they possibly can - time is money, after all. An anarchist society, in which everyone is equal and no one can profit from the slavery of others, would be much more efficient. #5. Government is a wasteful bureaucracy. Government and the ruling class waste the products of the working class's labor, through taxes, enforcement of unnecessary laws, and the rich living in luxury while the poor suffer. The American government pays social security to old rich people, while young poor children are dying on the streets of easily treatable illnesses. #6. Supply/demand economics doesn't work. The pyramid scheme must eventually collapse. If capitalism works, then why are there people struggling to earn or steal enough to buy enough shoes for all of their children when shoe store owners are complaining that they can't sell enough shoes? #7. Government creates crime. The government prohibits, and prohibition creates crime. The status quo creates poverty and poverty creates crime. The government artificially increases the prices of drugs by criminalizing them. As Emma Goldman said, "The most absurd apology for authority and law is that they serve to diminish crime. Aside from the fact that the state itself is the greatest criminal, breaking every written and natural law, stealing in the form of taxes, killing in the form of war and capital punishment, it has come to an absolute standstill in coping with crime. It has failed utterly to destroy or even minimize the terrible scourge of its own creation." The government only protects those in control, and cares little about the lower classes. Do you feel that you are protected when you walk through the streets in the "bad" part of town? The government places little value in the poor and inner-city youth. There is harm in the status quo, and certainly they are enough to cause concern. Society is degrading every day because of classism, racism, ageism, sexism, and innumerable other -isms. Every day, the government seizes more power, supposedly for our own protection. We don't need to be protected from ourselves and we don't need to be protected from each other.

4.2. The Problem Is Inherent

These problems are inherent in any system based on coercion or competition. They cannot be solved within the present system, partly because of people's attitudes and partly because of the structure of authoritarian government itself. #1. Power is always corruptive, no matter if the power is in the hands of a dictator, a congress, or a majority. #2. While we agree that the majority does not have any more right to rule than the minority, a system of minority rule would still by tyranny. No individual or group should be given the right to control any other. #3. The class system does not have to be imposed directly. Under a capitalist, democratic, "free" society, classes are imposed more subtly, by allowing certain people to accumulate more property than others and allowing them to use it to exploit the rest of the people. #4. Not just capitalism, but any money economy is based on the passing around of a fixed amount of money. Even if the value of a country's monetary unit gains value, that money is coming from somewhere. Specifically, the money is either coming from other countries or people are doing more work for less money. Any time anyone makes money, they are indirectly taking it away from someone else. #5. All governments require the expenditure of wealth to operate: to feed their armies, to build killing machines, and to hire police to control their citizens and extort money from them. In an anarchist society, the workers get to reap all the benefits of their labor, without their employers and government taking it away from them. #6. Poverty is a problem in every country. In an anarchist community, people would trade freely with each other and with the local shoe-makers, and every person would have everything he or she needs. When money and the accumulation of property have been abolished, so too will poverty. #7. Crime is created by government because all authority causes us to substitute laws for ethics and act only according to what is legal rather than what is acceptable by our conscience.

4.3. Anarchy Will Solve the Problem

Will anarchy solve these problems? Yes. Power will not be corruptive because power will not exist. Neither the majority nor the minority will rule because each person will govern themselves. Class will finally be eliminated forever, and equality will finally be realized. Political and economic slavery will be abolished. A capitalist society would not simply spring up again because the only people who would want to become members of such a society are the rich, and a capitalist society depends on the exploitation of the working class for its survival. Poverty would be resolved. There are enough goods to go around; the problem not is that the upper 1% of households control more of it than the lower 90%. In an anarchist society, people would not have to be exploited in order for people to profit and society to advance. Voluntary association and mutual aid are certainly preferable to force. Humanity's full potential may finally be realized if we only stop fighting each other and trying to control one another. Anarchy will solve the problems of the status quo, eliminate the harm, and open up immeasurable possibilities.

5. The History of Anarchism

The rejection of authority dates back to the Stoics and Cynics, and has been around for millenia. However, the terms anarchist, anarchism, and anarchy, from the Greek "an archos" (without a rule), were used entirely in a negative manner before the nineteenth century.

