The Case For Revolution (2018)
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- Опубліковано 31 лип 2018
- Transcript:
theanarchistlibrary.org/libra...
The third instalment in this four-part series on anarchism. Topics covered include prefiguration, direct action, the culture of resistance, social revolution, and internationalism. This video is an updated version of an old video I did called 'Achieving An Anarchist Society', which can be found here, though I don't think it's as good:
• Video
I participated in my first occupation several months ago. It was real education. The people I was protesting against I'd previously met and, on a one-to-one basis, had grown to personally like in other entirely amicable contexts.
I've not changed many of my abstract positions since then, but it gave me experience of dealing with naked Power. I approached things initially with my residual, conciliatory Liberal mentality - it was counterproductive, even if (in the immediate term) confrontation results in stonewalling: your opponents have to know you will keep your dignity and will not capitulate or be sold out. I got somewhere by discrediting their own arguments on their own terms (we had negotiations and I was writing the letters), but even that made precious little meaningful progress for us. I saw with my own eyes how ruthless power is when challenged, even when it is power administered by otherwise decent people. I firmly agree with Marxists that theory and praxis must go hand in hand in 'dialectical', mutual unity - the lessons from my direct experience in activism I could never learn from books & activism without knowledge is hopeless.
I learnt to be much more resilient and uncompromising. I'm sure I still have much more to learn from Direct Action.
In any case, my point is that it's not just that DA, when done well, is damn effective - which it is - but it's also a profoundly empowering and radicalising *education* that can't be replicated elsewhere, even when it nominally fails in its stated goals.
S Gurney The Liberal way never works. Remember that.
I want to learn how to participate in direct action
No gods, no masters.
ArninoStorm just us! ✊🏻✊🏿✊✊🏼✊🏽✊🏾
ArninoStorm Ura. Kill all Fashie cancer.
And direct democracy!
@@sciencesociety2919 I: Because God (as depicted in the bible, at least) treats people in a cruel, authoritarian and oppressive manner. Jesus (who technically is the same person, if I understand correctly?) doesn´t, not explicitly, but he doesn´t condemn God´s actions either, and commands people to unquestioningly adore and worship the entity treating them this way.
As a pagan, I don´t necessarily _fully_ agree with the "no gods" part either, but also would never let the deities I pay respects to dictate my life. They can be mentors, but never masters
I'm a working class anarchist without academic education who grew up in a conservative household. It is possible to break the chains of capitalist propaganda, but it's a long process that takes time. I fear it's nearly impossible to convince other workers of anarchist or socialist ideas, because right wing and neoliberal media and parties have pandered to them for decades, making sure that they are afraid of leftism.
I've had good conversations with some, getting them interested in socialism without using any leftist terms, but it always ends up with them blaming migrants for their problems. Porky has been injecting racism into the working class and we need to find an antidote.
I would also like to thank you for this series, it is highly engaging and accessible, even for people like me who haven't read tons of theory.
"Triple x, swagmaster four twenty, triple x." Love that.
I hope I live long enough to see it happen.
Cheers from the Philippines!
Ooh! You’ve been uploading a lot lately~
Comrade
Jane Lane I read this comment super deadpan, the way you say dude or bruh when someone says something dumb.
I'm going to start doing this to people.
Hey 👋
Question pertaining internationalism: how would anarchists in imperialist nations assist in overthrowing global capitalism? Considering our economy is largely service based, and our commodities come from exploitation of the global south, what would be done to help the international proletariat? In my view, we would have to stop or greatly reduce our consumption of commodities, as well as somehow provide the global south with reparations for decades of expropriating raw materials. This seems like the most difficult part of a social revolution to me
+Libertarian Socialist Rants Great video as always! However, I feel like I'm personally in a rather hopeless situation. I live in northwest Illinois and am probably the only anarchist (really hesitant to call myself that since I haven't done anything but read/listen to theory) for a hundred miles. Most of the people here range from cookie-cutter liberal centrists to Fox-News-devouring Trump supporters and none of them seem open to socialism of any kind. Increasingly, I feel like it's my responsibility to get the word out, but I have my own issues that prevent me from doing so: ever-present social anxiety, an almost pathological inability to explain my views coherently and accurately or even to argue effectively, and, obviously, no support. I really feel that anarchist organizations need to spread out from the cities because rural areas, especially in the U.S., are in desperate need of a wake-up call.
