Slogans

[Chris Doss]

There actually is a small but noticeable anarchist movement in contemporary
Russia. I've read their magazines (one had an amusing article on
neoliberalism and the wage system, the punchline being: "So, end the end, we
see that it in Hayek's view it really true is that Arbeit macht frei!"). I
get the feeling that they come mainly from the middle classe and the
intelligentsia; the working class is much more likely to be Stalinist,
assuming they have a political vision that's more developed than vahue
resentment and dissatisfaction.

Che Guevara is also experience a boom of popularity on the pop-culture
level. He's on T-shirts all over the place.

I spent a few days once in a log cabin with the guy who was head of the
Party of Anarchists in the Perestroika era and played a not unimportant role
in economic policy in that period. They used to go assemble on Red Square
when Gorbachev was speaking and heckle him: "Too slow! Too slow!", something
he regrets doing now but says "It seemed like a good idea at the time. It
would have been much better to support Gorbachev, who is a man who makes
very slow and little steps."

Chris Doss
The Russia Journal
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In the U.S., anarchism comes out of a very different historical and 
cultural context from what it did in Russia. And a lot of today's 
anarchists are anarchists because they find the secrecy and 
discipline of a Leninist party to contradict everything the 
revolution they'd like to make should stand for. I'm not an 
anarchist, but I sure understand why so many radicals today, 
especially younger ones, find it appealing.

Doug