5.1. Proudhon and the Mutualists

In 1840, in his controversial "What Is Property", French political writer and socialist Pierre-Joseph Proudhon became the first person to call himself an anarchist. In this book, Proudhon stated that the real laws of society have nothing to do with authority, but stem instead from the nature of society itself. He also predicted the eventual dissolve of authority and the appearence of a natural social order. "As man seeks justice in equality, so society seeks justice in anarchy. Anarchy - the absence of a sovereign - such is the form of government to which we are every day approximating." He was a 'peaceful anarchist'; he believed that within existing society, the organizations could be created that would eventually replace it. Proudhon was born in 1809, originally a peasant, the son of a brewer. His "What Is Property" and "System of Economic Contradictions" established him in the socialist community. Later he went on to write "The Federal Principle" and "The Political Capability of the Working Class". Although he declared in "What Is Property" that "property is theft", he did not support communism, and regarded the right of workers to control the means of production as an important part of freedom. He never considered himself the originator of a movement, but he did propose a federal system of autonomous communes. He had many followers, but they preferred the title 'Mutualists' to 'Anarchists'; anarchism still bore a negative connotation. Proudhon and the Mutualists, along with British tradeunionists and socialists, formed the First International Workingmen's Association.

5.2. Bakunin and Collectivism/h4>

"The passion for destruction is also a creative passion" - These words would accurately summarize the position of Mikail Bakunin and the Collectivists. Bakunin believed that anarchy was only possible through a violent revolution, obliterating all existing institutions. He was originally a nobleman, but became a revolutionary and joined the International in the 1860's, after founding the Social Democratic Alliance and modifying Proudhon's teachings into a new doctrine known as Collectivism. Bakunin taught that property rights were impractical and that the means of production should be owned collectively. He was strongly opposed to Karl Marx, also a member of the International, and his ideas of a proletarian dictatorship. This conlict eventually tore the International apart in 1872. He died in 1876, but the next International that he and the Collectivists started in 1873 lasted for another year. Later, his followers finally accepted the title of 'anarchist'.

5.3. Peter Kropotkin

In 1876, when he became a revolutionary, Peter Kropotkin renounced his title of Prince and became successor to Mikail Bakunin. He developed the theory of anarchist communism: not only should the means of production be owned collectively, but the products should be completely communized as well. This revised Thomas More's Utopian idea of storehouses, "From each according to his means, to each according to his needs." Kropotkin wrote "The Conquest of Bread" in 1892, in which he sketched his vision of a federation of free Communist groups. In 1899 he wrote "Memoirs of a Revolutionist", an autobiographical work, and "Fields, Factories, and Workshops", which put forward ideas on the decentralization of industry necessary for an anarchist society. He later proved by biological and sociological evidence that cooperation is more natural than coercion ("Mutual Aid: A Factor in Evolution" - 1902). Kropotkin's writings completed the vision of the Anarchist future, and little new has been added since.