Honestly, above all else, I'm scared, lonely, and unsure of what to do. I'm finding myself feeling increasingly isolated because of who I am and where I am. I can't even talk to my parents, who I love very much, about these feelings because these feelings are so heavily tied to my politics-- with which they disagree. I'm starting to worry about my psychological well-being. At the same time, I don't want to leave because it's my home and I care about it too much to leave. I guess what I'm trying to say is, please help me.
Jonathan Schweiss I play socialist and anarchist songs proudly at work and in my car. People ask me all the time about them, it gives me a chance to educate and help spread the word. I also have anxiety but i put myself in a situation where i have to talk to people about it because of my actions. Little steps comrade. Anything helps.
+Liberty Infinite My degree is in mechanical engineering, but I'm pretty sure that that's mostly irrelevant to what you're talking about.
+Liberty Infinite I really like the idea of a virtual anarchist federation/collective/etc. What I meant was that I don't know that I have the necessary skills/knowledge to implement something of that nature.
+Liberty Infinite I wish I could be of more help. It would be nice to meet people who have similar social/political/economic views and maybe start organizing in rural America. Prefiguration and all that.
Jonathan Schweiss you're not alone. Social anxiety and feelings of isolation are we becoming more common everyday.
I love this guy so much.
Definitely a George Soros funded bot, maybe.
Or maybe he has a perfect message for our time, presented in a concise, approachable way.
Unfortunately, anarcho-syndicalism isn't very effective in 2018. Here in the US, union membership as a whole is at a historical low (partly due to the rise of new entrepreneurs and self-employed people), and most union members are neither anarchist, or members of the IWW (the only syndicalist union we have). IWW membership in the US, UK, and Ireland combined only amounts to around 5,000. Kinda hard to even consider a general strike with those numbers. And lets face it, the CNT is nowhere near the union it was before 1936. Even if a general strike did occur, it would undoubtedly not be of an anarchist character. So, how can this meager, albeit admirable, century-old movement be the crux of an ideology predicated on the notion of a mass revolution, when it has repeatedly failed at organizing the working class sufficiently enough to implement their radical and enormous-scale solutions?
The working class hates you. Get that into your head.
I'm loving this vid streak m8! keep the revolution alive!
They also have nuclear ,biological ,etc weapons ... i really think they'd scorch earth rather than accept an anarchist planet.
turgid fungus Unfortunately. And Liberals won't help by saying our violence is inherently wrong.
If they torch the planet they can't profit - they will always hold out on pressing the button while even a slim chance of turning a profit exists, that illusion is what will destroy them - they will be so into their self-deception that they wont even realize the ship left them at the docks long ago. They wont HAVE to accept an "Anarchist Planet" because they wont realize such a thing is a possibility until it is too late. Why did the French Royals not leave France? They didn't know they should've, they thought they could turn it around - and when they tried to leave it was too late. Just as happened to Tsar Nicky and Mussolini at the end of the Second World War. They didn't know they were fucked until they were fucked so completely and thoroughly.
The French royals did try to flee France and were caught in Prussia or something and grassed in .... also point is we live in a very different age, however ,the revolutionary left still live in the past.. . Anarchists seem to have taken the Stalinist position on 'liberals' as being as bad as fascism - strange times . On point of general strike it makes sense to not accept payments rather than 'down tools' or walk outs as that would in effect be stealing society back and get the public as a whole on side .We keep talking about learning from past yet remain fully buried in it in regards ro our analysis .
Wasn't there a Women's March on Versailles that forced the King and Queen to go under house arrest in Paris? Wasn't it from there to the guillotine for them? I'm rusty on my French Revolution history so perhaps I'm missing a bit of the story there.
yea they fled house arrest .
On an unrelated note, I love your music choices for this video essay. I'm still relatively new to the idea of anarchism/anarchist socialism, but I'm finding it all very interesting indeed
Thank you! I spent ages looking for the right pieces of music. Glad that ticked with you.
Welcome Comrade!
Where can I download these songs?
Digital Deathsquid if you are new to anarchism I would highly recommend looking into Noam Chomsky and Murray Bookchin. They are both modern anarchists and the latter inspired the bottom-up democratic project "Rojava" in Northern Syria. Glad to have you with us conrad
I just might pin this on my Twitter, exceptional work as always. Death to the state, peace to the planet, animals, and humanity!
I am still not sure where I stand, but I definitely find this kind of stuff more appealing. Keep up the good work :)
The best way to achieve socialism is a direct democracy.
