Archive - Nov 30, 2004

Date

Chumbawamba on Collective vs. Individual Anarchism

Interesting bit a friend sent me on Chumbawamba. I'm not sure where it came from but it seems to be part of a set of questions asked the group. Perhaps a FAQ on their site. Anyway, here it is:

My name is Grant. I am an anarchist in the U.S.. I
have a question, as you may have guessed. Are you guys
Individualist Anarchists or Social Anarchists? Thanx
for reading. Hit me back!

We are not 'individualists', generally it is the far
right that goes for that line, and they use it to
justify grabbing whatever the individual wants no
matter how selfish. I did not even know there was such
terminology as Individualist Anarchists and Social
Anarchists but I do think that human beings are
basically social and our lives are inter connected and
we are kidding ourselves if we think we can (or do)
exist alone. The concept of the 'self' is quite new.
Rosa Luxemburg said: "Freedom is always and
exclusively freedom for the one who thinks
differently." And I take that to mean, not that we
should act however we feel regardless of the effect it
has on society and the people around us, but that we
should respect the rights of others even if we don't
want to live in the same way.

Stop AFTA

The Andean Free Trade Agreement is the latest in a series of free trade pacts that the U.S. is trying to force on Latin America. This week in Tucson, leaders from the Andean countries, Peru, Columbia, Ecuador (with Chile and Bolivia oddly missing) will be meeting with U.S. representatives to sign away their economic souls. Tucson activists have been showing their solidarity.
The NoAFTA site is a good resource, along with the FTAA-IMC.

Here in Portland we're trying to lend a hand to help cover the mobilization and resistance, in Tucson and in the relevant countries. It will be extremely interesting to see what happens.

I wish I was still in Tucson. Not just for this but also because it's super fucking cold here in Portland, and it's raining.