5.4. The Anarchist Movement

Even before Proudhon entered the scene, anarchist activism was going on. The first plans for an anarchist commonwealth were made by an Englishman named Gerrard Winstanley, who founded the tiny Digger movement. In his 1649 pamphlet, "Truth Lifting Up Its Head Above Scandals", he wrote that power corrupts, that property is incompatible with freedom, and that men can only be free and happy in a society without governmental interference, where work and its products are shared (what was to become the foundation for anarchist theory in the years to come). He led a group of followers to a hillside where they established an anarchist village, but this experiment was quickly destroyed by local opposition. Later another Englishman, William Godwin, would write 'Political Justice', which said that authority was against nature, and that social evils exist because men are not free to act according to reason. Among Italian anarchists, an active attitude was prevalent. Said Errico Malatesta in 1876, "The insurrectionary deed, destined to affirm socialist principles by acts, is the most efficacious means of propaganda." The first acts were rural insurrections, meant to arouse the uneducated citizens of the Italian countryside, but these were unsuccessful. Afterward this activism tended to take the form of individual acts of protest by 'terrorists', who attempted to assassinate ruling figures in the hope of demonstrating the vulnerability of the structure of authority and inspiring others by their self-sacrifice. From 1890- 1901, a chain of assassinations took place: King Umberto I, Italy; Empress Elizabeth, Austria; President Carnot, France; President McKinley, United Stated; and Spanish Prime Minister Antonio C novas del Castillo. Unfortunately, these acts had the opposite effect of what was intended- they established the idea of the anarchist as a mindless destroyer. Also during the 1890's, many French painters, writers, and other artists discovered anarchism, and were attracted to it because of its individualist ideas. In England, writer Oscar Wilde became an anarchist, and in 1891 wrote "The Soul of Man Under Socialism". Anarchism was a strong movement Spain. The first anarchist journal, "El Porvenir", was published in 1845, but was quickly silenced. Branches of the International were established by Guiseppe Fanelli in Barcelona and Madrid. By 1870, there were over 40,000 Spanish anarchists members; by 1873, 60,000, mostly organized in workingmen's associations, but in 1874 the movement was forced underground. In the 1880's and '90's, the Spanish anarchist movement tended toward terrorism and insurrections. The Spanish civil war was the perfect opportunity to finally put ideas into action on a large scale. Factories and railways were taken over. In Andalusia, Catalonia, and Levante, peasents seized the land. Autonomous libertarian villages were set up, like those described in Kropotkin's 'The Conquest of Bread'. Internal use of money was abolished, the land was tilled collectively, the village products were sold or exchanged on behalf of the entire community, and each family recieved an equal share of necessities they could not produce themselves. Many of these such communes were even more efficient than the other villages. Although the Spanish anarchists failed because they did not have the ability to carry out sustained warfare, they succeeded in inspiring many and showing that anarchy can work efficiently. Although two of the greatest anarchist leaders, Bakunin and Kropotkin, were Russian, totalitarian censorship managed to supress most of the movement, and it was never very strong in Russia. Only one revolutionary, N.I. Makhno, a peasant, managed to raise an insurrectionary army and, by brilliant guerilla tactics, took temporary control of a large part of the Ukraine from both Red and White armies. His exile in 1921 marked the death of the anarchist movement in Russia. Throughout American history, there has been a tradition of both violent and pacifist anarchism. Henry David Thoreau, a nonviolent Anarchist writer, and Emma Goldman, an anarchist activist, are a couple of examples. activist anarchism, however, was mainly sustained by immigrants from Europe. In the late 1800's, anarchism was a part of life for many. In 1886, four anarchists were wrongfully executed for alleged involvement in the Haymarket bombing, in which seven policemen were killed. President McKinley was assassinated in 1901 by Leon Czolgosz, a Polish Anarchist. Especially since 1917, anarchism has appealed to intellectuals. In 1932, Aldous Huxley wrote "Brave New World", which warned of a mindless, materialistic existence a modernized society could produce, and in the 'Foreword' of the 1946 edition, he said that he believed that only through radical decentralization and a politics that was "Kropotkinesque and cooperative" could the dangers of modern society be escaped. After World War ][, anarchist groups reappeared in almost all countries where they had once existed, excepting Spain and the Soviet Union. In the 1970's, anarchism drew much attention and interest, and rebellious students often started collectives. Still published is a monthly British publication, called "Anarchy", which applies anarchist principles to modern life. Anarchism, although often mistakenly thought of a violent and destructive, is not that at all. Anarchists, though some may advocate a swift and violent revolution, envision a peaceful and harmonious society, based on a natural order rather than an artificial system based on coercion.

6. Anarchy As a Way of Life

At first glance, you'd expect that people living in a society would be happier if they agreed with the way they were being governed. Quite the opposite is actually true, however - anarchists refuse to let the state get them down. To prepare for the revolution, which can only be by changing popular opinion, we must live anarchy every day. We must remain committed to our ideals no matter what the circumstances. Every time you laugh at a discriminatory joke, every time you don't speak up when you should - you contribute to the problem. Intellectual freedom - the freedom to think for one's self - is one of the foundations for other freedoms. Freedom of expression is integral to art and creativity. Anarchists should oppose the idea of intellectual property and copyrights, as these only block the free flow of information. Express yourself freely and don't copyright your work. No one, least of all government, has any right to control you. Show the anarchist spirit in your attitude and actions. Perhaps most importantly, don't follow the crowd. Be yourself.

6.1. Civil Disobedience

Many laws are around todat because no one will stand up and break them and say, "this law is unjust!" Practice civil disobedience in your daily life; don't let the government's arbitrarily defined guidelines confine you.

6.2 D-I-Y

Do-it-yourself rather than relying on government or large corporations whenever possible. If you are a musician, consider recording independently. If you are a writer, consider publishing independently and not copyrighting your work.