+ it's rigged bullshit. Under 'representative democracy', the vast majority of people do not give a shit about 'politics' and governing themselves since they rely such activities on others or their direct participation hardly makes any differences. Thus they are easy to be manipulated by hyperbole propagandas such as hatreds and warnings upon immigrants and refugees when the real problem is inequality, corruption and subjugation.
However, under direct democracy, people are different. They participate in controlling and governing their lives and their participation is what makes differences in their very lives. It is much worthier to participate. Also, direct democracy is the process of endless reasonable discussion and cooperation which stem intellectual independence and critical thinking. Plus they get to know their locality and neighbours better, including immigrants. Thus people would be much more resilient towards propaganda which stimulates hateful emotions, as they can think and know the reality of 'different' people.
You make the best outreach material
I really enjoyed this video, but as a Democratic Socialist (and Libertarian Socialist, ala GDH Cole) I do have a few concerns:
1. How will the social revolution deal with the parts of the population which disagrees with you, be they leftists, i.e. Marxists, State Socialists and possibly even people like myself who see a need for a small state - to Social Democtats, Liberals, Conservatives, etc. I'm referring here to the general proletariat (but feel free to include politicians, etc. as well). What if the direct democracy results in positions contrary to anarchism? You mentioned that in platformism the federation would be responsible for the political actions of the people - this actually seems scarily authoritarian to me.
2. Partially building on the above point; Would you work with socialists who are pushing alternative paths to socialism?
My own view: Personally I agree that you can not decree socialism into being. We need the ideas and practices of socialism to be present in the population, and grow. I don't however believe this is possible, or at least it will be harder to achieve, without actively working towards this goal from the bottom up and from the top down - as social policies can make major changes in society. The co-determination laws in Germany, where 50% of the board of directors of all major companies are voted up from the ranks of the worker, by the workers, is an incredible way to prepare workers for workplace democracy, while economic policies supporting co-ops would also help people think in entirely new ways. However, without socialism living within the population nothing will happen, and we will be left with a stagnant social democracy, or worse.
abolishing wage labor directly, but passing laws guaranteeing company shares (accumulating the longer you work there), or a percentage cut of the profits, should be easy to swallow.
From a political angle this is a path I would want to take:
- Abolish wage labor (or, if we need to compromise with social democrats, passing laws guaranteeing company shares (accumulating the longer you work there), or a percentage cut of the profits - which can then be pushed higher and higher)
- Increasing levels of co-determination and workplace democracy
- Abolish the stock market (or phase it out)
- End inheritance rights (at the very least of capital, and of course it should exclude commodities - if fought it should even be easy to make compromises with the socdems as they already believe in steep inheritance taxes)
- Utilize mutualism to fund entrepreneurs, co-ops, etc.
The world I want to work towards is one pragmatic enough to give humans the optimal freedom in every way, but as ideas of freedom are contradictory, there needs to be some compromises. This is also we I support the idea of a small centralized state, with partial direct democracy, which will deal with general civil matters, and also be the voice of the consumers (Though I wouldn't mind separating the consumer council from the state. I advocate for separation of state and labor, as suggested by GDH Cole and others. At the same time I would be pragmatic enough to work and compromise with state socialists, as I believe the key for socialism to work is actually acknowledging different views and perspectives and finding compromises together.
Great video comrade. Anarcho-Communism for the win.
read the state and the revolution
Comrade Swinglish State and revolution is shit.
Comrade Swinglish Read Bloodstained mate, that is some good shit.
Rixton Shh, shh, shh, shh, go back to your cave little one.
Comrade Phil as Marxist/Maoist I have my serious doubts about Anarcho praxis on large scales. But the prerequisite for any leftism is the death of capitalism and a bourgeoisie decapitation party.
So let's get along and not call each others ideas trash yea? The left needs to be unified if we want our revolution.
They'll be plenty of time to argue feasibility later.
Fantastic video, both the "case for liberty" and this one, brings it to the point.
Serves really well as info material. well done!
