To change everything, start anywhere

Letters to an anarchist - Part 2

This is the second part of a collaboration with

Elle Griffin

from

The Elysian

on political imagination. In our first exchange, Elle asked for examples of anarchy in action. This was my response.

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Dear Elle,

What a place to start! It's so exciting to be able to share from this part of my knowledge base that often goes unasked for.

In the interest of starting broad, the Anarchy Works website, compiled by Peter Gelderloos, is an excellent primer organized on a question-and-answer basis that illustrates in practical terms what people desiring anarchy have actually done and why. Pulling from both historical and contemporary movements, it's a comprehensive point of reference for anyone exploring things from an anarchist perspective. Plus, each section ends with a recommended reading list. You'll probably be most interested, initially, by the Economy section.

In the same vein, Peter Marshall dedicates the fifth part of his impressive volume Demanding the Impossible to "Anarchism in Practice," with individual chapters on France, Italy, Spain, Russia and the Ukraine, Northern Europe, the United States, Latin America, and Asia. You might also be interested in part 2 on "The Forerunners of Anarchism," especially the chapters on Taoism, Buddhism, and Christianity.

I'd also recommend a shorter work by David Graeber, called Fragments of an Anarchist Anthropology, which, while also a fascinating study of the academy (and why we tend to see more Marxists than anarchists in the ivory tower), breaks down some common approaches to the question "what would anarchy look like in practice?" and how it's very difficult to begin on those terms. Personally, I think you'll love reading this piece the best, because Graeber is an unabashed utopian thinker, with no time for pessimism. His prose here is spry, light, and full of wit. 

My take on the way you framed the question would be something like this: in my view, the anarchist solution is the idea that everyone should be free to find their own solution. Or put another way, the anarchist solution is precisely the idea that there must not be one solution.

This is different than saying "oh there's no real solution," which means giving up, and also different than saying "all solutions are welcome and should be given equal consideration," which is really another way of saying "I don't care what solution we choose." No, anarchists are quite insistent that there shall be no universal solution, no one right way of doing things, and that we will firmly resist any effort to enforce one. Biodiversity is good — so is social diversity.

So what then, are we reduced to turning the question back on the questioner with nothing to give them in return? Far from it. In order for each person to be free to make their own decisions, there must not be any system of power capable of coercing people into obedience. So the first and most important work of anarchy is dismantling those systems. Skipping ahead to "but what will we put in their place?" belies an anxiety about the removal of those systems — for example, without police how will we keep safe and solve conflicts? Well, that assumes the function of police is to preserve safety and solve conflict. In fact, whenever spaces are wrested from the rule of law, many conflicts cease to exist and many of those that remain tend to be solved much more peacefully. 

I'd say the short answer is to look at current systems and turn them upside-down: people in a free society would not work, they would play. Things would still get done, but people would not be coerced to do them or exploited while doing so. A free society would not send its children to schools; instead, young people would participate fully in the life of those around them. Free societies would not war with each other but intermingle in a borderless exchange of goods and ideas completely free of charge.

There would still be suffering — there certainly will be as our planet continues to heave in fever — and none of us are gonna make it out alive. But in the meantime, we really can work to end the unnecessary evils we inflict on each other and our world.

Much of this remains frustratingly unspecific. That's because this is an initial email — and also because anarchists generally aren't concerned with specifics that aren't ours to decide. I'll leave it to future dispatches to flesh out more details, and to each person to figure out how this applies in their own life.

Sincerely, 

Peter Clayborne

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Thank you for reading Anarchy Unfolds. This publication is entirely supported by my readers. Each subscription helps grow the networks we need to overturn the upside-down. If you value this work, consider becoming a paid subscriber. I’m always grateful for your time and attention.

Also, shoutout to CrimethInc for inspiring the title of this piece: their project To Change Everything is available in multiple formats and languages and is made for quick and easy dissemination. I would definitely add it to the list of essential resources mentioned above.