> I'd disagree quite strongly with Chuck around this. As far as
> I'm concerned the BB is a very limited strategy which works
> in terms of a demonstration but not beyond this. What is
> needed is coherent anarchist organisation(s) which organisea
> millions of members on a continental wide basis. The
> current sutructure of the US anarchist movement has to
> radically change if it is to build this. It's method
> of operation also has to change, most importantly thru
> getting involved as anarchists in trade unions and
> communities.
Andrew and I, and other activists, had a long discussion about this several years ago. I think we even placed a bet on this, which I'm waiting to collect on. ;-)
The nuances of this discussion are too complex for me to comment on briefly, but basically it revolves around strategy. Andrew and other class war anarchists in Europe and North America believe that we should organize federations and organizations in order to pursue a revolutionary strategy. I've argued the anti-organizational position, which relies more on the type of social networking that has provided the means by which the "anti-globalization" movement has become successful. The "organizationalists" operate on an anarchist version of traditional Left organizing, i.e. focus on getting folks to join your party. On the other hand, I've advocated a networking approach the seeks to minimize the amount of activist energy that gets sucked into the bureacratic deadzone of organization building. I guess the question becomes, Should we build anti-capitalist parties (or organizations) or a resistance movement/network against capitalism?
I'm not totally opposed to organizations, given that I'm a member of a really old one, the IWW. But I'm pretty convinced that the Left has failed over the years because it has ignored the important aspects of networking which help create the conditions for groups to flourish. One only has to look at the failure of Left party groups to grow, especially the ones that spend so much time on recruiting. Do you join an organization because it accomplishes its goals, or because it is the "correct" organization to join?
<< Chuck0 >>
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INTERNATIONALISM IN PRACTICE
An American soldier in a hospital explained how he was wounded: He said, "I was told that the way to tell a hostile Vietnamese from a friendly Vietnamese was to shout ‘To hell with Ho Chi Minh!’ If he shoots, he’s unfriendly. So I saw this dude and yelled ‘To hell with Ho Chi Minh!’ and he yelled back, ‘To hell with President Johnson!’ We were shaking hands when a truck hit us."
(from 1,001 Ways to Beat the Draft, by Tuli Kupferburg).