Bless up comrades
Just out of curiosity, what would happen if there were a general strike tomorrow given the current conditions?
expected an empty rant but this was quite informative, thanks partner
also go prefiguration
I'd just like to say congratulations and keep up the good work, I've grown to like your channel and have gladly recommended it to my eldest son, as he appears to be in a similar place that you were some years ago and needs a gentle nudge in the right direction. I am a libertarian socialist myself, which I believe to be a position most reasonable people arrive at sooner or later, if they're open to rational debate and manage to break free of the shackles of prejudice. However, I might have another tactic to add to the discussion here. It's something that myself and some like minded people have been quietly chipping away at for years, which deals with the problem of the towering monopolies of common wealth (both corporations and private individuals) that distort and corrupt our apparent "democracies", essentially the neoliberal establishment, as, wherever there arises a successful organisation of people on socialist lines, these are the outside enemy who divert enormous resources to stamp it out, by economic warfare or worse. My position being that we need to defuse these monopolies by eroding their economic power base, thereby releasing people from the pressure they exert, freeing them and affording them the time and space to self educate, so society can finally back out of a cul-de-sac we've been drifting down for over 100 years.
The root of the problem lies with the neoclassical economic model on which the world is currently running and the rarely heard story of how it came into existence. It's a well documented story, that happened in plain sight, in the closing decade of the 19th Century, yet it scarcely gets a mention in an economics degree course, as it tells the tale of how that academic discipline became undermined by a deliberate corruption of its very language. There is a very good book, co-authored by Mason Gaffney and Fred Harrison, helpfully titled "The Corruption of Economics", which I would strongly recommend, as, once you're familiar with the story, you quickly realise that neoliberalism is simply the political wing of neoclassical economics and is the endgame of something that was started, as an act of economic protectionism, with an astronomical injection of private money, over 100 years ago (in 1898, Rockefeller alone gave $35,000,000 to this end, most certainly the largest private "charitable" donation in human history, and that man was no philanthropist). So what got Rockefeller, Morgan et al's pants in such a twist, that they found themselves digging so deep into their mean spirited pockets? The answer would appear to be quite simply the direction in which classical economics was headed, and to understand that, we need to rediscover a much overlooked figure from the 19th Century, who was a household name at the time, and whose book on political economics, "Progress and Poverty" (1879), was a worldwide bestseller, outselling everything but the bible, across North America for near on a decade, as it represents the high water mark for that school of economic thought. I am, of course, talking about Henry George, and I know Marx and he didn't see eye to eye on many things, but he's well worth reading, as I believe his body of work comprises a road map out of this rotten game of monopoly the Chicago School have had us playing.
Like all good anarchists, I value grass roots education above all else, and this is my small contribution to the struggle, as I personally believe that, by fiscal reform, targeting the consumption of common wealth (everything that existed before humans walked, that has always been there to be discovered), and extracting the economic rent from such monopolistic activities, before redistributing it by means of a universal income, we can finally create the necessary preconditions for something better to flourish, that perhaps won't be cruelly stamped out this time around.
Anyway, apologies for the essay, but hopefully a little food for thought there and I'd be very interested to hear what you have to say on this...
In America there was the protest in North Dekota against a oil company that wanted to build a pipeline through Native American territory and one of the core sources of water in the area. It was seizure of territory and it was also threatening the fresh water. The protest lasted but the state responded with military like force to put them down. Though nobody died I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s shot people if she’s found a way to justify it to the public. In the protest a woman was permanently blinded, I heard someone might have lost a limb, and other horrid cases. Now tell me... how the hell do we fight that?? I can guarantee you that even if Britain went successfully anarchist the US would have long made plans to invade and restore capitalism to Britain even if it is democratically executed. The US didn’t hesitate to overthrow democracies in the name of their interests before (Remember Chile) so what can we do? In my opinion there is nothing we can do, we can have thousands but they will have millions funded by them to put us down.
love you bro, I needed this video.
is this a 4 chan mating call. truely flattered
Build cooperatives!
I love you
@Nayako Sadashi , why?
to this day this is still an amazing video and you're still my favorite leftist youtuber
I know this isn’t relevant to the video but the prodigy playing in the background was awesome. Great work mate
"Direct action against the authority in the shop, direct action against the authority of the law, direct action against the invasive, meddlesome authority of our moral code, is the logical, consistent method of Anarchism. Will it not lead to a revolution? Indeed, it will. No real social change has ever come without a revolution. People are either not familiar with their history, or they have not yet learned that revolution is but thought carried into action." ~ Emma Goldman
Dude, I want to make a yt channel on anarchism too, but I'm afraid of the public display of my political views (anarchism can get a lot of hate and miscomprehension) and the consequences it might have in my life. How do u deal with that? Can u do a video about it?
My approach is to give zero fucks
Just don't use your real name. Occlude your public identity as much as possible.