7. Modern Anarchist Activism

7.1. Direct Action

Anarchists, for the most part, are opposed to voting. Not only are you, by voting, agreeing to having someone make your decisions for you, but you are contributing to the illusion that voting actually makes a difference. The best way to effect real change is by direct action. Direct action may take the form of strikes, protests... anything that directly fights coercion. To quote the I.W.W.: "It [the General Strike] debunks the myth that power flows downward, and proves instead that all teal power still resides at the grassroots level, if we only choose to excersize it." Anarchists are often present at political marches and protests. The gay/lesbian march for equal rights in Washington, D.C. drew about a hundred marching with the anarchist contingent. The I.W.W., an anti-capitalist labor union, supports sabotage in the workplace - not necessarily destructivem just a concious slowing down of production. The most direct for of direct action is shown in clinic defense (the protection of women's clinics from anti-choice groups such as "Operation Rescue") - actually, physicalls fighting coercion. Food Not Bombs is another direct action group working for rights for the poor in San Francisco. They distribute free, hot, vegetarian meals to the homeless, and many of them were arrested because they had no permit (when in fact it would have been impossible for them to get a permit in the first place). Propositions have been introduced that would make Food Not Bombs illegal. In October 1993, a ruling was made that allowed FNB to continue distributing free food, but the individual charges against the members were not dropped.

7.2. Propaganda

Propaganda is an important part of anarchist activism. Some anarchists believe that a revolution now would be pointless - people today have been so indoctrinated with authoritarian dogmas that a revolution now really would cause chaos. A revolution can only take place when a significant portion of the population are tired of being told what to do and decide that they aren't going to obey the government anymore. As Bakunin said, "The end justifies the means, but the means determine the end." An anarchist revolution must be by the people and not by a vanguard. Others believe that freedom is a precondition for the development of the maturity necessary for freedom. Either way, one of the most revolutionary things we can do right now is to encourage people to think for themselves. Posters, flyers, and articles about anarchism help to spread the word and get people thinking. Effective flyers get the point across as quickly as possible, but allow the reader to come to his/her own conclusions, without forcing ideas on anyone. Here is the text of a general purpose anarchist flyer I put together.

Are you a patriotic American? Do you believe in the "American Way"? Just what is the "American Way?" America supposely represents freedom and equality. Patriots continually praise the American system for giving rights to everyone. The fact is that basic human rights are the same whether we have a government or not. All governments can do is try to take rights away from us.

7.2a. The "American Way"

What is free about democracy? Why should 51% of the people, who have been almost completely brainwashed by the power elite, get to impose their will on the remaining 49%, and have their views enforced by police and the military? Truth is not dependent on whether or not the majority agrees with it. To wish to think along with the majority, simply because the majority is the majority, only proves that one is unable think for oneself. Democracy has been compared to two wolves and a sheep trying to decide what's going to be for dinner. It would be more accurate to compare it to two wolves, a sheep, a bird, and a fish. The sheep can form a coalition with the fish and the bird to beat the wolves, but there's really no reason they should all be eating the same thing in the first place. Democracy is a way of giving citizens the illusion that they have control while opressing them behind their backs.

7.2b. Class Struggle

What does free market capitalism have to do with equality? "Free" indeed. Capitalism is just as tyrannical as feudalism. Some ninty thousand hours of your life will be sold to someone else - to someone who has accumulated more wealth and property than you have and will use it to exploit you every chance he/she gets. The working class does all the work and the upper class profits. A member of the poorer class is only trying to survive, while a member of the working class spends all of his/her time trying to become a member of the upper class, so that s/he can in turn exploit his/her fellow workers. All of this is presented to you as equality. If you still insist that we are equal under democracy and capitalism, ask yourself: when was the last time we had a poor president? A poor governor? A mayor? The reason for this is that only the rich have the money to do the extensive campaigning necessary to win an election, and many make a career out of politics. What's more, the rich control the media, and have a great influence over the ideas of the masses. If you don't think there is a definite ruling class in America, think again.

7.2c. Where To From Here?

What is the answer? Socialism? Communism? The problems of America are the same problems that are inherent in any government system based on coercion and enforcement by police. Simply put, power corrupts. No person should have control over any other person. The solution is a completely new society, based on mutual aid, cooperation, and voluntary association, rather than force and government authority. Peaceful cooperation can only exist when people are free to act according to reason - according to ethics instead of laws. Crime exists only because the government prohibits. For example, how many thousands of robberies, shootings, and deaths each year would be prevented if drugs were legalized, normalizing their artificially inflated prices? The state is the greatest criminal of all, violating our individual liberty by stealing in the form of taxes and property seizures, and murdering in the form of execution and war. Despite this fact, government has come to a complete standstill in coping with crime. We don't need a government to protect us from ourselves and we don't need a government to protect us from each other. Government is a completely artificial institution which restricts human interaction.

