Like I said before, "lifestyle anarchists" don't exist. This is simply a flame term used by dogmatic anarchists who don't understand that anarchism has always been a philosophy with many branches. Given that the people who use the term can't even agree on its definition, all the more reason to dismiss it. There are no people who run around calling themselves "lifestyle anarchists" either.
By the way, I hate to pop the little dogmatic bubble that you are living in, but almost all of those people you describe as being "lifestylists" would have no problem saying that their preferred economics is socialist or communist or cooperative.
Frankly, to be a bit more of an asshole about this, I think your argument above is inconsistent with anarchism.
> I never implied that there is a dress-code for a given ideological
> orientation, although many counter cultures and (more appropriately for
> lifestylists) subcultures have common patterns of dress that they
> identify with. That point wasn't that they were dressed in black, the
> point was that they had black bandanas over their face with black
> hoodies, and sidebags filled with rocks... in a situation where there is
> no streetfighting, no mass demonstrations, and those demonstrators
> present consider them a laughing stock.
You seem to have a rather elitist and condescending attitude towards other anarchists.
You know who you sound like? Louis Proyect.
> >There are anarchists who show up at demos dressed in black. This >does
> not make them black bloc. Hell, I've showed up at demos wearing >black
> when we weren't doing a bloc.
>
> Sure, I've shown up to anarchist demos dressed in predominantly black
> when there was no black bloc as well. Big deal. This isn't really
> relevent to waht is being discussed.
Of course it it. You were putting down anarchists who showed up at a demo all dressed in black.
> >Needless to say, I disagree that there is "a lot wrong with black
>
> >bloc tactics." I am extremely disappointed, however, when I see
> >anti-BB comments from so-called 'anarchists' that sound like they
> >were written by liberals. Thank goodness these people are a small
> >minority in anarchist circles.
>
> When I say there is a lot wrong, I speak as someone who has actually
> been involved in serious black bloc's at mass demonstrations where
> significant exchanges of force took place between us and the police. A
> while ago Barricada released a very good internal critique of the black
> bloc organisation in general, I forget the name of it offhand. To imply
> that these comments are "liberal" is way off base and slanderous at
> best. To claim that people (including BB'ers such as myself) in the
> anarchist movement who are critical about many black bloc's "are a small
> minority" is not only a blatant lie, but a dishonest attempt to
> marginalize opinions with slander rather than confront them through
> debate. Barricada represents a significant voice in the anarchist
> movement, is the official publication of north americas largest
> anarchist organisation, NEFAC, and is north americas only english
> language monthly anarchist periodical. Your comments are entirely baseless.
Ahh, getting rather defensive there are you? I'm going to repeat again that your comments sound exactly like a fucking liberal activist whining about the black bloc. I'm willing to bet that you've been hanging around with Mark and Brian a bit too much, huh? Mark's a good guy, when he doesn't go into suburban Republican dad mode and tell me to get a job. Brian is simply full of shit about anarchism. Several of us have a wager that he will turn into the next Chris Day, and end up ranting about anarchism from some Maoist perch.
Barricada is a significant voice in North American anarchism. That doesn't mean that it is right. And lots of anarchists refer to Barricada as "black block porn" for all the photos they reprint of demonstrations.
Look, I have been involved with at least 4 black blocs and have debriefed others who have participated in the black blocs in Seattle, Genoa and elsewhere. I think there are some problems with the black bloc tactic and those who use it, but I'm not going to engage in a blanket dismissal of the tactic. The tactic works. Should we all swear off mass rallies because ANSWER does so many bad ones? No, of course not. That's why I'm being such a pisser about your comments.
Chuck0
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