The idea is to explain anarchism in a sensible way, without wearing masks or having to occlude my identity, so that people can trust the "messenger". Giving zero fucks is a nice strategy, but I also do not want to receive treats in real life. It's hard, and my family wouldn't like it either... Im conflicted. I'm translating the Anarchist FAQ to portuguese (my language) and I wanted to do videos about the topics of the sections. It's just fear that stops me everytime :/
Has any serious thought been given to how to make Anarchism appeal to the masses who don't know or care about the "isms" of why they face the hardships they face, or how to (for lack of a better word) "sell" people on Anarchism that see the word "Anarchy" as the big scary boogeyman it has been made out to be? In my experience, these types of Leftist communities are too insular as opposed to the inclusive nature of Leftist politics of the early 20th century. What is the best way of bringing back this sense of inclusiveness?
Fuzzy Dunlop tbh, memes as stupid as that sounds is one way that can reach people online at least. In person, people must communicate and discuss, question, and collaborate with one another in how to change things.
I have been radicalizing my coworkers and always making anti capitalist rhetoric a part of any remotely political convo I have. Simply making people aware that there are real alternatives can get the ball rolling.
It’s not going to be easy though :/
Yeah, we probably need a new name for it. If the fascists get a friendly name, we should too
Honestly, humor. Be friendly and funny. People who can laugh at exaggerated versions of themselves and the madhouse world of contradictions they live in can connect with people on a gutteral level that spurs thought and connections with other people looking to share something they enjoy.
+Sam J - At first I kinda viewed your comment skeptically but there is some truth to what you say - if you meant it humorously or what, I think "advertising" is incredibly important. I think there are tenants of Anarchism that appeal to certain societies that are more "individualist" than others, for example, the United States has often viewed itself as possessing some sort of "rugged individualism" and as eye-rolling as that sounds it is something that could be used to introduce people to Anarchism - "under a more family-friendly name" - I've always wanted to 'take-back' Libertarianism from the Ayn Rand fetishists who've dragged its name through the muck lately.
Fuzzy Dunlop Left Libertarianism, or Social (Working Class) Libertarianism.
Hi, I have some questions unrelated to the video: 1.) Is the "boss-worker" relationship still a hierarchical one, if the worker voluntarily agrees to work for the boss, and why? 2.) Once the revolution becomes real and there is a bunch of people voluntarily deciding that they want to live in a market system outside of ancom communes, what do we do with it?
I would really appreciate some answers to this questions they are quite existential to me, thanks.
Very nice video right there! You made some good points. Greetings of solidarity from Heidelberg, Germany!
if i could only like this video more than once
KEEEEEEEPPPP uploading!!!!!!!!
I love this channel, a considerable treasure trove of knowledge and theory, applicable and practical.
I need to start doing film screenings with your vids mate, there so good!
I am wondering though, what is your thought on the establishment using nuclear weapons against revolutionary forces and how we could attempt to avert or counter that?
Don't get all your forces in one place, they can't nuke the whole country. Plus if they really were to do it, they would loose the last shred of sympathy from the public and a large part of the military
A Ton Well they could if they really wanted to, nukes are pretty hefty.
I'm mainly talking about if the majority of the public are fighting against them, along with large portions of the military.
Like a last resort basically.
Comrade Phil Unless we are post-scarcity at that point, they will still need workers. Through whatever means, they will need them to work for them. That's not really gonna happen, if you start nuking half the country
A Ton True.
Though technically we already love in a post-scarcity age, its just Capitalist prevents us from realising it.
Artificial scarcity and all that jazz.
Raaa the fucking crazies have come out for this one, you must be hitting the nail on the head XD
This vision is worth fighting for.
welcome back :)
I am both an Anarcho-Communist and a weapons geek.
Your accent is so relaxing to listen to, although I’d recommend getting further from the mic since your fs and ths are very pronounced
Thanks for another great video
Thank you as always
Excellent.
Typical question here but I guess someone else would like to understand the answer: I see now that armed resistance isn't the central tenant of anarchist revolution as perhaps is the popularly pushed image of revolution (no doubt thanks in some part to the Bolsheviks) but how does an anarchist militia oppose hierarchy created through violent domination? Like the fighting fire with fire analogy is probably one you've heard before.
I am an Ancom. I support revolution. However, we need to make sure our revolution stays true to it’s goals. History has proven that revolutions have the possibility to deviate from their original goals and devolve into totalitarianism. But nevertheless, Vivá la revolucion!!