7.2d. What You Can Do To Help

We're not ready for a revolution yet. People have grown too accustommed to having their decisions made for them. They don't know how to live without government intervention. Government restrictions have caused them to substitute laws for ethics. They've lost the ability to make their own choices. The most revolutionary thing we can do right now is to encourage people to think for themselves. Get involved. We are a Dallas-based group of anarchists who want to get the word out and get people involved. If you want to learn more or recieve anarchist literature by mail, write to:

Digital Revolution 11111-A N. Central Expwy Dallas, TX 75243

7.3. Anarchist Networking

Unity among anarchists is not often emphasized because to unite, we must, to some extent, sacrifice our individuality. There are, however, many anarchist gatherings every year. To organize and exchange ideas, anarchists must form loose connections through networks rather than getting involved in hierarchical organizations. Some anarchists form collectives; others are just part of affinity groups - small, non-hierarchical groups of individuals with common interests.

7.3a. The Zine Network

Zines are small, low-budget, independently published magazines. Anarchist zines are usually specifically anti-copyright, to encourage rprinting of articles. A lot of information gets traded around the global anarchist community in this way. What makes the zine network so unique is that you can't really tell the average zine editor from the average zine reader. Anyone with time and a copier can do a zine.

7.3b. Electronic Networking

Another useful tool for networking is the telecommunications network. With only a few hundred dollars worth of computer equipment, anyone can tap into immeasurable online resources. Electronic publishers can "print" zines in text-file format without any costs for paper and stamps. Almost all electronic magazines are free, since it is virtually impossible to curb their distribution. There are also file transfer sites, such as SPUNK Press, which are directly connected to the internet, and provide archives of electronic magazines, articles, essays by anarchist writers, and even scanned-in books. If you have an internet email account, you can subscribe to mailing lists, which send all submissions to all subscribed accounts. Users who can get usenet also probably have access to such newsgroups as alt.society.anarchy and alt.society.revolution.

8. Conclusion

We're sick and tired of being pushed around by the ruling class. If you want to get involved and start taking action to end coercion, see the appendices for information and addresses useful to get connected with other anarchists across the country and across the world.

Appendix 1: Anarchist Periodicals

Anarchy / POBox 1446 / Columbia, MO 65205-1446 Anti-Power / 1961 Pike Place #12-367 / Seattle, WA 98101 Bayou La Rose / POBox 5464 / Tacoma, WA 98415-0464 Beyond the Wall of Injustice / POBox 6188 / Fullerton, CA 92634 Class War / POBox 1021 / Edinburgh EH8 9PW / Scotland Britain Fifth Estate / 4632 Second Ave. / Detroit, MI 48201 Free Society / POBox 7293 / Minneapolis, MN 55407 Green Anarchist / POBox H / 34 Crowley Rd. / Oxford OX4 1HZ / U.K. Infinite Onion / POBox 263 / Colorado Springs, CO 80901-0263 Kaboom! / POBox 4472 / Long Beach, CA 90804-0472 Libertarian Labor Review / POBox 2824 / Champaign, IL 61825 Love and Rage / POBox 3 / Prince St. Station / New York, NY 10012 Madworld Survival Guide / POBox 791377 / New Orleans, LA 70179 Plain Words / POBox 832 / Haledon, NJ 0780-832 Practical Anarchy / POBox 173 / Madison, WI 3701-0173 Profane Existence / POBox 8722 / Minneapolis, MN 55408 Slingshot / 700 Eshleman Hall / Berkeley, CA 94720 Wind Chill Factor / POBox 2824 / Champaign, IL 60681 Workers' Solidarity / POBox 40400 / San Francisco, CA 94140 [Taken from Anarchism Everywhere: a contact list for the revolutionary community, from the United Anarchist Front.]

Appendix 2:Anarchist Organizations

Amor y Rabia Apartado Postal / 11-351 C.P. / 06101 Mexico D.F. / Mexico Anarchist Black Cross / POBox ABC / 121 Raiton Rd. / London, SE24 OLR UK Anarchist Youth Federation / POBox 365 / New York, NY 10013-0365 AWOL / POBox 7293 / Minneapolis, MN / 55407 Bloomington Anarchist Union / POBox 3207 / Bloomington, IN 47042 The Germinal UCSD Student Coop Center / B-0323-Z / La Jolla, CA 92093 Impulse / Route 1 / Redwing, MN 55066 Midwest Eco-Anarchist Network/ POBox 7511 / Minneapolis, MN 55407 Neither East nor West / 528 5th St. / Brooklyn, NY 11215 Patterson Anarchist Collective / POBox 8532 Haledon, NJ 07508 United Anarchist Front / POBox 1115 / Whittier