Anarchist revolution is a little different in that matter because all revolutions that carried through history was in the favor of hierarchy even in communist revoulution there was trotsky and lenin.
But in a anarchist revolution there wouldnt be anyone to take it because it would be against the hierarchy so if we would be able to ignite the torch his fire wont go away
Is violence really the only way?
_Spread the bread, comrade!_
AMAZING VIDEO COMRADE SPREAD THESE WORDS LIKE BUTTER ON BREAD
I do not agree with your short depiction of synthesis anarchism. I find you're missing the point of making a synthesis of all anti-authoritarian currents, bringing together a wide range of individuals with different backgrounds, ideas, projects, methods and the capacity to build bridges between organisations, typically unions, local groups and individuals vs. the menacing shadow of dogmatism constantly lurking over platformism.
We are getting there...
This whole anarchism thing sounds too good to be true to me.
@@anonymousdontbotheraboutit2895 hey dude, i'm an anarchist now 👌
What is the name of the music that plays in the video? IT IS SO EPIC!!!
The Prodigy - Climbatize
Fatboy Slim - Satisfaction Skank
The Prodigy - Breathe
The Prodigy - First Warning (I highly recommend the vocal version)
Pierre Henry - Psyche Rock (Fatboy Slim Malpase Mix)
Tomoyasu Hotei - Battle Without Honor or Humanity
Libertarian Socialist Rants Thanks so much!
Also I have an idea for a cool song that you could use. "The Machine" ua-cam.com/video/kbIwo1GnIuw/v-deo.html
It fits the mood of your videos. I could give you a high quality file of it.
@@ElectricUnicycleCrewthe prodigy was my jam growing up in the nineties as a weird proto-cyber-punk kid in the Midwestern USA. Love it as wallpaper for your vid. Excellent job, comrade!
I feel the marxist revolutionary approach is a little outdated. In 1st world countries like britain and america a lot of the means of production have been outsourced to other countries, and now this industrial working class is dying out. I think there needs to be a mix of revolutionary tactics and electoral tactics to achieve socialism.
Aluta continua, Comrades!
18:07 Wait. Is there a movie about Durruti? Where is that footage from?
Libertarias. The film is about anarchist women in the Spanish Revolution but includes some Durruti scenes
Libertarias
luv your accent when speaking spanish
Sounds like you've adopted the especismo method :)
In cuba there are co ops but the state heavily influences the businesses
Please read up on the effectiveness of violence vs nonviolence. The latter is by far more effective and suitable as a strategy if any sort of revolution is going to be achieved.
Please read up on Peter Gelderloos's writings on why nonviolence is a failure.
Eoin O'Connor im not going to go through the entire book just to respond so ill say this. Violence would undoubtedly take place, but as a primary strategy is a terrible idea and at its core antithetic to anarchism if your goal is to mobilise popular support (which it should be). It's troubling to see when people in leftist circles uncritically embrace violent revolution.
That's not how you pronounce confederación nacional del trabajo
Cs at the start or in the middle of Spanish/Catalan words are pronounced as Th (Not including American Spanish)
Er in the middle of the word confederación is pronounced "air", almost.
And Trabajo... The J is pronounced as though it were phlegm. Like a very phlegmy GH
I live in Northern California and this is my vision, I want to help go forward
Is that progidy in the background? Also great vid fucking love this channel
It is, Prodigy songs used are Climbatize, Breathe and First Warning
During an international general strike, what is to stop scabs crossing picket lines?
Not sure, good point. But somehow the case of the strikers MUST be addressed to the most vulnerable, desperate workers - those for whom not working and having no means of support would mean starvation. If they, the migrant laborers and oppressed minorities, can be won over, where will the scabs come from?
Alright I'm stationed, waiting patiently for the general strike... what's the signal?
Great video! I agree with how an anarchist society would function and organize post-revolution, but i think a big problem in the anarchist community is its lack of support of a vanguard party. The video author speaks of organization, but spontaneity is not the way. Maybe for a revolution on a national level, but if our goal is an international revolution, then we must have some kind of LEADERSHIP and highly sophisticated organization. Don’t get confused I do not advocate for a Bolshevik centralized authority, but instead for a party that represents anarchist thought and ideas that actually pushes the less educated people forward for the better. Not for a state capitalist state like in the Soviet Union. I’d like to hear support for spontaneity over vanguardism. I’d be happy to debate. I just think that a movement that has some kind of spearhead like a vanguard party would be ideal in an anarchist revolution.
Liking the prodigy at the start
What about hierarchies based on competence?
That's a good question. Anarchists don't reject competent authority. The reasoning for this is that in a free society, different people will naturally develop different skills, and so will be deferred to when it's appropriate. Anarchists hold that this doesn't limit freedom because recognising the skills of someone else and deferring to them is a kind of authority which is imposed on you by your own reasoning. See Bakunin's 'What is Authority' for more.
cheers bra
Video just forced an understanding of why power structures fear a "culture of resistance." Dissolve them before they congeal.
How did that snowball work for the Arab Spring?
schaughtful well it did help radicalize the left in the Middle East. Rojava is a thing, Yemen separatists are struggling against Saudi fascist imperialism, Lebanon is home to a large radical leftist presence aiding Rojava. But right wing reaction has pushed back or taken the tide of said spring, which is sort of like a catch 22
Confrontation will result in inevitable defeat
At this moment in time.
nothing has to be inevitable
Great! How will you enforce it?
How would Anarcho-Communists feel about true A.I. btw? Specifically A.I. rights. I'm for all it.
True AI is a _long_ way off, if it is even possible at all. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Assuming it did happen though, I think AI rights would be pretty easy for us to accept if we manage to evolve our notions of personhood.
Jonathan Schweiss Same. A.I. rights would fair a hell of a lot better there than under Capitalism, where they would be easier to be exploited as slaves, and we are left with nothing.
United Federation of Planets here we come! Chomsky 2020!
If you're saying Chomsky 2020 you're missing the point, lol
Libertarian Socialist Rants lol yeah its playing their game but come on, that’d be fucking badass
He would become corrupted by the system
Khabib via 1st round TKO
who do you vote for in elections? have you ever thought about standing as a political candidate
I definitely wouldn't stand as a candidate because I'd become corrupted by the system.
As for voting, generally I'd vote for whatever lowers the chance of the further right party getting into power. So in a UK election this would be Labour.
For leftist change, all of our time should be spent in grassroots activities like those described in this video, and we shouldn't waste our energy on parliamentary campaigning. However, the energy needed (at least for me) to vote is insignificant, so I'd do it, the rationale being damage control.
you should do i full vid on rojava
How do you think a militia would work in the 21st century?
The YPG in Rojava is worth looking into.
Advocating violence seems like an extremely bad idea.
Valosken How else will you fight against a *fully armed* government and win?
That's the thing. I don't think we should be fighting the government. That's why I said violence isn't a good idea.
i am a statist who prefers hierarchy.
As this is a video about strategy, check out 'The Case Against Hierarchy' if you're interested in hearing arguments to the contrary
YEET
If we want worker run company, what's stopping us from buying a factory or company? We can run it together and distribute share of ownership to all the workers.
Nayako Sadashi Where?
#killfascists
¡No pasarán! Ura to that.
¡No pasarán! What about Stalinists though? Not a fan of them or other Tankies. But I don't despise them like I do most Right-Wingers.
+Macklin Butcher
they have to go but rigth now we are playing dice about when they will stab any real socialist in the back
The 20th century left a bitter taste in everyone's mouth when it comes to the Stalinist/"Tankie" question - but I think things would be different this time. I doubt that the Authoritarian Communist school of thought could gain much traction these days - people will look to a new face of Socialism and Anarchism, not the old ones which have been thoroughly sullied by Capitalist propaganda and their own misdeeds.
I think you'd be surprised how much traction reactionary politics of various forms, wearing socialist masks, will have in the coming years. There's so much money wrapped up in resisting the reforms and revolutions necessary to bring about true socialism/communism/anarchism, and especially in the (militarily dominant) US class consciousness is so anemic that it'll be depressingly easy to divert all that revolutionary energy off into scapegoating various groups. Trump/GOP/Dems in the US already have the majority of the voting population blaming all their problems on people of color, non-christians, LGBTQ+ people, women with various qualifiers, and the white working class rather than on capitalist systemic oppression.
Which, to end on a higher note, is why public communicators like LSR are so crucial. We need education like this to head off co-option, reactionary infiltration/subversion, and scapegoating, all throughout the west in particular. Thank you, LSR for putting in this work!
It's funny you think you would come out on top in a revolution
Not yet, obviously. And yet Rojava and the EZLN are holding out pretty well…
The other barrier comes in the form of violent bigots.
Im sorry but if you were to overthrow a government with support of the military or atleast part of the military how can you be sure the military wouldnt want to build a military junta instead of supporting your Socialist government. the idea of the military at all supporting the revolution is far to outrageous to be realistic, and if you were to go on with the revolution without the support of the military their overwhelming firepower and massive support from the huge majority of citizens who loathe the idea of socialism would certainly do anything they could to support the military/government. if you disagree with this i am more than willing to discuss this idea.
workers of the world unite. you have nothing to lose but your lives... all your lives ... to starvation ...
I mostly agree with your views, but draw the line at promoting violence. I understand that you are enraged by the society of today. Feelings like anger and hate have been beneficial for the individual. They were evolutionary necessary in order to overcome boundaries like love, compassion and respect in times where resources were scarce and the need to manifest physical violence towards others in order to simply survive was real. This is not necessary in non-hierarchical welfare societies. Be the change that you want to see. Violence under the banner of anarchy will lead to hate of the non-hierarchical ideologies that you promote. Your political views and your videos on the topic have been the best I have seen, up until the last few weeks. I strongly believe a smooth transition is possible, please exercise caution and patience for the sake of stable forward momentum of society.
Do you think the ruling class will relinquish power and property?
They have tanks.
@@ElectricUnicycleCrew Tanks are crude tools of war constructed to defend national borders or worse, conquer. They were commissioned by nations for external threats, not internal. Blurring national borders via understanding, trust and cooperation will lead to a natural deconstruction of those defensive measures.
Civil unrest is what leads to building of actual tools of population control, water cannons, stun guns, riot gear and training etc. These tools of oppressions are even seen as somewhat ethical, making them far more dangerous than tanks
@@ElectricUnicycleCrew So you'd agree that prefiguration cannot be total? Because the anarchist society of the future won't be violent.
I'm with you! When do we start?
You jump first. I'm right behind you. Promise.
Gunner6000WarZ Oh fuck off, you snobish pig.
Lol.
So basically what you are advocating for will never work, or at least not for a couple more generations. Because there is not a massive anarchist movement which is what you say we need in order to make it work.
The answer is to build the mass movement.
I sympathise with anarchism, but I vote pragmatically. I think that something like what Bernie Sanders advocates for, just perhaps more socially libertarian, would actually be applicable. A Scandinavian system with more direct democracy and individual freedom. But I do not see a fully autonomous anarchist society being feasible nor do we need one to be at the nexus of happiness.
Do you envision that a revolution would devolve into a reign of terror resembling totalitarianism?
I think mass popular support, participation and understanding of what we're trying to achieve is vital to ensuring that a revolution is going to be at all constructive. I think that revolutionary terror might happen but I don't think that would resemble totalitarianism.
Your naivete is flabbergasting.
This is comedy gold!
The hard part, is that half the people really want to be ruled.
Ming Mongo Nahhh, don't mistake subjugation and the lack of realisation of their own power and the society we could create as "wanting to be ruled".
It's all well and good to speculate on humanity's basic urge to be free, but whenever things go pearshaped enough, about half the population, at any place or time in history, will demand a fascist and follow him to hell. Nearly half the voters in America picked a psychopathic gameshow host who said fascist shit right out in the open. The Roman emperors that were most loved by the people were the absolute worst ones. The French recently dodged an open fascist by voting for a banker. The British followed a fascist out of the EU. You can debate the reasons for this, but not the result. Half the people want to be told what to do by a leader.
so the state is somehow monolithic and malicious and you just can't get direct democrcy through peaceful means? lol. it also helps reveal what kind of people are here when you see them use "comrade" unironically.
Do you think the capitalists would just let the masses take the source of their wealth and run production? Like I said, they won't just relinquish power.
no, but, unless you live in the USA, I don't see governments as primarily being run by businesses. We already regulate them. ffs, it's not even like communist companies are illegal.
You might have missed the critiques made in my previous videos.
tbh i don't remember why i had subscribed to you and i think i saw the videos you uploaded and noped out of each one and then forgot...and this is the only one that i actually listened to the whole way:)
See 'Our Political System is Rigged' for a generalised critique of capitalist representative democracy.
neo marxist eh? you need some Jordan Peterson lectures and learn why we have hierarchies
Oh, another Peterphile. Saved the world already with your room-cleaning?
Xd